Suggestions for Writing Progresive rock reviews

T.Rox wrote: Is there a place in PA for a Special Collabarator with a key portfolio as a Review Mentor-Coach-Critic? I am thinking along the lines of a respected reviewer who has a mission to select a number reviews by a member and (via PM exchange) comment on strengths and weaknesses in the reviews, ways to better understand the music, tips on writing, simple encouragement, etc. ...or is this just a pie-in-the-sky thought? (I imagine it would be a tough gig.) I know I need all the help I can get! I am not all that confident that what I have written is worthy of a place in PA ... which is perhaps why I have only done around 20 reviews in four years of being a PA member.

O.K., for those who might have a tendency to write reviews, this one by VB is excellent.http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=176530

You may need to have some clue as to what Sabbath sound like, but it piques your interest by giving a subtext to the material. Check it out. The review and the album. I'm playing it now. All due to the review. Sometimes a review gets a fan to go back and listen to an old favourite with "new" ears .

Ha, the write a mini-review of each song is a technique I found to be helpful for my RC2 review. I wrote some thoughts about each song and then tried to condense them as much as I could. I had almost forgotten about that!

Edited by Kestrel - July 07 2008 at 17:48

Kestrel wrote:   What inspired me to start reviewing was the thought that my review could potentially influence a purchase. All of the other reviews will get people to buy Foxtrot so my opinion isn't as needed (it's just one of my favorites so I felt the need to), but it would be awesome if I was able to help a smaller, new band out by giving them a positive review. Don't need to follow this advice, of course, but it's just a thought.

Youre Welcome Kestrel!

Also check this opinion:

Writing an Effective Music Review

 When it comes to review writing of any sort it can be hard knowing where exactly to start. There's more to writing a music review than a simple statement of "I love this" or "I hate this" and with this article I seek to explain a little more about writing an effective music review.

For many years now I have been writing music reviews for my personal website Alt-UK. For Alt-UK I've written over 500 music reviews but in total I would say that I've written roughly 1000 over the years now. I love to write, to get my personal opinions across and like to think that I'm improving all the time.

 

When writing a music review it's important that you get plenty of personal opinion across. If you're writing about an album for example then describe in the best way you can the music that is on offer. Some people like to write about every track on an album, others however choose to focus more heavily on a smaller number of tracks; perhaps a few personal favourites and a few weaker tracks also. I personally like to concentrate generally on a couple of tracks in particular that I have really liked or disliked, to convey the mood of the album as a whole in my writing and to write quite generally about the album and the way that the musical piece works as a whole. I like to put across in my writing how strongly I feel the album has been constructed, and for the most part tend to talk about the album as a whole rather than singling out tracks individually. An album is a collection of tracks and the way I see it as that an album review should therefore give a strong overview of the album, a personal opinion of how well the music works and how strongly the music has been presented by the band in all areas (quality of the vocals, guitars, drum beats etc.)

 

When writing album reviews I always try and pick out at least three or four tracks for closer analysis; tracks that give an accurate overview of the album as a whole. Sometimes albums provide an eclectic variety of tracks and I therefore talk about more tracks in order to put across the mood of the album. With most artists mentioning three or four tracks is generally enough I feel, it gives people a good idea of what tracks to listen to and potentially which ones to avoid. For those that wish to talk about every track that's perfectly fair enough; music reviewing is entirely down to the individual doing the writing; this is just my way of doing things but really when it comes to reviewing there is no definitive right or wrong way of doing things.

 

It's important always to remain fairly objective and to research the artist you are reviewing beforehand. This may not be the first album released by the artist, it could then be appropriate to refer back to earlier work in order to draw comparisons. Don't draw too heavily on earlier work and always make sure the album you are reviewing is kept to be the main focus, do not be afraid of saying you prefer an earlier album for whatever reason however or in fact of stating how much an artist has improved compared with earlier recordings. Lyrics can often be extremely important in music, personal life events can impact hugely upon the lyrics that are written and sometimes it can be worth mentioning things you feel may have moulded the lyrics of particular tracks. Don't make the review too much of a life story about the artist, definitely do not be afraid of suggesting where lyrical content inspiration may have come though.

 

When writing it's important to have fun and enjoy yourself, writing about your favourite artists and albums is therefore a strong starting point and a great place to begin as in talking about your favourites you'll surely have plenty to say. I started off by writing reviews purely for Amazon, before long however I wanted to post my writing at a place I could truly call my own and that's when I began my website. Since then I've never looked back; I write daily and do in fact now write for a living. I love writing and album reviews have always been my main area of interest. Get plenty of personal opinion in your reviews, include some facts but don't overdo it; most of your writing should be opinion and facts should always be kept to a bare minimum. Basic writing rules apply here; don't use sentence structures that are overly long and use spelling and grammar checkers to make your writing as accurate as possible.

 

I write a lot of music reviews and hope that some of the things I have said here have been useful. Read around, get an idea of how others write their music reviews, and ultimately just write in a way that feels right to you and in a manner in which you feel most comfortable. If you're writing for yourself then there are really no restrictions, have fun with it and let your words flow. When writing for magazines there are always certain rules to follow, write in the style expected but always retain your personality. Writing can sometimes be quite lifeless, inject energy into your style and really bring your words to life on the page. There's nothing worse than reading a technically well written but completely flat piece of writing, make your words interesting to read and the reader will always crave more. If the reader has interest in what you've written then the likelihood is that they will seek out further writing of yours in future, there's nothing more satisfying than building up a readership and it's always warming to feel that others are enjoying your work. Although it's nice when others like what you write, never write merely to impress others and just write with a goal of pleasing yourself.

 

Enjoy your writing and always have fun with the words that you write. Writing music reviews can be incredibly fun and when it ceases to be enjoyable then you know that it's time to take a break from writing them. I write about a large variety of different things, throughout the year's music has always remained my favourite thing to write about however and music has always been something I have been hugely passionate about. Music review writing can be greatly pleasurable, if you've got a passion for music then my best advice is to get writing as soon as possible and show the world of music journalism exactly what its been missing.

 

Kestrel i note two things thay you write, one is the emotional part of it and the second is the musical knowledge i think that a very good combination of both results a great review

 Check this format that i got about the subject:

Writing a Music Review

Name ______________________________________           Date ____________________

Read	two critics' reviews. Put checkmarks in the first two columns to show whether the reviews contain those parts.
View	a video clip of a traditional music performance from Streaming Video Clips on Louisiana Traditional Culture or listen to a sound recording.
Read	your notes on the Careers in Music - Notetaking Worksheet to find the parts listed below then write them in the "Parts to Include" column.
Provide	information on each item below. Put a checkmark in the last column when you do.
Write	a Music Review. Write three paragraphs using the information you entered below.

1st Review	2nd Review	Parts to include	My Review
		First Paragraph                  Give the facts
		Who?
		What
		When?
		Where?
		Why?
		Second Paragraph                Describe the performance
		First
		Second
		Third Paragraph                 Give your opinion and supporting arguments
		Your Opinion
		Supporting arguments
		Your Opinion
		Supporting argument(s)
		Your Opinion
		Supporting argument(s)

For a pdf of this page click here.

To me the most important aspect of reviewing is that you do you best to achieve 3 goals

1 - Create a piece of writing that has a natural, easily followed and easily understood format.

2 - That you clearly extrapolate not only on your praises of the album, but also on your criticisms

3 - That you bring your own knowledge, personality, and taste to the review, instead of simply regurgitating what the other reviewers have said or utilizing formats that others use.

Don't worry about creating a formula for every review, some people use formulas and the work marvelously, others use formulas and they feel forced and are not as enjoyable or informative as they could be.  I utilize many different styles in my reviews. For example (ignoring some of my early reviews which are a bit weak and could use significant tweaking) my reviews are written in many different styles because i feel certain discs lend themselves to different ways of reviewing.  For example my review for DREAM THEATER's SCENES FROM A MEMORY is very different from my review of YES' BIG GENERATOR. 

The biggest key is to share your own ideas and review and rank as you feel appropriate.  If you think Invisible Touch is a progressive masterpeice and want to give it 5 stars, go right ahead, just be ready to write a clear review that states your reasoning and argues your point clearly and respectfully.  In the same way if you think the CTTE is a one star effort, then rank it that way, but be ready to defend you point with data and not simple a "this album sucks, jon anderson sounds like he belongs in the vienna boys choir not a rock band" type defense.

Hope this is helpful, and im certain some admins will do a much better job than I at describing how to do a polished and informative review!

Well when I write reviews, haven't in a while, but I usually NEVER read the reviews of others' beforehand so I can compare my opinions to theirs afterwards and not let them influence my choices. The big thing is to just write whatever is on your mind about the album, like what you liked, what you disliked and all that jazz. As long as it is inside the reviewing guidelines write whatever you are thinking at the moment.