Reviews feedback
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Forum Name: I Have A Question For You......?
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URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=64519
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Topic: Reviews feedback
Posted By: ProgressiveAttic
Subject: Reviews feedback
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 18:51
I would appreciate if you could help me improve my reviewing/musical analysis skills by "reviewing" my reviews .... Thank you in advance!!!  ------------- Michael's Sonic Kaleidoscope Mondays 5:00pm EST(re-runs Thursdays 3:00pm) @ Delicious Agony Progressive Rock Radio(http://www.deliciousagony.com) 
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Replies:
Posted By: ProgressiveAttic
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 18:52
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+ thanks to Conor Fynes for the idea! ------------- Michael's Sonic Kaleidoscope Mondays 5:00pm EST(re-runs Thursdays 3:00pm) @ Delicious Agony Progressive Rock Radio(http://www.deliciousagony.com)
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Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 02:02
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OK but careful what you ask for-- I started with your Tarkus review (like you, it's one of my top prog records).. first paragraph is way over the top: it asks an irrational question ["how can someone rate this album under 5 stars?"]; the word 'best' is used four times; and you don't tell us - objectively speaking - why it's the best (a big claim). Also the review has no descriptions of the music itself, just the lyrics are highlighted. Then I read your Jon&Vangelis-- better with more detail and some decent wording ["The Friends of Mr. Cairo is a fun piece of music and a highlight of the album (besides the cheesy sound effects ala detective movie)" or "2 stars for a nice but forgettable album"] I finished with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.. much better with a cohesive sense of structure and flow; it felt more finished and thought-out, best part is the first: "Very dramatic rock opera about the life of Beethoven, it features nice piano melodies, lots of symphonic prog and an overall neoclassical metal feeling with lots of electric guitars + variations on some Beethoven pieces... A definitive highlight of the album are the dramatic vocals. The story is very well constructed and there is a nice balance between the music and the vocals with a few instrumentals that merge into the story without disrupting it. The piano interludes are very beautiful and help to induce the feeling of Beethoven's work by quoting some of his melodies as a part of the composition + the string section gives a more organic atmosphere to the metalish sound." Hope this helped
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Posted By: ProgressiveAttic
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 16:24
Thanks for your positive and negative comments .... Yes, I should add (and change) some stuff from that Tarkus review (which is, as you may have noticed, my favorite prog album)... well... it was my first (or second... I don't remember well) PA review....------------- Michael's Sonic Kaleidoscope Mondays 5:00pm EST(re-runs Thursdays 3:00pm) @ Delicious Agony Progressive Rock Radio(http://www.deliciousagony.com)
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Atavachron wrote:Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: January 22 2010 at 17:49
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OK, I picked your In the Court of the Crimson King review, since it was my own very first review (almost 5 years ago), and the album is also one of my 'desert island' discs. My main criticism here would involve the stylistic aspect of your review, more than the actual content - which is fine. Personally, I am not a big fan of track-by-track analyses or numbered lists, and I like to write slightly longer, more organic paragraphs. Additionally, as David (Atavachron) already pointed out, you tend to use a lot of hyperbole, which can be quite offputting. I have been guilty of using it myself in the past, though I'd like to think I've grown out of it, so to speak. The paragraph about "21st Century Schizoid Man" is the main offender, though you tend to sprinkle words like 'masterpiece' all over your review. Hopefully I haven't been too harsh to you! I also hope you've found my comments useful  . |
Posted By: Vibrationbaby
Date Posted: January 23 2010 at 14:47
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I just finished reading some reviews in some music magazines in the library and man! Sometimes I wonder what rocks some of these reviewers crawled from under. some of them sound like they haven't even listen to the freaking album at all! I find amatuer reviews to be much more reliable than these "professional" ones because amatuers ( I should call them fan reviews ) are actually more concerned about the music and the artists creating it and generally speaking, are more informed. There's nothing wrong with reviewing oft reviewed albums ( especially here on PA! ), but I think you have to try and take an angle and throw in a bit of decorations on the cake such as trivia and background where possible just to make it a bit more interesting even for afficionados who might read it,, which is what I did with my Selling England by the Pound critique. Your review is not a bad review but here are a few things that I think you should try to avoid : Don't try and justify yourself. Just write the damn thing as if you're one of these professional reviewers that has just been tossed a copy of the album to review by the editor. Don't write PS at the end. You're not writing your parents a letter from summer camp. And don't say there's nothing else to say at the end because as you might have gathered from this site There's ALWAYS something else to say! Well that's my 2 cents for what it's worth.
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Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 23 2010 at 16:57
This. And it applies to every writer, not just the OP. |
Posted By: ProgressiveAttic
Date Posted: January 23 2010 at 22:01
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Thanks to all for your constructive criticisms... the more the better!!!
I'll be correcting old reviews and continue writing new ones... so more reviews of my reviews are always welcome
My first corrected review (Tarkus by ELP): %20http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=170257 - http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=170257 ------------- Michael's Sonic Kaleidoscope Mondays 5:00pm EST(re-runs Thursdays 3:00pm) @ Delicious Agony Progressive Rock Radio(http://www.deliciousagony.com)
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