5 stars

When it gets right down to it, unless the reviewed album is relatively obscure with very few reviews/ratings or has some element of production that can be universally considered to be poor, the rating portion of it reflects as much on the reviewer as it does the album.  I am not sure how many reviewers realize that there are many lurkers out there who look at an album on PA they may know they like and move on to new albums based on the review lists of PA reviewers who rated that album favorably.  I am sure that was at least part of the intention of the reviewing/rating system, particularly in the case of Specialist collaborators. So in that regard I have absolutely no problem with 5 star reviews given in a relatively liberal manner. I certainly find it easier to follow a particular reviewers trends when they have stronger polarization to their ratings than somebody who's list is riddled with 3's.  Yeah, one should take the time to actually read the reviews, but a reviewers ratings are an effective initial pointer to the albums they find remarkable so others have an easier time finding reviewers with similar tastes. It would be a daunting task to read all of the 3 star reviews of some of the longer winded reviewers to find out exactly whether it fits the readers tastes.

King By-Tor wrote: crimson87 wrote: I think that a special 6 stars rating should be given , let's suppose you could only give it to one album. For example in my case "Brain Salad Surgery" would get it.

Collab/ non-collab/ ratings w/out reviews is but one part of the overall calculation, I believe.

Anyway, this is the most recent topic I can find on this topic http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=51634

Not sure when M@X last made changes to the algorithms.


Edited by Logan - November 28 2008 at 17:38

crimson87 wrote: I think that a special 6 stars rating should be given , let's suppose you could only give it to one album. For example in my case "Brain Salad Surgery" would get it.

I think that a special 6 stars rating should be given , let's suppose you could only give it to one album. For example in my case "Brain Salad Surgery" would get it.

progressive wrote: I've given quite many five-star ratings but I think it's justified and helpful. I'm a bit amused about those who give almost only 5 stars, but maybe they are right, too.   Not a fan of giving 5 stars to everything either, but I rather this  than those guys who rate with 5 stars the bands they are fanboyus and with 1 star any album of another band that could be near the top in the charts Actually I came here to talk about some other weird thin but didn't find a topic for it. So I say it now. This album http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=7903 had avg. of 4.10, but after I gave five stars for it, it decreased down to 3.98 . Sad, somehow; I know that they use weighted system here (factors: collaborators, number of reviews..? and how?), but it's quite stupid this way. At least when it bans MY great stars. Maybe it has antibodies for me.   I know it sounds unfair and to a certain point it is, but it's a protection against problems like for example when a new artist is added lets say Miles Davis, we agree it's a great addition and we al acknowledge the importance of Bitches Brew, but with Biotches Brew, came 50 albums with absolutely no Prog connection, like Kind of Blue released in 1959. The first week this album had a perfect 5 stars rating and was the most popular album of the week......The album is outstanding, but IT ISN'T PROG!!!!  If the number of ratings would not affect the average, we would still have a top ten album released in 1959 when Prog didn't existed. There's also another case, there are some rare albums rated by only one person and with 5 stars....Do ts albums deserve to be Nª 1 in the charts? And still about five stars... actually I don't think any album as a perfect masterpiece.   That's why there are so many 5 stars ratings, because perfection is not required, it's only required to be "Essential: a masterpiece of progressive music"   An album doesn't need to be perfect to be essential, and the term masterpiece is very subjective.   Cheers   Iván

It's very rare that I consider any band or artist having two equally great albums, usually it's one, and that gets rated four stars; If I consider it a classic, it probably gets five. A true classic always gets five, of course.

Ivan_Melgar_M wrote: debrewguy wrote: I'll repeat (seemingly ad nauseum) why I don't mind the 4500th review of CTTE or DSOTM - the reviewer's enthusiasm may bring me back to listening to the album again. We all love Thick as a Brick (or enough of us to rate it consistently in the top 5), but for most, when was the last time you listened to it ? "Er, mm, aaah, well, I'm trying to catch up on my new RPI purchases, then there's the obscure Krautrock album I just discovered adn .........   Hi Claude, not so accurate, being that I have to drive at least 1:30 hours in the morning and 1:00 hour in the evening, plus at least one more hour during the day, I have a 12 CD player (hate MP3) in my car and a lot of time to listen music.   Four slots are always reserved for classical Prog albums, this morning I was listening CttE and then Illusions on a Double Dimple, in the afternoon I listened Foxtrot and Shadow Circus,    Now in my house, I'm checking a couple of new possible additions, so I try to balance new stuff with classic Prog. DB - I've been playing the new AC/DC, Metallica, King's X, Kekal. Marillion's Happiness is the Road, Picchio dal Pozzo (trying to figure what I initially saw in them), The Legendary Shack Shakers, some 50 classic rock tunes to get ready for jamming with some new acquaintances, along with listening to CBC Radio Two's new programming during the late afternoon and late at night (more experimental/alternative ... they even played a Fred Frith collaboration a few weeks back). But then someone writes a review on THick as a Brick or Passion Play, and I pull that out. Get my drift. Let's let the people write. We're here to share a passion. TO propose an opinion on music.   That's what we do, in my case, as Windhawk and Guigo, been adding the last months a lot of new bands, in my case I added some Avant (You all know it's not my cup of tea), also have the clearence to add an Eclectic and Jazz Fusion bands as soon I receive info from their label.   The ratings debate goes nowhere, and changes nothing. 'Cause the next "And Then There Were Three" 5 star reviewer will surely believe he has grounds to justify it. Just the same as those who want to give Metallica's "Kill 'Em All" album 5 stars no matter anyone else's opinion on its' progness.   That's how freedom of opinion works, everybody can say his word, and this is an open site for people to add their opinions, if somebody has the guts to say Love Beach is a magnifiscent album and has arguments to support it, I will applaud him/her, will not agree, but will respect his position and consider positive opinions about a generally considered bad albums or bad opinions about about albums considered masterpieces, are necessary, as long as supported.....This proves we're not robots or fanboys, but a group of people witth their own opinion. DB - exactly, it seems that some miss that point. As if a rating that contradicts their opinion, good or bad, somehow means they are being told they are wrong in liking or disliking the album or band The breaking point is when a Klaatu album is rated a measly 1. And while it has taken several courses of Anger Management to overcome my rage when I see this, my blood pressure usually comes back to just about normal, eh   I haven't rated Klaatu, because I would be one of the guys who will qualify them with 1 star, maybe 2 at the most, IMO they have no Prog merit to be included and not even interesting music and much less originality, but that's my opinion.   Iván DB - Klaatu, along with Ange, are my stalking horses. I insert to show how unflexible and stubborn I am, after I've preached open-mindedness. All in good humour of course.

debrewguy wrote: I'll repeat (seemingly ad nauseum) why I don't mind the 4500th review of CTTE or DSOTM - the reviewer's enthusiasm may bring me back to listening to the album again. We all love Thick as a Brick (or enough of us to rate it consistently in the top 5), but for most, when was the last time you listened to it ? "Er, mm, aaah, well, I'm trying to catch up on my new RPI purchases, then there's the obscure Krautrock album I just discovered adn ......... Get my drift. Let's let the people write. We're here to share a passion. TO propose an opinion on music. The ratings debate goes nowhere, and changes nothing. 'Cause the next "And Then There Were Three" 5 star reviewer will surely believe he has grounds to justify it. Just the same as those who want to give Metallica's "Kill 'Em All" album 5 stars no matter anyone else's opinion on its' progness. The breaking point is when a Klaatu album is rated a measly 1. And while it has taken several courses of Anger Management to overcome my rage when I see this, my blood pressure usually comes back to just about normal, eh

Well said

Its difficult, there is a lot of music that I really, really, really  like and I have little choice but to dole out 5 stars.  This has come up before and many times, 5 grading options is somewhat limited with the huge assortment of music out there.  Some of my 5 star albums would probably get 9/10 or 92/100.  So it is safe to say that not all 4 star ratings are created equally, nor 5 star.  on the other hand, 1 star ratings are pretty equal. "It stinks, I don't want to hear it".  Can't get much variation out of that.  And I am sure that I am not the only one that will have ratings weighted higher simply because we listen to what we like and avoid what we don't. For example: I reviewed one Tool album, 2 stars. I have heard enough of their other stuff to know I don't enjoy them. But I'm not going to re-listen to the others just to give them a bad rating.  That would be masochistic.