REMOVE RATING-ONLY-REVIEWS?

MikeEnRegalia wrote: Dear Ivan, please note the 1 star review of greenback for a 5 star album (Devin Townsend - Terria). Who are you to judge whether a 1 star rating is valid or not?

I never judge the ratings unless they are obviously stupid (remember the flawed thread), I'm in favour of reviewing, Have you read my previous posts?.

But if a guy said that Close to the Edge is bad because Jon Andeson sounds like a Woman or because the songs are too long..........That's a stupid argument.

I always said I  respect people who dare to give low or high ratings making a review, because they are assuming a risk and its' clear when the person has a valid argument or he's simply talking crap.

Compare:

THIS IS A PILE OF CRAP

YES Close to the Edge
Review (Permanent link) by Hawkeye @ 6:26:40 PM EST, 8/31/2005

 —  Well, here is is folks- the MOST OVERATED ALBUM ON THIS SITE. Easy..no doubt about it. The "epic" close to the edge- starts as a headache- the 1st 3 minutes sound like a truck filled with musical instruments colliding with a wall- its horrible- not untill the femanistic vocals come in does the song take a slight change for the better. Yes- he sounds like a woman. The lyrics are not as 'deep' as everyone says- instead, they are rather basic- most liekly sophistcated to an 8th grader. Dont try to analyze "Seasons Change..I get up..I get Down" ust meaningless lyrics. The rest of the album is DULL- nothing great here at all- but a headache, and an oveerated pile of trash.

BLAH!!!

YES Close to the Edge
Review (Permanent link) by Mike @ 10:38:46 PM EST, 6/15/2005

 —  2.75-- These songs have some amazing parts capable of evoking intense emotion, but I fail to see why it is so revered. Some serious editing was needed here. Instead we get interminable passages at the end of which one is left reaching for the snooze button.

 

Nothing, simply nothing about the album.

 

______________________________________

DEVIN TOWNSEND Terria
Review (Permanent link) by greenback @ 12:35:41 AM EST, 12/24/2005
SPECIAL COLLABORATION

 —  This music describes the best what is a monolithic electric guitar! I have never heard a more monolithic electric rhythmic guitar than on this record: that's completely ridiculous! This brutal guitar is so distorted and polluted with tons of useless effects that it takes all the available room! As if it was not enough, the musician seems to take a huge pleasure to exaggeratedly sustain each note, a painful torment for the ears! The rhythmic guitar is COMPLETELY unmelodious. The lead vocals are just simply too angry and aggressive for me. When the lead vocals are more mellow, they amazingly remind me David Gilmour and James LaBrie. There are some good acoustic guitar parts. There are some unconvincing TV or radio sounds, a much worse copy of Roger Waters' effects: they seem too coarsely produced. You can hear some whales-like sounds. There are some rare good passages, so that, globally, this record is not worth a complete listen. The only track that retained more my attention is "Deep peace", starting with an imitation of David Gilmour's voice; an Oldfield-esque guitar solo then begins, followed by an Hillage-esque one, featuring his spacy ambience from the "Green" album; then, it changes to a VERY modest & much slower attempt to emulate the symphonic Yngwie Malmsteen himself. This VERY rebel music is probably perfect for the young people who like disturbing moods.

Rating: 1.5 star

 

He takes the time to describe each instrument, the vocals, the sound, similarities, etc, it's obvious he hates the album, but waht's the problem?

_______________________

 

My whole point is that at least you got a review to make an idea about the reviewer, but in RWR you have no base, no idea, the guy may never even heard the album and simply hates Yes or Genesis, so he gives on star.

 

Iván

 

 

MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ the problem with greenback's review is that most of the things which he dislikes are common for that kind of music. An "unmelodious rhythm guitar" ... this makes no sense to me whatsoever. "unconvincing TV" ... how can a TV sample be unconvincing? And then the hilarious sentence where he tries to insinuate that the album is basically one big ripoff ... ending with the "symphonic Malmsteen himself", which is again a contradictory, non-sense term. See? All of what I said here could be argued about. Neither you or me are authorities who can define what's nonsense and what is not.

THAT'S MY POINT: In a review like Greenback's we can argue, agree or disagree,  and that is good for a discussion forum even if you don't consider it a good review, we can appreciate what the reviewer means, specially whe it's carefully done.

In this case Greenback took the time to describe all the elements, including instruments and influences , it's clear that the guy has listened the album (Probably he didn't listened more bands of this kind, but this doesn't really matter in an indidual review), and that's something I respect, talking only after you listened the album.

But in a Close to the Edge review like:

YES Close to the Edge
Review (Permanent link) by Mike @ 10:38:46 PM EST, 6/15/2005

 "2.75  (Why in hell he gives two stars, if it's closer to three????)-- These songs have some amazing parts capable of evoking intense emotion (Everything can evoke emotions, even the Slade ballad with a burp reminds me of my early parties and how I tried to kiss a girl when that ugly sound filled the room ), but I fail to see why it is so revered.  (Please explain why) Some serious editing was needed here (Where.., I can't find a flaw, please ilustrate me!!! Or maybe he wants to ask Eddie Offord to cut the songs because are too long for Mike's (???) taste? ). Instead we get interminable passages at the end of which one is left reaching for the snooze button."  (???????)

I don't even care about the content, for God's sake, he says absolutely nothing about the album except that it needs editing (Strange because Close to the Edge has an excellent production, editing and mixing), this is not a review.

This is the only kind of reviews I don't understand, seems like the guy counted the words he needed and wrote them without saying anything,

Just as an example:

Excellent album, a masterpiece, always loved it, the songs are very emotional and well sung, the guitar is outstanding, keyboards are impressive, the rhythm section is perfectly accomplished, a must have for any prog fan.

Five stars, if you don't have it, go and get it.

I just invented invented this one (seems like a politician speechs ), but I've seen a lot of similar ones, I could be talking about any album, this kind of reviews should be deleted.

I don't say it's the only one valid, but my method is to write a review while listening the album, because memory is fragile, yesterday Micky reminded me of my quote about Via Lumiere that i had absolutely forgotten, because I haven't heard that album in almost two years.

But what I always criticize is extreme ratings (5 or 1 star) on albums not reviewed, because we don't even know if the guy has a fu**ing clue about what he's talking.

Iván

EDIT: I must check some of my first reviews, because I believe two or three are too general (Big Generator and Genesis Shapes).

Moatilliatta wrote: So I was just about to post my first review for Pelican, and I noticed that the ratings have been significantly lowered by this guy named  "Kinetic," whom I have seen around other albums doing the same thing. It's getting pretty ridiculous.

Seems we got an Opeth fanboy who hates everything else:

Progressive Metal (Studio Album, 2003) Avg: 2.50/5 from 2 ratings PELICAN* "Australasia" Review (Permanent link) by Kinetic Posted 6:48:39 AM EST, 1/7/2006

Progressive Metal (Studio Album, 2005) Avg: 3.25/5 from 4 ratings PELICAN* "The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw" Review (Permanent link) by Kinetic Posted 6:48:14 AM EST, 1/7/2006    Progressive Metal (Studio Album, 2003) Avg: 4.13/5 from 79 ratings OPETH "Damnation" Review (Permanent link) by Kinetic Posted 1:22:32 PM EST, 12/27/2005    Progressive Metal (Studio Album, 1999) Avg: 4.52/5 from 54 ratings OPETH "Still Life " Review (Permanent link) by Kinetic Posted 1:18:47 PM EST, 12/27/2005    Progressive Metal (Studio Album, 1998) Avg: 4.03/5 from 30 ratings OPETH "My Arms, Your Hearse " Review (Permanent link) by Kinetic Posted 1:16:55 PM EST, 12/27/2005    Progressive Metal (Studio Album, 1995) Avg: 3.83/5 from 23 ratings OPETH "Orchid " Review (Permanent link) by Kinetic Posted 1:14:44 PM EST, 12/27/2005    Progressive Metal (Studio Album, 1996) Avg: 4.34/5 from 35 ratings OPETH "Morningrise " Review (Permanent link) by Kinetic Posted 1:14:16 PM EST, 12/27/2005    Progressive Metal (Studio Album, 2005) Avg: 4.37/5 from 116 ratings OPETH "Ghost Reveries" Review (Permanent link) by Kinetic Posted 1:13:46 PM EST, 12/27/2005    Progressive Metal (Studio Album, 2004) Avg: 4.14/5 from 7 ratings ISIS* "Panopticon" Review (Permanent link) by Kinetic Posted 12:58:10 PM EST, 12/27/2005    Progressive Metal (Studio Album, 2002) Avg: 4.14/5 from 7 ratings ISIS* "Oceanic" Review (Permanent link) by Kinetic Posted 12:56:49 PM EST, 12/27/2005    Progressive Metal (Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2001) Avg: 3.75/5 from 4 ratings ISIS* "SGNL>05" Review (Permanent link) by Kinetic Posted 12:56:28 PM EST, 12/27/2005    Progressive Metal (Studio Album, 2000) Avg: 3.75/5 from 4 ratings ISIS* "Celestial" Review (Permanent link) by Kinetic Posted 12:54:17 PM EST, 12/27/2005

Iván

That's kind of funny though!

Yes, we need to remove them, so Velvetclown's legacy wouldn't be so much longer than mine!

AtLossForWords wrote: @Ivan How odd people can't enjoy bands that sound like ones that they already like.

I get your point, but it's possible in some cases, for example Genesis and Yes are Symphonic bands, but I don't like Yes so much (Because of Jon's voice mainly even though I rated two Yes albums with 5 stars) and I love early Genesis, I also hate most King Crimson stuff (Except ITCOTCK and Red) so I don't review them.

But that's why I ask for reviews, to explain this differences.

What I believe is that guys like the one above  don't hate similar bands (For God's sake he rated two Pelican albums in 25 seconds , not enough time to think) I believe they want their beloved band to be N° 1 and try to take down the rest.

Iván

AtLossForWords wrote:   Rating two Pelican albums in 25 seconds is nuts.  I saw Pelican with Opeth, and I thought they did quite a good performance.  The drummer has mad chops.  Rating distortion to help your favorite band is just stupid.  In the end it just leaves a bad relfection on the band.

Well if this is too much, look at this: This freak of nature called Kinetic rated 5 albums by Opeth with 5 stars each one in a bit more than 5 minutes!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, I take more time in the bathroom, and I don't need to think there

It's so obvious that the guy doesn't think before doing the ratings that he made a mistake in Damnation rating it with one star  He's the kind of guys that clicks before and thinks after (If he thinks) I'm almost sure he believed the ratings were about the Symphony X called The Damnation Game 

It's really unfair that some of us take one, two or three hours to make one responsible and coherent review (maybe not good, but honest) while this a$$hole does 5 in 5 minutes giving 5 stars to each one, and the worst thing is that both ratings have the same weight here.

It's absurd.

I rather read a simple but clear review of a Spanish, Italian or Portuguese speaker full of gramatical mistakes, because this guy is really doing an effort and deserves a lot of respect.

But this moron is using our beloved site as free propaganda for his favorite band with absolutely no effort and mieleading newbies to buy a record that doesn't deserve thatrating or avoid an excellent release because 5 or 6 idiots as him decided to attack a great band.

Iván

FishyMonkey wrote: This music describes the best what is a monolithic electric guitar! I have never heard a more monolithic electric rhythmic guitar than on this record: that's completely ridiculous! This brutal guitar is so distorted and polluted with tons of useless effects that it takes all the available room! As if it was not enough, the musician seems to take a huge pleasure to exaggeratedly sustain each note, a painful torment for the ears! The rhythmic guitar is COMPLETELY unmelodious. The lead vocals are just simply too angry and aggressive for me. When the lead vocals are more mellow, they amazingly remind me David Gilmour and James LaBrie. There are some good acoustic guitar parts. There are some unconvincing TV or radio sounds, a much worse copy of Roger Waters' effects: they seem too coarsely produced. You can hear some whales-like sounds. There are some rare good passages, so that, globally, this record is not worth a complete listen. The only track that retained more my attention is "Deep peace", starting with an imitation of David Gilmour's voice; an Oldfield-esque guitar solo then begins, followed by an Hillage-esque one, featuring his spacy ambience from the "Green" album; then, it changes to a VERY modest & much slower attempt to emulate the symphonic Yngwie Malmsteen himself. This VERY rebel music is probably perfect for the young people who like disturbing moods.      Rating: 1.5 star Hey look, I can do it too! Let's see...what did he rate five stars that I've heard? Images and Words! This album is the epitome of cheesy overdone and horribly recorded prog metal! The drummer takes great joy in ripping apart original and creative fills done originally by Neil Peart and putting them together in a haphazard way to make horrible stuttering fills. The lead vocals are completely overdone. They try and fail to emulate a style done with perfection by Geddy Lee. Whereas Geddy would sing each note with perfect clarity, this LaBrie always manages to go slightly flat or sharp, epecially when he gets higher. In the higher ranges, he almost sounds like a screeching banshee, completely painful on the ears! One good thing I managed to notive among all the bad parts was the bass work. On the song Learning to Live the bass player manages to imitate John Entwhistle's style of counter-melody basslines very well. The keyboardist seems to take extreme pleasure in filling the backgrounds of songs with meandering and seemingly random patterns and textures that are rather incoherent in relation to the main melodies. When the band attempts softer songs they also manage to stumble, with Wait for Sleep being a dull uninspired snoozefest. The production in particular on this album is horrid. It sounds shallow and flat, and the guitar tone is completely lacking of any full rich emotion. That coupled with the fact that the guitarist seems to like to attempt Vai-esque solos and butcher them makes for a horrible listening experience! The band attempts to make epics like Learning to Live, which lacks any sense of song structure whatsoever and fumbles around a single melody line the whole song, trying to place randomly throughout the song to tie it together! Rating: 1.0 stars. Now. If you've heard Images and Words you know this review is ridiculous and is picking apart nonexistant faults that seem to only exist because I PUT them there...as well as the comparisons (besides the Peart one). However, look how similar it is to greenback's review. Upon glancing and skimming through it, both reviews are ok, and might only raise your eyebrow a bit. But if you've actually heard either album, it'll raise more than your eyebrows...your temper as well.

You don't get the point Fishy:

I can speak about Greenback because even we had some disagreements I know he's a serious persons and the facts he's giving are true for him.

But the main point is that if you have a review you can see if his rating is ok or if he's just speaking crap. You may agree or not with him, but he took the time to listen the album over and over and gave an honest review.

In a rating without review you don't know anything, maybe the guys fundaments are valid (In many cases aren't) so I rather read a review even if I disgree because I have an idea why the rating was given.

Iván