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dtguitarfan View Drop Down

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Posted: September 20 2012 at 10:26

dreadpirateroberts wrote:

I'd say that if a pre-release is so good that I felt it was Essential, I'd say so based on my knowledge of the genre and its history.

In fact, I could say the same even if I didn't like it as much as 5 stars, I'd still argue that it had value in its role of "reinventing the genre" perhaps or "doing the genre proud and matching the classics" or some such

That's fine. So you are measuring an album's goodness based on either historical perspective, or what you think its historical perspective will be. But I may hear an album and think that it completely reinvents the genre....but it sounds absolutely awful to my ears and I really don't want to ever listen to it again, and so I really, REALLY don't want to give it a high rating. So I throw that logic out and give it a lower rating. Have you ever done this? What I'm saying is that I feel the only way to be truly honest is to just come out and say "yup, I'm just telling you how much I enjoyed the album and think other people will enjoy it, that's all I feel I can do."

Edited by dtguitarfan - September 20 2012 at 10:26

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dreadpirateroberts View Drop Down

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Posted: September 20 2012 at 10:37

Yeah, for sure.

One way I get around that sort of problem, in terms of really, truly disliking something that I think is still historically significant in some way, is to either 1) not review the album or 2) admit in the review that I couldn't enjoy it for reasons X, Y, & Z but suggest that due to its other values, it's got something for fans of the genre/the curious etc

I like honesty in reviews too, though stylistically I won't preface each review with a disclaimer like "this is only my opinion etc etc" but think it's implied if my reviews are successful.

I suppose what it boils down to for me, is the review itself. Our ratings we give are of course, snapshots, the why is in the text itself and more important I reckon (well, it's in the good reviews anyway Wink

)

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dtguitarfan View Drop Down

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Posted: September 20 2012 at 11:16

dreadpirateroberts wrote:

Yeah, for sure.

One way I get around that sort of problem, in terms of really, truly disliking something that I think is still historically significant in some way, is to either 1) not review the album or 2) admit in the review that I couldn't enjoy it for reasons X, Y, & Z but suggest that due to its other values, it's got something for fans of the genre/the curious etc

I like honesty in reviews too, though stylistically I won't preface each review with a disclaimer like "this is only my opinion etc etc" but think it's implied if my reviews are successful.

I suppose what it boils down to for me, is the review itself. Our ratings we give are of course, snapshots, the why is in the text itself and more important I reckon (well, it's in the good reviews anyway Wink

)

I think you hit the nail on the head with the reviews explaining why for the ratings. One thing I've been striving for in my reviews is to sound complimentary even when I wasn't crazy about an album. Not that I'm being sincere, but a lot of times I just "kind of like" and album, but could see why other people might like it more and so I try to highlight that in my review. I can only imagine I've been successful in that because a few times after writing a 3.5 star (which, to me, says "I kind of liked that, but wasn't crazy about it") review I've been asked if I'd like to interview the band, and I wouldn't guess that I'd be asked to do that if they were offended by my review.

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digdug

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Posted: September 20 2012 at 11:27

people should be able to rate 1 star without a review

a review is a serious thing around here

I basically gave up trying to write them, because my reviews kept on getting deleted and switched to ratings only

there needs to be a middle ground where you can write three quick sentences that explain your rating without having to write a novel about the album so it can be called a review

Prog On!

Epignosis

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Posted: September 20 2012 at 16:43

dtguitarfan wrote:

Epignosis wrote:

dtguitarfan wrote:

Andy Webb wrote:

dtguitarfan wrote:

Epignosis wrote:

I don't like the insane number of five star ratings that come out of the woodwork in the week following new releases. Really?

People enjoyed the album - why should that bother you?

Because the album probably hasn't been released yet and won't be for another month... (can be applied to almost every new album release)

He said "in the week following new releases" - this means the album has been released and thus people have had the opportunity to listen to it....

Enjoying an album is not enough to give it five stars.

Most of the albums I enjoy are not 5 stars.

Sorry, but that's crap. The only measurement anyone can truly give of an album is their own personal enjoyment. It's art - you can't objectively say "this is better than that because...", you can only say "I enjoyed it sooooo much, so I'm giving it this many stars." That's the only truthful way to go about it, the way I see it. Now, it may be that you are a very technical person, and so your enjoyment comes from paying attention and hearing technical things going on and thus you can say "I enjoyed this so much because I heard them doing this and that" but it's still just a measure of your own personal enjoyment. You can't pretend to tell people that your measurement of an album's greatness is the only true measurement.

What's crap? That most of the albums I enjoy are not 5 stars? Or that merely enjoying an album is not enough to warrant five stars? I stand by my comment because I think you misunderstood it (at least I hope you did).

The way you seem to take it is that an album is either 1 star (disliked it) or 5 star (liked it). That is not how our system is set up. We have a range (from 1 to 5). I never said anything about personal enjoyment not being the measure of the album.

I enjoy Tormato and Close to the Edge. Should I give them both five stars?

https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays

Snow Dog

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Posted: September 20 2012 at 16:48

^Yep

No...not really. Geek

Edited by Snow Dog - September 20 2012 at 16:49

Dean

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Posted: September 20 2012 at 17:36

digdug wrote:

people should be able to rate 1 star without a review

a review is a serious thing around here

I basically gave up trying to write them, because my reviews kept on getting deleted and switched to ratings only

there needs to be a middle ground where you can write three quick sentences that explain your rating without having to write a novel about the album so it can be called a review

Oh come on now, that cannot be the reason. The limit is only one hundred words. That is not War and Peace, it is not even a page of writing; it is the briefest of summaries. In all seriousness, if you cannot manage to scribble 100 words on an album that you feel motivated enough about to summon up the energy to locate its album page in the PA and click a mouse on its rating button then I personally do not care to read what few words you do manage to write about it. That is one hundred words.

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Sagichim

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Posted: September 20 2012 at 17:38

digdug wrote:

there needs to be a middle ground where you can write three quick sentences that explain your rating without having to write a novel about the album so it can be called a review

You don't have to write a novel, just a 100 words, which is about 6 or 7 sentences. That's really ok.

lmaorofllollmao View Drop Down

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Posted: September 20 2012 at 20:11

digdug wrote:

people should be able to rate 1 star without a review

a review is a serious thing around here

I basically gave up trying to write them, because my reviews kept on getting deleted and switched to ratings only

there needs to be a middle ground where you can write three quick sentences that explain your rating without having to write a novel about the album so it can be called a review

Today, i had to write a 7 paragraph essay on the "definition of heroism", from the godforsaken springboard book. It was easy, and took only 20-40 minutes of my time away.

And YOU are whining about typing 100 words based around music, a subject you most likely love?

PLEASE!

EATTTT YOUURRR BEEEEEETTTSSSSS!!!!!

Gallifrey

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Posted: September 20 2012 at 21:57

Well, I've never given an album 1 star. Ever. And I don't think I ever will. If I don't like it, I normally put it down to being "not my genre" rather than bad music.

But anyway, the ratings barely effect the overall score, especially with the popular albums. I only use ratings so I can remember which ones I liked (I listen to a lot of music).

People have commented on albums getting very good reviews/ratings when they are first released. I admit that it's very annoying, but it will almost always correct with time. It's only around now that the 2011 best album list is actually accurate.

http://thedarkthird.bandcamp.com/

digdug

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Posted: September 21 2012 at 07:56

[/QUOTE]

I wrote reviews that were 100 words ..... and got told the review said nothing of substance..... and then they were deleted

this happened more than once

it's pretty frustrating to write 8 or 9 reviews and then see 2 of them deleted for no good reason (IMO)

eventually I stopped.....

this was at least 2 years ago now.

the main reason I was given.... is that my reviews did not look professional.... and they made the site look bad

personally I prefer short and sweet reviews like the ones Sean Trane did originally.

all of his old reviews are probably less than 100 words, but they are better reviews than the ones you see now (at least in my opinion)

anyways all that I am saying is .... not everyone is cut out to write good reviews by the standards of this site.... but that does not mean that these people's voice should be totally ignored.

removing the ability to rate certain values without a review would not be fair in my opinion

Prog On!

HolyMoly

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Posted: September 21 2012 at 08:05

Not to mention it would discriminate against people without a strong grasp of English. I'm with you dig.

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Dean

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Posted: September 21 2012 at 08:44

..Then why is it that many of the people who complain about the 100 word limit have English as their first language? The ability to have an opinion on a piece of music is not restricted by the language you speak, the emotions and feelings you get can be expressed in any language. Translating that into another language is not an issue of word-count or vocabulary. If you feel that a particular section of music or a musician’s ability affects you in a certain way then putting that into words is what a review is. This is one hundred words.

What?

HolyMoly

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Posted: September 21 2012 at 09:10

I forgot about online translators, I guess a lot of people use those? I was referring to the English-only rule as applied to someone who doesn't speak English at all -- which is one of the core reasons why we don't require a written review in order to rate an album.

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Snow Dog

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Posted: September 21 2012 at 09:21

I just wrote a review, just over 100 words. Approve

dreadpirateroberts View Drop Down

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Posted: September 21 2012 at 09:25

^ great review, makes me want to hear the b-side

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Dean

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Posted: September 21 2012 at 09:32

I wonder why that didn't get a "First Review of this Album" tag? Does that not apply to singles?

Anyway, 119 words for two tracks ... not bad...

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Snow Dog

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Posted: September 21 2012 at 09:32

^ I think it may be a bonus track on the last remaster. If so i should add it to the album info.

Yes it is on the remaster

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Defector-Steve-Hackett/dp/B000AM1THQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1348238177&sr=1-1

Edited by Snow Dog - September 21 2012 at 09:37

Snow Dog

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Posted: September 21 2012 at 09:34

Dean wrote:

I wonder why that didn't get a "First Review of this Album" tag? Does that not apply to singles?

Anyway, 119 words for two tracks ... not bad...

I did waffle a bit.

Dean

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Posted: September 21 2012 at 09:52

Snow Dog wrote:

Dean wrote:

I wonder why that didn't get a "First Review of this Album" tag? Does that not apply to singles?

Anyway, 119 words for two tracks ... not bad...

I did waffle a bit.

Who doesn't. It's when that waffle is the only component of a review (regardless of length) I would question whether it qualifies as a review or not. If the waffle is setting the scene and providing some background then that adds to the review and makes it more interesting to read perhaps, but at the end of the day if you hadn't mentioned the tracks themselves then it would not have been much of a review of a two track single. A music review is a piece of creative writing, waffle and all. This post is also one hundred words.

What?