Inappropriate Ratings

bartymj wrote: Is it so impossible to think this one person might have decided to listen to the whole discography to confirm once and for all that they don't like them?  Ratings are completely subjective and personal, to discourage people from having an opinion and calling it ratings abuse sets a dangerous precedent.

^ It looks highly suspicious when all the ratings are all consecutive, it implies the person just clicked through every album on the album page giving one star to each one, even stranger when it extends into live albums, singles and bootlegs etc. I think Dream Theater is a polarizing group in prog circles and they're kinda susceptible to this kind of hate, I don't believe these people have continued to return to a band they apparently despise time and time again to try and change their minds, if they don't like Images and Scenes they probably aren't going to have their mind changed by Systematic Chaos and The Astonishing.

^ Agreed. It would be fantastic if these people had something better to do with their time than focus on sabotaging the ratings of artists they hate. They must be some of the pettiest prog fans imaginable.

bartymj wrote: I am 100% one of the people Cristi believes cannot exist, in that I will do my best to listen to something I'm generally confident I won't like, to at least give it a chance, and all of a sudden I might find a hidden gem. The best example of this I can imagine comes from Opeth - no doubt if and when I get through their entire discography there will be a large set of albums I've rated as 1 star, which to many looks suspicious. However, if I'd have given up on listening to them after 1-starring three albums highly rated by the general prog community (Still Life, Ghost Reveries, Blackwater Park), I wouldn't have picked up on the handful of tracks I love on Pale Communion.

If it were up to me, perhaps ratings-only would have 0 weight in the average rating (maybe for ones that have more than a few ratings/ reviews). Clearly there are people who are trying to manipulate ranking/ average rating and carpet bomb acts with both very low and very high ratings without having listened to or properly listened to all of the albums. In some case people have ended up giving way that hadn't listened to the albums, or have rated albums that were not available yet (not even leaks or advance copies).

Yesterday I deleted the ratings of a couple users who both created multiple accounts to rate the same albums.

I have been exposed to more than one complete discography that I would not have chosen to listen to, nor did I much care for, due to an ex roommate/ friend. Even then not all of the albums would I have rated the same as I didn't consider all to be of the same quality or have the same qualities, and to me it makes sense to compare those albums against each other. That said, my rating would always skew high because I generally only like to spin an album enough that I would be very comfortable rating it if I like it, and I would;t want to rate or review albums of a style which I feel I "don't get". I want to grok the sock to walk the talk.

I'm just wondering if anyone noticed all the five star ratings for the last album by modern rock ensemble. They all seemed to be from local "fans" of the band and probably people who only joined this site to rate and review the album. Maybe something worth looking into at least as an observer. 

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: I'm just wondering if anyone noticed all the five star ratings for the last album by modern rock ensemble. They all seemed to be from local "fans" of the band and probably people who only joined this site to rate and review the album. Maybe something worth looking into at least as an observer.

I've given 5-star ratings to 8 out of 9 of David Gilmour's albums, simply because they're the best.

ExittheLemming wrote: As things stand Opeth have (including live releases) around 18 albums. Is anyone going to spend close to $200 just to hear albums they are 'generally confident' they wont like? You are either wealthier than beyond the wildest dreams of avarice or dafter than than a sectioned brush. Let's see if the second possibility stands up to even the flimsiest of scrutiny: Do you use a public lending library to source your review copies? (notwithstanding it being highly unlikely most would have an entire artist's discography available)

bartymj wrote: ExittheLemming wrote: As things stand Opeth have (including live releases) around 18 albums. Is anyone going to spend close to $200 just to hear albums they are 'generally confident' they wont like? You are either wealthier than beyond the wildest dreams of avarice or dafter than than a sectioned brush. Let's see if the second possibility stands up to even the flimsiest of scrutiny: Do you use a public lending library to source your review copies? (notwithstanding it being highly unlikely most would have an entire artist's discography available) Well what a ridiculous post this is :D As an (im)mature student I can pay a grand total of a discounted £4.99 a month for Spotify. Something which I have done for 9 months now. Using mostly Spotify and the fact that under Covid conditions I'm working from home on my own and need some background noise to keep me from total insanity, I can tell you in those 9 months I've listened to exactly 598 different albums on Spotify. Basic maths, at that rate I've paid 7.5 pence for each album listen, which even on my pauper's salary I can afford and think is a good return. Yes, Spotify is seen as the devil, and artists don't get much money for their output via that streaming site - but if they upload their content there then why shouldn't I listen to it... Opeth currently have on Spotify: Orchid, Morningrise, My Arms Your Hearse, Still Life, Blackwater Park, Deliverance, Damnation, Lamentations (Live), Ghost Reveries, The Roundhouse Tapes, Watershed, The Candlelight Years, Live at the Albert Hall, Heritage, Peaceville Presents, Pale Communion, Deliverance & Damnation Remixed, Sorceress, Garden of the Titans (Live), and In Cauda Venenum. I would argue you'd be dafter than a sectioned brush NOT to make use of this wonder of modern technology. In fact, I've been introduced to several previously unknown-to-me prog artists simply because its cheap and easy to explore. Apologies to everyone else for once again going off-topic on this thread but I was directly asked a question about my own sanity and felt obliged to respond...