A Word About Our Reviews
Posted on October 20, 2007 at 8:00 am by admin
The first thing I should say about album reviews is that record labels and promotional departments send releases out as promotional tools. If an album shows up in a magazine or a website, or some other publication, it lets people know that album is out. I try to give a description of the music, because I think that’s what people want to know. Pretty simple, isn’t it? In fact, some record labels send out albums for review knowing they’ll get bad reviews, but people will buy it anyways. I’ll be honest, that method even worked on me, as there’s been a few mediocre, and even bad reviews I’ve read where I went out got the album anyways, despite the score.
So some people get unhappy when I give an album a bad score/review. If I didn’t think an album was valid for consumer purchase in any way shape or form, I simply wouldn’t post it. I’ve gotten a few really bad demos that turned into coasters because they were so terrible. I think that Alex from Despised Icon said it pretty well when he said “It’s just music”, and the guys in Poison The Well said the good thing about music is that you can like what you like, and not like what you don’t like. I can understand why some bands might be unhappy with a bad review in one sense. The dudes made something that they’re passionate about, and of course a band would want people to like their music. The times when peoples reaction sucks the most though is when it spills over into the real world, as I had a friend who was bitter towards me for a week for rating an album a 3.5/5 (7/10) instead of something higher. I thought it was still a decent album, but he must’ve liked it more, because the next day after he read my review, he said he thought it was better, then I got the cold shoulder from him for the rest of the week
Something I tell people is that I try not to judge too much unless I’m asked about an album, and then I try to judge only the music in the review. It doesn’t always work that way, and I still feel a dark cloud interfering with that Escape The Fate review because I had actually read a little bit about singer Ronnie Radke’s tattoos, and then I read the promo sheet before I reviewed the album. I don’t think I could ever give that album a fair review after having taking that input in. Actually, I’m surprised no one gave me a lashing for that one, not even their record label, Epitaph, who’s a really cool label by the way. Since the first e-mail I sent to that label, they’ve been really supportive.
So far there’s only been one valid album that I didn’t review, due to some fear of repercussion because of some song lyrics that had created some controversy in the bands recent past. I was personally neutral about what they said, but I could see how some of our users could be offended by it, and of course it really sucked because I thought the album was decent.
For those of you who don’t like a bad review, go ahead and convince people it’s good, just in a cool manner. Insulting people is a sure fire way to divide the scene, and scare off tons of people real quick. Be cool about it and people will engage you, and give that opinion a try (even me.) I know some people feel a bit scared about posting, since a few people have posted some angry things aimed towards a bad review, as well as attacking my reviewing skills and I removed those posts. The reason why I do that is because it reflects bad as a whole on the scene. I’ve personally turned more people onto bands by being cool about it, rather than suggesting the bands they currently listen to “suck”.
Since music is art, it’s open to interpretation. I do understand that my musical description of an album isn’t word as law. Some people see things differently, and I really like it when someone has an interpretation of an album or band that’s different than my own. Certainly keep those posts coming.
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