Gator's Forum Replies

Gotcha bro I gues if the site has a heavy focus on reviews we need clearer guidlines both about the rating system and the criteria that needs to be covered in a review. Otherwise we are all just taking shots in the dark. The numbers and such aren't any good if we don't some kind of universal understanding.

My Scoring system is something like this.

.5-Absolute garbage that I never want to hear again,  usually something about it sonically offensive or it's just extremely dull.

1.-It's bad but it's not sonic torture

1.5-It's bad but it's so bad that it has a comedic effect and I'm entertained with it if for all the wrong reasons.

2.0-It's an otherwise average affair but is plagued by some detriment like bad production (bad not raw, raw can be good). 

2.5-The album is utterly average, it's not good or bad, it is something that could be inoffensively left into a playlist, but nobody would miss it's absence. In someways this is the worst thing I can say about a piece.

3.0-This is an average offering but it's from a band that I like, or a subgenre that I like so much that even the mediocre stuff suits me fine.

3.5-Either a low performing album from a great band, or an album where an otherwise unremarkable band punched above their weight.

4.0-This is a good album for the general metal audience, and a great album for fans of it's clan.

4.5-This is a great album for both general metal audiences and fans of the clan.

5.0-This is an album that I would enthuastically reccommend to anyone inside or outside of metalheads.

I'm a bit perplexed by this statement of yours: "They weren't intended to be easy to complete. That's why they're called "challenges" after all."

That reads to me like you chose albums that were intentionally difficult to get into, is that the case? If so, I'm not sure why you go for that as opposed to just bringing out the best stuff, but this is your house so I'd still roll with it.

Predominantly a Review Site?

From the FAQ: 
What is Metal Academy?

Metal Academy is first and foremost a community site where fans can talk about all things metal and discover new releases and friends. It was created by the brothers behind the Metal Academy podcast, which is a podcast that chronologically explores the history of metal music.

I came here to be part of a community, make friends, talk metal (not rate and rank it), and discover new releases. There is nothing in that description that indicates it's "predominantly a review site", and if it is just about that then I came to wrong place. I'm going to ask Dan via PM what the aim is here. 

As far as repeated listens go. I am of the strongly held opinion that good music is simply good. If you have to force yourself to like something, it's not good. You are just convincing yourself to like something that you really do not like for clout. Think about your absolute favorite albums-the ones that really do it for you, the stuff that hits you right in the heart. I'm betting you didn't need to hear it over and over. Keep in mind I am a doom-metal guy, I understand that an album sometimes needs to establish an atmosphere and warm up, but even then it's not difficult to know pretty quickly if you like what it's building toward or not. 

and lastly, Where are the standards posted? I did look for for a format or a criteria, but the closest thing I found was the very loose "Also note that reviews do not have to be essays, but they must include personal views based on personal experience."

My personal experience with some of this stuff it that it isn't really anything special. I'm on a quest for the cream of the crop, in world where we have youtube, spotify, bandcamp, etc. why settle for less than the top of the mountain? Why give an essay and an hour to some 2.5/3 album when there is a 5 out there somewhere waiting to be discovered? Feel me?

Hi.

Personally, I love going into detail.  But when I need to write a review for a clan challenge's average album, I often use the more average albums and compare them to like albums in order to fully explain it.  This helps out with an extra five sentences or so and makes the review acceptable enough to complete a clan challenge.

If comparing mediocre albums to one another to highlight subtle differences in the ways they are mediocre makes you happy then god bless and go for it, but it's not an appealing way for me to spend my limited recreational time. 

I hear you on that, but my approach is this; why spend a 1,000 words to say what can be said in 10? As far as pacing, I've been listening to metal for a LONG time, and like the description says; the clan lists deliberately use a lot of the bigger albums. The result being that I've already heard most of them, some of them many many times. The most common rating I give is a 2.5 which signifies average, most things are average, that's why it's the average. Along with that comes the idea that about half of the stuff is below average. 

If a piece of music is just average to me, I don't have feelings for it that warrant a lengthy response. There are only so many ways to say "This was OK."

If the music is below average to my ears, I don't think it's a cool thing to write a lengthily tirade and tear it apart. To someone else it might be very cherished. Additionally I am a bassist, and I know how difficult, time consuming, and expensive it is just to get something recorded. I don't feel right bashing another artists art simply because I don't resonate with it. 

If I had my druthers I wouldn't write a review at all for anything scoring below a 4 (If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything). However, as it stands that is the only path I'm aware of to lock in your starting clans, and make additional ones available at this time, so I try to keep my reviews of 0-3 stars fairly brief. Once I get the homework done and can freely choose what I review you will see more fleshed out takes.

The other issue is when an album has a legacy status. We are all on a metal forum, do I really need to tell you that Black Sabbath's Master of Reality is a good album? What could I possibly say about such an icon that hasn't been said since it's release 53 Years ago?

These are the questions? scenarios? I wrestle with when I write reviews. Believe me, I don't like coming away from an hour long listen (which can be a REALLY long hour if we are talking about early funeral doom) with little to say, but I can't manufacture words for words sake. 

What's more ill-conceived, a short concise statement that does the job, or a rambling for rambling sake? Especially when we all have access to the medium itself a few short mouse clicks away?

I've been thinking about all of this a lot the last couple of days. What do you think? How do you approach writing your reviews?

The latest offering from My Dying Bride, "A Mortal Binding" is really good. Check that one out.

I am a HUGE Type-O fan, and still a fan of the 95-2000 gothic aesthetic in general. VTM: Bloodlines anyone? Variety is the spice of life. 

Satisfied with my top 20 for now.

Figured it out. In Progress.