Written by BitterCOld on 12.05.2011 at 20:20

Written by Marcus on 12.05.2011 at 06:51

Hmm, interesting article, but I've always felt all the people who decry reviews that don't agree with them as not being objective actually are trying to insinuate that the reviewer is biased in some way. I.e., lots of people will say an great review for an Opeth album is solely because a reviewer is a fanboy, or that a negative review is because someone just hates Opeth.

Although this is similar to objectivity/subjectivity, reviews are supposed to be subjective as they're someone's opinion but not inherently biased in their writing.

that is pretty much exactly the point. they use "objectivity" as the weapon to attempt to cut down the reviewer whose opinion they disagreed with. the "OBJECTIVITY!" battle cry, 95 times out of 100, has nothing to do with objectivity at all, just a simple disagreement on comparative values.

it's the review equivalent of the racist tag. you can't disprove a negative. take my A7X review. many people who liked the album accused me of having an agenda or an ax to grind, blah blah blah... they couldn't accept that i simply found the album boring and sub-par, so they called my objectivity into question. there is nothing i can do to disprove that accusation, even though had i liked the album, i would have written a positive review. of course, then those who really, really dislike the album might have called me out with similar accusations, just from the opposite side of the coin.

Written by [user id=101272] on 16.05.2011 at 18:03

I never like reading reviews because they are always wrong. The only person who is right is the artist/band who makes the CD.

Written by [user id=101272] on 16.05.2011 at 18:03

I never like reading reviews because they are always wrong.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 16.05.2011 at 19:15

Written by [user id=101272] on 16.05.2011 at 18:03

I never like reading reviews because they are always wrong. The only person who is right is the artist/band who makes the CD.

I guess that was a joke because 99% of the artists/bands will say that their album is good, nothing more.

Written by Grody2themax on 20.05.2011 at 06:08

I agree with you that music is very subjective. However, there definitely is a level of objectivity that can be used when describing music. Personal tastes differ, but you can't write a review on personal tastes solely. When reviewing music and such, it is mostly opinion, but hopefully "good", or supported/thought out opinions. Obviously, being extremely objective or subjective when writing a review on music isn't good. I think the writer just needs to find a balance.

Written by BitterCOld on 20.05.2011 at 06:13

Written by Grody2themax on 20.05.2011 at 06:08

I agree with you that music is very subjective. However, there definitely is a level of objectivity that can be used when describing music. Personal tastes differ, but you can't write a review on personal tastes solely. When reviewing music and such, it is mostly opinion, but hopefully "good", or supported/thought out opinions. Obviously, being extremely objective or subjective when writing a review on music isn't good. I think the writer just needs to find a balance.

yet another person who somehow skipped straight to the end and missed the bit where I mentioned it being a good thing if the reviewer had one leg in objective land.

Written by The Norseman on 20.05.2011 at 17:41

This is why I don't like most of the reviews I see. I don't care about the reviewer taste, I care about the technical quality of the album, how good it will sound to the average person, not to the hardcore fan of the style. This is why most reviews are bad, because reviewers only express their personal taste.

Written by BitterCOld on 21.05.2011 at 06:50

And as far as technicality goes, i'm sure spending precious words to describe "30 second solos in the dorian mode utilizing sweep-picking and two-hand tapping" will be a huge help to people in determining whether or not something is worth shelling out $15 for.

Written by Promonex on 20.05.2011 at 19:52

Good luck finding reviews by THE average person then.

Written by The Norseman on 21.05.2011 at 17:33

Written by Promonex on 20.05.2011 at 19:52

Good luck finding reviews by THE average person then.

Huh? Where did I ever said i wanted reviews by the average person ? and why the hell is "THE" in caps? Did you even bother reading what I said properly?

Written by The Norseman on 21.05.2011 at 17:33

I don't care about the reviewer taste, I care about [...] how good it will sound to the average person, not to the hardcore fan of the style.

Written by The Norseman on 21.05.2011 at 17:33

Reviews, I'll find several reviews saying different things because most people fail to actually give an imparcial note.

Written by Promonex on 21.05.2011 at 19:12

Average ratings, you'll find several websites with different average ratings for one and the same release because people (not most, but ALL) fail to actually give impartial grades.
But when reading several reviews by different reviewers, you'll find out everything that needs to be known about an album, both positive and negative. Reviewers tend to explain their rating, the average person does not.

Written by The Norseman on 21.05.2011 at 17:33

I give you an example. I usually listen to power/heavy metal but sometimes I like to try other styles like Black for example. Being a person that don't know much about black metal bands, where do I base myself to pick an album to listen to? The reviews? No, never. I base myself on the ratings an album has, because that is an average grade given by several persons, so the chances of it being more accurate are greater. Reviews, I'll find several reviews saying different things because most people fail to actually give an imparcial note.

This is just my opinion, I respect yours and I'm not looking to change it.

Written by The Norseman on 21.05.2011 at 22:27

This is pointless. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

Written by ADIresiduos on 26.05.2011 at 01:20

Agree! But now a days is quite easy to get an idea of how a band sounds like: you tube, metal radio, etc.; and whenever a friend of yours tells you to catch a certain band because they sound "very heavy, brutal, epic. etc", you can always check it out on the internet (90% positive that you'll find something on it). So, use technology after reading a review and decide for yourself.

Written by Guib on 26.05.2011 at 06:07

Written by ADIresiduos on 26.05.2011 at 01:20

Agree! But now a days is quite easy to get an idea of how a band sounds like: you tube, metal radio, etc.; and whenever a friend of yours tells you to catch a certain band because they sound "very heavy, brutal, epic. etc", you can always check it out on the internet (90% positive that you'll find something on it). So, use technology after reading a review and decide for yourself.

Smart... but ya know, if everyone would check every bands and songs (and god knows theres alot of them... fuck god) then what would be the point of good 'ol reviews ? We always like the entertainement of someone expressing his opinion about a subject, especially concerning music. Don't ya think so ?

Written by ADIresiduos on 26.05.2011 at 01:20

Agree! But now a days is quite easy to get an idea of how a band sounds like: you tube, metal radio, etc.; and whenever a friend of yours tells you to catch a certain band because they sound "very heavy, brutal, epic. etc", you can always check it out on the internet (90% positive that you'll find something on it). So, use technology after reading a review and decide for yourself.

Quote:
(with one hand cupping their balls and another plugging their anus)

Written by BitterCOld on 21.05.2011 at 20:50

Written by The Norseman on 21.05.2011 at 17:33

I give you an example. I usually listen to power/heavy metal but sometimes I like to try other styles like Black for example. Being a person that don't know much about black metal bands, where do I base myself to pick an album to listen to? The reviews? No, never. I base myself on the ratings an album has, because that is an average grade given by several persons, so the chances of it being more accurate are greater. Reviews, I'll find several reviews saying different things because most people fail to actually give an imparcial note.

This is just my opinion, I respect yours and I'm not looking to change it.

are you kidding me? you take the album scores? those are horribly overinflated by folks who just click a number... if you had any idea how many THOUSANDS of votes i've nuked from users who create accounts just to spam 10s to "cool" artists and 1's to slag off either uncool artists or others topping the charts in direct competition to their favorites.

if you think reviews are impartial why would you expect scores to be any different? just clicking "10" is a lot easier than typing 500 words why something is a 9.8 or whatever.

you hit the nail on the head the prior paragraph. and it holds true with music, movies, books, everything. you are best off finding someone who does reviews with tastes similar to your own.

Written by Aristarchos on 20.11.2012 at 18:21

I think the ratings give a much more fair picture of how good an album is regarded as than an review, as long as you check out that the album has enough ratings. I don't read reviews to see how good the reviewer think it is. I read them for getting a picture of how they sound.

Written by BitterCOld on 20.11.2012 at 20:51

Written by Aristarchos on 20.11.2012 at 18:21

I think the ratings give a much more fair picture of how good an album is regarded as than an review, as long as you check out that the album has enough ratings. I don't read reviews to see how good the reviewer think it is. I read them for getting a picture of how they sound.

as someone who has had to nuke literally tens of thousands of votes due to fraud, allow me to retort:

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.