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siLLy puPPy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote siLLy puPPy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2021 at 21:04
LOL. I was amused by a comment left on my Pretty Things album review for SF Sorrow. Despite my clear description that it was Beatles inspired and was in the vein of a more psychedelic take on British pop rock of the mid-60s, the comment stated that it sounded just like 60s British pop rock and that my review was misleading or something similar to that. Well, duh! Obviously some don't know how to distinguish nuances within a genre.


Edited by siLLy puPPy - January 10 2021 at 21:05

https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BrufordFreak Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 12 2021 at 08:22
Originally posted by kenethlevine kenethlevine wrote:

In the last few months I got a few free downloads of new albums by bands I have reviewed favourably in the past.  I thought both were not up to their usual standards and I was torn in a number of ways.  I don't want to upgrade the review to make them happy.  I don't want to express my disappointment to make them unhappy.  And I also wonder if it's just me not being in a space to appreciate new music.  So in the end, orat least up to now, I have not reviewed them  :(  All this to say I would rather not receive these freebies for the above reasons, and luckily, apparently unlike some people here, I receive relatively few of these.

I've had this happen to me too many times! It's kind of embarrassing and definitely awkward--especially if, like you, I just kind of "ghost" them and post nothing. Just happened with NEON HEART! I LOVED their self-titled debut release from earlier in 2020--it was so fresh and inventive--but the new one they sent me curdles my blood! It almost hurts to listen to it! Agghh!
 
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https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BrufordFreak Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 12 2021 at 08:45
Originally posted by dougmcauliffe dougmcauliffe wrote:

http://www.progarchives.com/review.asp?id=2444439#social-comments

"I've just bought this album yesterday"

How can you rate am album 5 stars, "A Masterpiece of Progressive Music" after owning it for less than 24 hours. Lol.

What is it with this album and the endless stream of 5 star reviews? I think its pretty nice and pleasant, but 4.29? No way jose, this a solid 3.8-4.0x. I'll go out on a limb here and put it this way, this album is not on streaming, the only people who are rating and reviewing it are people who are already likely massive fans of the band willing to shell out the 17+ bucks for the CD.

...sometimes you just know. The first time I heard Relayer (when it came out), I just knew. The first time I heard Trick of the Tail (in the record store the day it was released), I just knew. The first time I sat through Crime of the Century, I was changed. The first time I heard Shiny Eyed Babies, I just knew. The first time I heard A Drop of Light, I just knew that I was in the presence of something rare and majestic.

There is something so polished and mature, and pure and ethereal, attractive and welcoming about the musics on Love Over Fear that I can't help but agree that this is a masterpiece of Neo Prog--maybe the definitive album for the sub-genre--bringing full circle the ideas and spirit and sound of Trick of the Tail. It may be filled with tons of (overly-)familiar hooks and sounds, but it's done so smoothly, so effortlessly, as if it's just flowing out of them. (I've also watched the videos.) 

Also, unlike so many half-assed, half-polished albums that were rushed and released in 2020 after February, this one feels as if everyone put in their full time and attention. I've never heard Nick's voice or guitar sound better--ever! (As a matter of fact, it took this album for me to find the motivation to go back and get to know all of their back catalog--and to want to explore the Neo Prog sub-genre! Which is saying a lot!) It just feels as if he's definitely putting his soul into these performances, nothing feels forced or over-the-top (which is one of the things that has often turned me off about both the Neo Prog and RPI subs). Compare this to the soulless prog-by-numbers sh*t that others dusted off the shelf to publish during the aVoid, and I feel grateful as well as respectful. 

Drew Fisher
https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote wiz_d_kidd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 13 2021 at 08:02
I agree with Drew... sometimes you just know. I've had that experience before -- where an album just smacked me squarely between the eyes and I fell in love with it immediately. Wobbler's Rites at Dawn was the most recent example, for me. And since reviews tend to be very subjective, I can understand the 5 star rating.

That being said, I think all reviewers should strive toward justifying their rating with some analysis of why the music is so good (or bad), or why it affects them the way it does.
  • Does it build tension followed by release, or does it just ramble along?
  • Is the composition complex and unique, or just a regurgitation of the standard 12-bar blues progression?
  • Does it surprise you, or is it plainly predictable?
  • Do the passages flow together in a coherent story, or are they just a bunch of disjoint motifs pasted together?
  • Does it employ varied time signatures and polyrhythms, or is it just banal 4/4 time throughout?
  • Are the lyrics engaging and interesting, or just vapid drivel?
  • Are the vocal melodies compatible with the instrumentals, or is the vocalist off in their own independent world?
  • Is the vocal delivery pleasant and engaging, or overly emotive (too angry or too sappy)?
  • Does the music convey a feeling (peace, angst, anger, love, suspense), or is it dry and sterile emotionally?
  • Does it conjure up images or past experiences or dreams, or are you left perplexed as to it's message?
  • Does the album flow together as a single theme, or is it just a bunch of unrelated songs?
  • Do the musicians use any interesting instruments, or just the usual five-and dime suspects?
  • Are the musicians masters at their trade, or merely (or barely) competent?
  • Is the album mixed and mastered well, or is it lopsided, imbalanced, or acoustically flat?
<I could go on, but I'm getting tired...>

Give us SOME REASON for the rating -- not just that you liked it.

A meaningless play-by-play description (e.g. It begins with guitar. A violin comes in and then the drums, followed by vocals. Then the drums stop, while the guitar continues. etc. etc.) does nothing to give an uninitiated listener any idea about the music.

It's kind of like trying to relay a message to someone by verbally describing what a person giving sign language is doing... He's wiggling a finger. Now he's waving one hand while the other is angled toward his nose. Now he's moving his lips while touching some fingers together. It just DOES NOT CONVEY anything!

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chopper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 13 2021 at 08:27
Originally posted by dougmcauliffe dougmcauliffe wrote:

http://www.progarchives.com/review.asp?id=2444439#social-comments

"I've just bought this album yesterday"

How can you rate am album 5 stars, "A Masterpiece of Progressive Music" after owning it for less than 24 hours. Lol.

What is it with this album and the endless stream of 5 star reviews? I think its pretty nice and pleasant, but 4.29? No way jose, this a solid 3.8-4.0x. I'll go out on a limb here and put it this way, this album is not on streaming, the only people who are rating and reviewing it are people who are already likely massive fans of the band willing to shell out the 17+ bucks for the CD.
I agree, 5 stars for an album after less than 24 hours is nonsense. An album needs time to "bed in".

You may be right that people rating LOF are existing Pendragon fans but (a) they're not giving it 5 stars just because it's Pendragon and (b) it is reaching a lot of people who were not Pendragon fans before this album but a lot of new albums get ratings like this (the new Wobbler for instance) and they drop down over time to a more realistic level.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote siLLy puPPy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 13 2021 at 08:39
Originally posted by dougmcauliffe dougmcauliffe wrote:

http://www.progarchives.com/review.asp?id=2444439#social-comments

"I've just bought this album yesterday"

How can you rate am album 5 stars, "A Masterpiece of Progressive Music" after owning it for less than 24 hours. Lol.

What is it with this album and the endless stream of 5 star reviews? I think its pretty nice and pleasant, but 4.29? No way jose, this a solid 3.8-4.0x. I'll go out on a limb here and put it this way, this album is not on streaming, the only people who are rating and reviewing it are people who are already likely massive fans of the band willing to shell out the 17+ bucks for the CD.



I listened to the album about 10 times before giving it 5 stars. It's a perfectly laid out album that i have no problem putting on time and time again. Are there ratings police now? Have any rules been broken by rating an album after only 24 hours of owning it? I think too many are too wrapped up in ratings! Wink

https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tszirmay Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 13 2021 at 18:36
Originally posted by siLLy puPPy siLLy puPPy wrote:

Originally posted by dougmcauliffe dougmcauliffe wrote:

http://www.progarchives.com/review.asp?id=2444439#social-comments

"I've just bought this album yesterday"

How can you rate am album 5 stars, "A Masterpiece of Progressive Music" after owning it for less than 24 hours. Lol.

What is it with this album and the endless stream of 5 star reviews? I think its pretty nice and pleasant, but 4.29? No way jose, this a solid 3.8-4.0x. I'll go out on a limb here and put it this way, this album is not on streaming, the only people who are rating and reviewing it are people who are already likely massive fans of the band willing to shell out the 17+ bucks for the CD.



I listened to the album about 10 times before giving it 5 stars. It's a perfectly laid out album that i have no problem putting on time and time again. Are there ratings police now? Have any rules been broken by rating an album after only 24 hours of owning it? I think too many are too wrapped up in ratings! Wink

There is , thankfully, no ratings police on PA. I prefer to review albums I really adore and I give out 5 stars regularly. No one has ever PMed me, and given me lip about it. I am a reviewer/fan and not a critic/egotist. Being a seasoned progger (48 years and going strong) and like the gourmet in me, I don"t need 20 visits to the restaurant and order 20 times the same dish to convince myself that its DELICIOUS, and like Drew so correctly stated, YOU JUST DO KNOW. Especially when its a band one is familiar with, the facility of judgement is even faster. Now, there are exceptions, a new artist will require a little adjustment and perspective. For some who need to go to bed with it first, make sure you are taking precautions ConfusedLOL


Edited by tszirmay - January 13 2021 at 18:38
I never post anything anywhere without doing more than basic research, often in depth.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hrychu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 07 2021 at 15:39
I personally "star rate" albums in my reviews based on the quality of the music and not the level of prog rock masterpiece'ness or whatever. But that's just me.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Matti Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 02 2021 at 04:22
Some while ago I asked a question in the "What albums should I review next" -thread, where it seemingly wasn't noticed by anyone capable of answering it, so I ask it here.

There was a link to the list of all unreviewed releases in ProgArchives (which is terribly long). Is it possible to get a list of unreviewed STUDIO ALBUMS only? Thanks!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote octopus-4 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 02 2021 at 04:31
I have tried some filters, but unfortunately the value 0 for maximum number of ratings is intended as "no limits". As we can't directly query the database using an SQL language, I think that currently it's not possible.
You can use the "top albums" screen to make some selections, i.e. list only studio albums, but the filter with 0 ratings doesn't work, and even if it worked, it doesn't distinguish between rating only and reviews.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hrychu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 14 2021 at 12:07
I don't really like reviews that describe the music in question as "generic" and "boring" when it clearly isn't. ;p
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Logan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 14 2021 at 12:23
Boring is of course subjective, as for generic, different people make different associations. If saying generic, then I wish people would mention a bunch of albums of the genre that it is similar to. I don't like reviews generally that I feel don't try to say something reasonably objective about the music. Some just boil down to "I like it" or "I don't like it." I am often interested in the personal experience of the user, but I want feel like it has been insightful to me. Mostly I like reviews that might have a little humour, but more importantly give me some context for the music, make relevant associations ("if you like or liked this, then this might appeal"), describe the sound/ genres well and shows that that person has good knowledge of the kind of music being made. I do like ones that mention their favourite and least favourite tracks (with some basic description), since these days I often use youtube to check music tracks out. Reviews that are descriptive of the music, have some insight into the background, and make recommendations based on it are really worthwhile to me. I often do favour shorter ones cause I'm usually looking for certain kinds of information -- sometimes of the if you like this, try this type. The ones where people seem oblivious to similar music are often pretty useless to me. And those one where people write something like, "I hate this genre, but I decided to try this, and guess what? I hate this too!" Ones which use excessive hyperbole, vitriol or fanboyishness, and tell me that I should buy it, "you need this", or everyone should/ will like it are a turn-off too. Describing music well can he hard to do, and some are too experiential-based and lacking knowledge when it comes to the musical idiom.

I don't blame those who don't write interesting to me reviews, by the way, I can't even write a really interesting-to-me review, so I feel rather bad when I am critical of some others. It does get to me quite sometimes in reviews (and posts) when people make claims in an objective manner that are inherently subjective and those claims that are misguided/ don't bear scrutiny, and those that are not backed up well enough.

Edited by Logan - October 14 2021 at 12:30
Two tracks per many of my fave acts: A Youtube Playlist
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hrychu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 30 2021 at 11:05

Not sure why copy and paste two entire paragraphs. 🤔
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JD Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 30 2021 at 11:30
Well, because each is a first review of a particular album, and you never know what album someone might go to first to read the review. What siLLy puPPy has done is provide an intro the the band so that a first time reader of this band gets background and context before discussing the actual album. I see nothing wrong with that.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote siLLy puPPy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 30 2021 at 11:58
Originally posted by Hrychu Hrychu wrote:


Not sure why copy and paste two entire paragraphs. 🤔


I rarely do such things but it felt appropriate due to the fact two archival releases were issued on the same day

I could’ve changed the wording a bit but felt it was easier just to copy and paste

https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hrychu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 02 2023 at 08:55
http://www.progarchives.com/review.asp?id=361920
I have no clue if the "s reduction" is intentional. Is this a joke? An error? Sarcasm? I dunno, but it just looks odd. Also, as far as I remember this reviewer isn't active anymore, so it might be difficult to get a first-hand answer. :p What do you think, forum?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote someone_else Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 02 2023 at 11:09
^Rather an error than a joke or sarcasm, methinks. Maybe some error with the reviewer's keys, the s and the t redirecting to quotes, or - a bit more likely - some unintended string manipulation between typing and posting.
If this is a way to poke fun at an album, I miss the clue anyway.


Edited by someone_else - January 02 2023 at 11:10
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote progbethyname Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 02 2023 at 16:58
Originally posted by Hrychu Hrychu wrote:

http://www.progarchives.com/review.asp?id=361920
I have no clue if the "s reduction" is intentional. Is this a joke? An error? Sarcasm? I dunno, but it just looks odd. Also, as far as I remember this reviewer isn't active anymore, so it might be difficult to get a first-hand answer. :p What do you think, forum?



It is like a really bad google translate. Lol.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 02 2023 at 17:39
Good old Marek Czyszy right there with a pithy comment too.  

Yeah, that is 'S' discrimination and is against the rules I believe.




Edited by Atavachron - January 02 2023 at 17:40
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hrychu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 15 2023 at 13:30
Originally posted by someone_else someone_else wrote:

^Rather an error than a joke or sarcasm, methinks. Maybe some error with the reviewer's keys, the s and the t redirecting to quotes, or - a bit more likely - some unintended string manipulation between typing and posting.
If this is a way to poke fun at an album, I miss the clue anyway.
Yeah. Looks like an error to me as well. I was being a lil' tongue-in-cheek in my original post. xD
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