A Serious Poll: Reviews |
Post Reply | Page 123> |
Author | |
Pnoom!
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 02 2006 Location: OH Status: Offline Points: 4981 |
Topic: A Serious Poll: Reviews Posted: November 11 2006 at 15:17 |
When I first PMed Peter Rideout to say that I liked one of his reviews, he was surprised, since it was a rather long one. Well, I tend to write and like long reviews (my Final Cut review is 6 pages in word double spaced), but I wondered about everyone else here.
|
|
stonebeard
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 27 2005 Location: NE Indiana Status: Offline Points: 28057 |
Posted: November 11 2006 at 15:24 |
My view varies quite a lot depending on the reviewer/review, but generally:
"medium, only talking highlights, and maybe lowlights, too"
The history of the album history I could care less about. If I wanted to hear about it, I'd read a bio of the band. I like a review to be clever, and if the reviewer drones on and on going through the same old formula with seemingly no inspiration, I'll just close it and ignore the review.
I've written one very long and in-depth review for Pendragon's Believe, and I do believe it is just an average review of mine. I explain the songs well, I believe, but usually just an overview and feel of the album is fine. Picking out two or three songs that best represent the album and explaining why they represent the album is just fine.
For me, the ideal review is no less than 100 words but no more than 500, depending on how well the reviewer can connect his thoughts and feelings.
|
|
Ricochet
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 27 2005 Location: Nauru Status: Offline Points: 46301 |
Posted: November 11 2006 at 15:37 |
I like them so elaborated and so challenging, you simply have to call them...masterliness.
|
|
|
|
ClemofNazareth
Special Collaborator Prog Folk Researcher Joined: August 17 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4659 |
Posted: November 11 2006 at 15:42 |
For me size matters .
My reviews are usually long. Some people read them, some don't - I get comments both good and bad. Meh... I like a review that puts the album in context, either historically or with respect to the development of a particular genre or idea, or just within the context of that band's career. The song-by-song descriptions are usually worthwhile as well, but if the description of the album's context sells itself, I'm going to buy the album and listen to it and form my own opinion about the specific songs. |
|
"Peace is the only battle worth waging."
Albert Camus |
|
MikeEnRegalia
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 22 2005 Location: Sweden Status: Offline Points: 20563 |
Posted: November 11 2006 at 15:47 |
I favor short reviews. They should contain just enough info to give the reader an ideaof where the author is coming from, and what to expect of the album.
I used to write very long reviews ... but today I think it's better to write 10 short reviews than one long one. |
|
Ricochet
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 27 2005 Location: Nauru Status: Offline Points: 46301 |
Posted: November 11 2006 at 15:50 |
by the highlighted principles, short and simple and astute enough is all it takes. but I'm not by that main rule... |
|
|
|
Raff
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 29 2005 Location: None Status: Offline Points: 24391 |
Posted: November 11 2006 at 15:53 |
I voted for "Other", which means I like reviews that are not excessively long, or give a song-by-song analysis, but which manage to convey both the history of the album and some description of the individual tracks (or at least of the most representative ones). My reviews (when I still wrote them... now suffering from a sort of writer's block) fall much in this category - they're rarely too long, but hopefully they manage to give a good overview of the album in question.
|
|
Trickster F.
Prog Reviewer Joined: February 10 2006 Location: Belize Status: Offline Points: 5308 |
Posted: November 11 2006 at 16:00 |
I prefer reading for "substance".
Myself, I do not concentrate to accomplish on a specific length when I am writing my review, I just try to express myself as thoroughly and detailed as I can, it just always happen that they do not turn out short. However, I would never allow myself to write a review without an introductory part or a conclusion, so you can say it is a well-thought process.
The length does not matter, the content does.
|
|
sig
|
|
Vompatti
Forum Senior Member VIP Member Joined: October 22 2005 Location: elsewhere Status: Offline Points: 67382 |
Posted: November 11 2006 at 16:01 |
"Medium, only talking highlights, and maybe lowlights, too." I prefer
long reviews to very short ones, but usually it's not necessary to give
a precise description of every song.
|
|
andu
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 27 2006 Location: Romania Status: Offline Points: 3089 |
Posted: November 11 2006 at 16:38 |
hot, short and no sugar, boy!
|
|
Arsillus
Forum Senior Member Joined: March 26 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 7374 |
Posted: November 11 2006 at 16:45 |
Keep them short and sweet. Tell me something good and something not so good, but if it's a really good album, tell me two good things.
|
|
MikeEnRegalia
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 22 2005 Location: Sweden Status: Offline Points: 20563 |
Posted: November 11 2006 at 17:03 |
Exactly. The most important info for me is: "Why is it good/bad?" A brief, two sentence answer to this sentence gives the reader a good idea of whether he can trust the review or not. For example, if the review says "I don't like this album because it contains growling", someone who likes growling can immediatelly dismiss the review, as it doesn't apply to his own preferences. I think that usually people read reviews because they are trying to find out whether they should further investigate an album or not - so the pattern is (IMO): - Looking at the rating - Reading the review, trying to find out whether the rating applies - If it does, either download/buy the album and listen to it (high rating), or find another album (low rating) - If it doesn't, find a review that shows more "compatibility" to one's own tastes |
|
Australian
Prog Reviewer Joined: June 13 2006 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 3278 |
Posted: November 11 2006 at 17:37 |
I usually write reviews around 600 words. Actually it depends how many songs the album has… Albums I really like get really long reviews.No one has ever given me a negative comment, that can be attributed to fact that I pull arms off when I lose. *Wookie Growl* Honestly guys, let the wookie win!! Edited by Australian - November 11 2006 at 17:41 |
|
|
|
Atkingani
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: October 21 2005 Location: Terra Brasilis Status: Offline Points: 12288 |
Posted: November 11 2006 at 17:54 |
As a Reviews Moderator, I prefer those that are in accordance with PA Guidelines!
As a reader, I prefer the medium-size ones with a bit of history (if necessary) and comments about the production and tracks. Some hidden information and the way that particular album was received in the reviewer's country are welcome too. Humour (not gaiety or outrageous sarcasm) in small doses counts especially for longer reviews in order to allow us to breathe.
As a reviewer, I'm only a student since I have to do reviews in a non-native language (English). I can assure you that if I had to do reviews in my native language (Portuguese) they should sound fair.
|
|
Guigo
~~~~~~ |
|
Pseudonym
Forum Groupie Joined: October 30 2006 Location: Estonia Status: Offline Points: 55 |
Posted: November 13 2006 at 01:57 |
medium reviews are the best, i like to read personal opinions and ideas about an certain album, to get a introduction to an album what is it and what emotions it brought up in different listeners.
|
|
Bj-1
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: June 04 2005 Location: No(r)Way Status: Offline Points: 31157 |
Posted: November 13 2006 at 05:21 |
200-350 words, a good overview does it for me!
|
|
RIO/AVANT/ZEUHL - The best thing you can get with yer pants on!
EXERIOR Experimental tech/death/progmetal from Norway! |
|
Joolz
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 24 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1377 |
Posted: November 13 2006 at 08:09 |
one word can paint a thousand pictures .... concise astute observations are best .... it is a rare skill
but I do like some background .... Edited by Joolz - November 13 2006 at 08:10 |
|
bhikkhu
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 06 2006 Location: A² Michigan Status: Offline Points: 5109 |
Posted: November 13 2006 at 09:39 |
It all depends on what it calls for with me. Most of my reviews are brief, but sometimes I have gone into more detail. I just let the case dictate what I will do.
|
|
sleeper
Prog Reviewer Joined: October 09 2005 Location: Entropia Status: Offline Points: 16449 |
Posted: November 13 2006 at 09:53 |
In general I like the longer reviews (about 600 words, which is about how long my own are) and for the review to give a good overview of what the album is like, both good and bad points, without giving away too much of what the music is like.
I must admit I detest the plethora of really short reviews that almost everyone seems to be posting these days, they just give me no idea about what the album is like. I also like to get a bit of background information on the band/album, but not too much as its not totaly necassary. |
|
Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005
|
|
Chicapah
Prog Reviewer Joined: February 14 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 8238 |
Posted: November 13 2006 at 11:32 |
I go with medium, including short descriptions of each song. I
want to feel like the reviewer listened to the work more than once or
twice before coming to conclusions about it. I rely on the
reviews posted here to give me a consensus about something I'm
considering as a purchase and if they are long-winded with a paragraph
about each song I tend to skip over them and read something I have time
to digest.
|
|
"Literature is well enough, as a time-passer, and for the improvement and general elevation and purification of mankind, but it has no practical value" - Mark Twain
|
|
Post Reply | Page 123> |
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |