Reviews discussion

Atavachron wrote: It is one of the things that made this site appealing and successful, in fact the one element that made it special and welcoming---   the ability for any & all to not just write a review but have it instantaneously featured.

Indeed, furthermore, vetting reviews before publication would be a pain. It would make for unnecessary and undesirable work. I would not see that or enforcing only publishing more positive reviews of say, a list of widely widely-regarded "classics" benefiting this venture (that sounds dystopian). I'm not that keen on Close to the Edge, and if I want to write a review of it and give it two stars, I think I should be able to. If the review is considered abusive according to our existing guidelines, than it will be removed and I would likely face consequences, such as having to say, "Sorry, my bad." Ah, the shame of it.

Note too that I think we do expect "better" reviews than in the early days. I say better, but I just wrote one and it's not really good, I write reviews much like I post at the forum, but it is passable and not abusive. To really change the expectations now with 20 years of reviews would cause so many issues and confusion. I would see that as being a huge turn-off for this site for people.

I found this recent review quite an interesting perspective and attitude that is divergent from my own:

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Almendra - Almendra (Crossover Prog)

Review by xd_51
5 stars.

Almendra is one, if not the best latin american progressive rock album of all time. Only challenged by Alturas de Macchu Picchu by Los Jaivas and Jardin de los presentes by Invisible. I'm giving the record a 5 star rating because after careful consideration and analizing of the lyrics, this is a true work of art.

I'm a bit mad that this is considered Crossover Prog, because although it does have a strong pop influence, the songs are very Eclectic and shoud be put as such. Especially the song "Color Humano", its an epic, symphonic piece that touches on the delicate human nature and can be compared lyrically to Starless by King Crimson.

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Of course it is in Crossover Prog due to the pop qualities, and Crossover Prog can be very eclectic. A lot of my favourite music is in Crossover and Eclectic, and when I was on the Eclectic team, we would often have discussions with both the Crossover team and the Avant Prog team on which of us should get the honours of adding a band. Crossover and Eclectic split from the old Art Rock sub, and commonly the music has great similarities. If it leans more towards pop or has significant pop influences, then an Eclectic bands might go to Crossover, if it's weirder (so to speak), it might go to Avant Prog. There is plenty of crossover between categories, and quite a lot of music in Avant Prog could be in Crossover (like the more avant pop oriented projects).

Rateyourmusic lists Psychedelic Rock and Psychedelic Pop as Almendra's primary genres, followed by Folk Rock, Baroque Pop, Psychedelic Folk, Art Rock, Progressive Rock as secondary labels.

Edited by Logan - May 20 2025 at 15:40

Hi,

I was drinking my coffee, when ... what would happen if PA decided to "limit" the number of reviewers, and requested that they post about themselves, FIRST!

AND, we the Admin's would have to approve.

I think it would cut down considerably the number of spamming reviews, though it might have a small side effect that a handful of folks would not end up posting anywhere on the site at all ... but then, considering the spam side of things, that might not be a bad idea.

I doubt that someone that has been accepted to do reviews would have issues with the posts he/she puts together.

The nature of a lot of things, is that the Internet is way too wide open, not that many of us would criticize that, but the fact is that a lot of folks are taking advantage of that to say/post things that are not exactly cool, and I think this would be better handled if the big places, for example, would validate their "users" a bit better, to prevent some bad stuff from being posted or done.

In my view of things, someone TODAY, trashing ITCOTCK, is not a reviewer at all, and that review should be removed if it made it through, but that person would likely cool down some, if he/she had to validate their information instead of thinking they can remain invisible ... I kinda think that what we want to REMOVE is the "invisible" folks ...

Just a thought ... but PA might have been too wide open for too long, but that open-ness has probably had its better days, and times, and now it needs to be reigned in ...however small that idea can handle ... but, it is OK to write a bad review, but we need to make sure that the poster followed the "rules" and saying it's awful and a waste of time, IS NOT A REVIEW ... and it needs to be removed and person locked out until a discussion with an Admin, for re-entry to the site. (I doubt any of these folks will try to get admission ... !!!)

From the Reviews reporting thread:

A Crimson Mellotron wrote: I am just a little unsure about the most recent review of Mike Oldfield's 'Ommadawn', it comes up on top of the PA page as of now... It is very strange, let's put it this way. "I tuned out to talk to my wife for a few minutes then I remembered I was rating an album." is a quote from that same review. https://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=3139684

"Part 2 however was a major step down". At this point I heartily agree with Porky. And I can confirm that Ommadawn part 2 offers more than a few minutes of opportunity to tune out and have a chat with your wife without affecting a two star rating. There is little wrong with the review, though it is neither class nor quality.

My only question is how they can like schizoid and find the REST of the album depressing!

Do you think this is a troll?
http://www.progarchives.com/review.asp?id=3111754

I love Schizoid man but I was never more disappointed by an album in my life . Not what I expected. The most overrated album in history. I love Crimson but cant listen to the first two albums . Why couldnt there be more tracks like Schizoid man? How am I supposed to like Schizoid man and the other tracks? Dont get it . The other tracks are so depressing. How could anyone come up with music like this? Are they mentally ill? Why would anyone want to listen to this depressing crap? How am i supposed to fell after this and the rest of the day? With this sad crap going thru my head? They were so low on material they took 12 minutes for Moonchild with 10 minutes of fuсking around? Epitaph and the title track are a few minutes too long. What is this shіt?

MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ All good reviews are to a large extent opinion pieces. I'd say that all good reviews also contain some factual information about the music, e.g. who some of the musicians are, how the tracks are structured, where the music was recorded, interesting anekdotes and so forth. But like I said, that's "good" reviews. This one is not so good. But I fail to see why that is a problem. On a platform for prog music reviews there should be good, bad and in-between reviews.

A negative opinion could sometimes detail repetition of songs from one album or another, more simplistic music structures or lack of input from certain band members as compared to previous albums, poor song writing, inane lyrics, etc., etc., as just a few examples. I don't see any of that here. But not to flog this horse any further, I'll let it go at that.

Edited by SteveG - January 18 2024 at 08:05

Hrychu wrote: SteveG wrote: Hrychu wrote: Yeah. What I'm saying is that those reviews suck on a stylistic level. But we all start somewhere, don't we! Yes, we all have to start somewhere, but not from the bottom of the barrel. You'd be surprised how many people start from the bottom and later get to the very top! :)

I'll say it again. This 'review' is not a critique of the album's music but a long opinion piece. We get it. He thinks the album sucks. He could have said that in a five word sentence. It's not the negative opinions. He could have said that the album was great in a five word sentence too, with the same outcome. That makes this review below the bottom of the barrel.

^ very true

^ That's why I rarely look back on my old reviews