ArsMoriendi
09.06.15 | Yeah I don't like Tool and even I can agree that the Lateralus review was shit.
Read the NIN - The Fragile one, it's even worse. The reviewer even admits he already dreaded listening to it before he even put on track 1. |
SharkTooth
09.06.15 | Yeah 1 actually came across as an extremely positive review past the 1st paragraph tbh |
FacelessMan
09.06.15 | i feel like the Tool review was satire or something, or the album rating was a typo and was supposed to be 9.1 |
altertide0
09.06.15 | The problem with pitchfork reviews (and music reviews in general, actually) is that they're waaaay too long and instead of writing about the album the reviewer writes about the life of the artist or his own life or whatever that doesn't interest me.
The best site for reviews is allmusic, period. Short and on topic. |
altertide0
09.06.15 | And +1 to Ars for NIN's Fragile, this is the review that made me stop reading pitchfork. |
someguest
09.06.15 | "The best site for reviews is allmusic, period. Short and on topic."
might as well just read the genre of music it is and listen to it yourself |
Parallels
09.06.15 | "it's like combining Broken and The Downward Spiral"
"The Fragile is simply Music for 'The Elder for the digital age."
jesus christ, i dont even find the fragile to be that amazing on an album but that is just unwarranted bullshit and he's just showing himself off as "my taste is holier than thou" |
BearzUnlimited
09.06.15 | The Tool review is satire. He's writing from the perspective of a 14 year old writing an essay for 9th grade English. It's pretty fucking stupid but at the same time kinda amusing |
treeqt.
09.06.15 | cool thanks man really needed this on sputnikmusic man thanks for the contribution keep on doing you man |
CK
09.06.15 | Lateralus is overrated tho so |
altertide0
09.06.15 | @someguest What a review needs is the style/genre of the album, what is unique about it (if), an overall impression and highlights. If it's well written then it can definitely encourage you to check the record without spoiling the fun, like many of the long texts do. Or without wasting your time on forced and unnecessary bullshit, like many of the long texts do. You get the idea.
Sometimes longer reviews can be a great read but that's very rare, at least for me. Most of the time I just need a quick glimpse because I don't have the time or I'm too lazy. |
someguest
09.06.15 | What makes albums great is how they make you feel, so I like the personal stories. But hey, everyone's different. |
Jots
09.06.15 | go click on any random review on their "new reviews" page or whatever and odds are it's better-written than anything in our staff section. |
Jots
09.06.15 | like I ❤️ Sputnik but some of the p4k writers can w r i t e |
ArsMoriendi
09.06.15 | Positive p4k reviews (like 8.0-10.0 ones) are usually well written. They just tend to suck when trying to criticize an album, even if it's a bad album... |
Jots
09.06.15 | it's difficult to write negative reviews well. there's only so many ways you can say "this is boring," or "this sounds awful" |
ArsMoriendi
09.06.15 | Why try to say it differently? Just be direct. No one reads a review for artful language, they read it to see if it's a quality work/if it might be worth checking. |
Jots
09.06.15 | because people like to be entertained while reading reviews too, probably. idk Ars, there's more than one way to skin a cat |
Jots
09.06.15 | like might as well just reduce reviews to bullet points with that logic |
BearzUnlimited
09.06.15 | Oh, you forgot this review:
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9464-shine-on/ |
ArsMoriendi
09.06.15 | "like might as well just reduce reviews to bullet points with that logic"
Honestly, I hate to agree with your counter-argument example since it's meant to make my point look ridiculous, but.... a bulleted review might actually be more practical and leave less room for pointless filler sentences. |
Jots
09.06.15 | test it out! |
ArsMoriendi
09.06.15 | Challenge accepted!
Will have a bullet review out before the beginning of 2016! |
treeqt.
09.06.15 | y'all think i'd get banned if i write one |
Kman418
09.06.15 | that tool review is so great lol how could u miss the point of it that badly |
Brostep
09.06.15 | yeah in general pitchfork's writers are dec - I'm a fan of sherburne, powell (for the most part), garvey (for the most part), and occasionally camp. they have some bad eggs (*coughcoughIanCohencoughcough*) but overall their average rev quality is probably better than our average, which should be obvious because they're all getting paid decent money to write and we get zilch. they're occasionally laughably bad though - I think of that PC Music Volume 1 review (http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20542-pc-music-volume-1/) or that Spoon review (http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19514-spoon-they-want-my-soul/) - but overall they're pretty high quality |
