EpsilonJSTC: Greatest Rock Critic Of All Time?

TheArkitecht 09.15.11
nayone 09.15.11	adam downer
FatChickIrl 09.15.11	"I've never really gotten into Bob Dylan." LOL
nayone 09.15.11	"Note that he has never given a 10/10 to any album." what a faggot
FatChickIrl 09.15.11	^I agree
EpsilonJSTC 09.15.11	Well, on his ratings guide he says that a 10/10 would be the greatest rock album of all time. So it makes sense that he hasn't given one yet.
Killerhit 09.15.11	sonictheplumber
FatChickIrl 09.15.11	What did he give trout mask?
EpsilonJSTC 09.15.11	He gave it a 9.5. "what a huge pretentious piece of shit" People say that a lot too.
FatChickIrl 09.15.11	Thats wierd.......if he listed it as the best rock album of all time which it isnt then why would it be a 9.5......
EpsilonJSTC 09.15.11	I dunno, maybe he doesn't have it listed as a 10 because rock is still going and he thinks something better might come along.
FatChickIrl 09.15.11	Thats an extremely invalid reason. And yeah Rosa he is, he pretty much thinks trout mask is the best album bc its so "different" and "avante garde" which is a bs reason. The best album should be the album that best encapsulates what rock is and trout mask certainly doesnt do that.
EpsilonJSTC 09.15.11	Why would it be the album that best encapsulates what rock is? I think, if anything, an album like that would sound really generic and would be far from a great album. I agree that thinking that something is great because it's avant-garde is a stupid reason, but given how much rock sounds the same, being unique is a pretty important asset in being a great album.
Yotimi 09.15.11	I like most of these but I'll never understand why people like 20
FatChickIrl 09.15.11	There are many things that define what the Best Rock album will be. The only thing Trout Mask full fills is "uniqueness". An album that represents what real rock is wouldnt be generic because factors like songwriting, time it was made, and influence of the album come in, something your buddy doesnt take into consideration. A perfect example of what I mean is Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road, London Calling, Bold as Love or Blonde on Blonde.
EpsilonJSTC 09.15.11	What do you mean by the time it was made?
Electric City 09.15.11	just not a big fan of his writing
FatChickIrl 09.15.11	The earlier it was made so to speak the more influential it was.
sniper 09.15.11	The best album should be the album that best encapsulates what rock this is fucking retarded
FatChickIrl 09.15.11	that was a bold statement i explained myself.
EpsilonJSTC 09.15.11	How does Trout Mask not fit this then? It's and album with sophisticated songwriting going well beyond the pop song format, it was made fairly early in rock history, and it's been highly influential in inspiration for many rock musicians, such as Tom Waits and much of the underground punk rock scene.
Electric City 09.15.11	influence has no impact on quality
FatChickIrl 09.15.11	It really just comes down to personal opinion. Albums like the ones mentioned I feel hold more influence and better songwriting. But you know, to each their own.
Killerhit 09.15.11	RosaParks is the best
toxin. 09.15.11	"influence has no impact on quality" Can I quote you on that, plz?
Crymsonblaze 09.15.11	He's invalidated for the simple reason he has never rated anything a 10/10. A perfect score should be elusive, but not so rare that you never use it, otherwise just make 9.5 the highest possible score. What an idiot.
Electric City 09.15.11	i mean an album can be influential because its good but its not like because an album is influential it must be great.
wabbit 09.15.11	I mean this is pretty much every list I ever make so clearly I am the greatest rock critic of all time.
toxin. 09.15.11	@EC, if that was intended for me.... I know what you meant.
omnipanzer 09.15.11	"No, Moondance is not better than this. It's still great though." Moondance is far more approachable though. Slim Slow Slider is beyond mellow, tremendous album.
MusicalHoboMan 05.13.14	You people are humiliating yourselves. It's almost maddening to read your comments. Seriously now. You're calling a man an "idiot" or "retard" and not see yourself is the one being described by your very self because of the way you conduct yourselves here? Your comments are horrible. They’re nothing but illiterate comlaites there and here. Show some thought, guys. Anyway. Huh. Sigh, sigh, sigh. I do think Pierro Scaruffi is the greatest rock critic of all time. I have not known of a rock critic other than him who knows so much about the nearly unnoted yet totally supreme music artists such as Tim Buckley and Van Morrison, and could write substantial material about them that actually rings true to you once you listen to them. Besides, Pierro is very good at selecting the right words for his descriptions. For example, he described My Bloody Valentine's music as something thet "thrives on chaos and sweetness" if I recall the gist; or The Doors' as "Shakespearian", which indeed rang true to me. I salute Pierro. He knows his stuff. And the best part is he is not easy to dismiss records that sound disorienting at first spin. Thanks to him, I dug out some of the most satisfying music there is, which, if not for his eloquent reviews I would have simply ignored.
Kman418 05.13.14	did you make an account to make an angry 2 paragraph long comment responding to a list that was from 3 years ago
Kman418 05.13.14	The fact that so many books still name the Beatles "the greatest or most significant or most influential" rock band ever only tells you how far rock music still is from becoming a serious art. Jazz critics have long recognized that the greatest jazz musicians of all times are Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, who were not the most famous or richest or best sellers of their times, let alone of all times. Classical critics rank the highly controversial Beethoven over classical musicians who were highly popular in courts around Europe. Rock critics are still blinded by commercial success: the Beatles sold more than anyone else (not true, by the way), therefore they must have been the greatest. Jazz critics grow up listening to a lot of jazz music of the past, classical critics grow up listening to a lot of classical music of the past. Rock critics are often totally ignorant of the rock music of the past, they barely know the best sellers. No wonder they will think that the Beatles did anything worth of being saved. In a sense the Beatles are emblematic of the status of rock criticism as a whole: too much attention to commercial phenomena (be it grunge or U2) and too little attention to the merits of real musicians. If somebody composes the most divine music but no major label picks him up and sells him around the world, a lot of rock critics will ignore him. If a major label picks up a musician who is as stereotyped as one can be but launches her or him worldwide, your average critic will waste rivers of ink on her or him. This is the sad status of rock criticism: rock critics are basically publicists working for free for major labels, distributors and record stores. They simply publicize what the music business wants to make money with. Hopefully, one not-too-distant day, there will be a clear demarcation between a great musician like Tim Buckley, who never sold much, and commercial products like the Beatles. And rock critics will study more of rock history and realize who invented what and who simply exploited it commercially.
Kman418 05.13.14	Beatles' "aryan" music removed any trace of black music from rock and roll: it replaced syncopated african rhythm with linear western melody, and lusty negro attitudes with cute white-kid smiles. Contemporary musicians never spoke highly of the Beatles, and for a good reason. They could not figure out why the Beatles' songs should be regarded more highly than their own. They knew that the Beatles were simply lucky to become a folk phenomenon (thanks to "Beatlemania", which had nothing to do with their musical merits). THat phenomenon kept alive interest in their (mediocre) musical endeavours to this day. Nothing else grants the Beatles more attention than, say, the Kinks or the Rolling Stones. There was nothing intrinsically better in the Beatles' music. Ray Davies of the Kinks was certainly a far better songwriter than Lennon & McCartney. The Stones were certainly much more skilled musicians than the 'Fab Fours'. And Pete Townshend was a far more accomplished composer, capable of "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia". Not to mention later and far greater British musicians. Not to mention the American musicians who created what the Beatles later sold to the masses. The Beatles sold a lot of records not because they were the greatest musicians but simply because their music was easy to sell to the masses: it had no difficult content, it had no technical innovations, it had no creative depth. They wrote a bunch of catchy 3-minute ditties and they were photogenic. If somebody had not invented "beatlemania" in 1963, you would not have wasted five minutes of your time to read a page about such a trivial band.
MusicalHoboMan 05.13.14	Trout Mask Replica is an atmospheric album. I can relate to why it is number 1. It has that impenetrable and utterly unearthly edge to it, or whatever it is really, that isn't just due to its oddity. Something breathes within it. That inexplicable thing is what made me return to it time and time and again after initial dislike. Somehow, it can be said that Trout is a work of sorcery because, simply, it sounds like some twisted spell that was put within music via an inhuman means.
MusicalHoboMan 05.13.14	Well, yeah. I wanted to have my say, regardless that this list is from 3 years ago.
MusicalHoboMan 05.13.14	Concerning the Beatles, I'm not on Pierro's side though I must say his biography on them is something to respect. Abbey Road is many a rock band's template for a track-by-track solid album, and Sgt. Pepper is the model for the high and hype chapter of a band's career. The Beatles is a rock reference. That's the thing. Pierro mostly argues that if the Beatles ever exerted an impact, it is mostly culturally and only dimly musically. Music, however, is as defined by the culture that comes into it as it is by bare sound. Isn't music an aspect of human culture? Part of what makes music good to us is how it could tap to our way of life, may we belong to the cult or the rave side of music culture. The Beatles tapped both ends. I understand that if you are a critic, it is perhaps more appropriate to give more importance to the sonic aspect of music and to some degree discount culture. But even when viewed from a purely musical angle, The Beatles have their merits. They may be the greatest when it comes to creating melodies, the type that gets one swinging and singing along. And melody is music. Hook is music. Singing and singing along is music. Simple as that. Saying that the Beatles had no musical importance is the stuff of personal opinion. The nitty-gritty point of the Beatles might just be this: to make you sing along, if not really astonish you with sophistication and stuff. Pierro obviously does not appreciate this. Even so, Sgt. Peppers and The White Album, for example, offers sophistication Pierro is supposed to be impressed with already if he was impressed with the Velvet Underground & Nico. Pierro simply dislikes the Beatles. But leaving him on that wouldn't hurt would it?
Foaming 04.20.15	Not even a Beatles fan, but his argument about them is biased and flawed. Essentially saying they weren't that great because they wrote pop songs instead of avant-garde suites and stuff like that. As if avant-garde is above taking the easy road, it can fall into the same traps that pop music does. Also what Crymson said. You don't have to hand out 10's left and right but to review thousands of albums and never give a single perfect score is overcritical nonsense.
nakedwesmile 04.20.15	pop music is ok if you listen to music occasionally but if you really get into it you'll not find the genre very satisfying anymore
Riviere 04.20.15	That happens to any genre if you get into it enough. It's easy to become jaded.
Torontonian 04.20.15	Cool albums. I hate 1 and 18 very much however.
Torontonian 04.20.15	most of his ratings are absolutely retarded though
NorthernSkylark 04.20.15	no way is moondance better than astral weeks
Cygnatti 04.20.15	literally gay
someguest 04.20.15	What about you?
Cygnatti 04.20.15	fairly close but not quite !
Ryus 04.20.15	My Bloody Valentine - Loveless The last extreme rock album? Probably.
sixdegrees 03.24.19	You people are humiliating yourselves. It's almost maddening to read your comments. Seriously now. You're calling a man an "idiot" or "retard" and not see yourself is the one being described by your very self because of the way you conduct yourselves here? Your comments are horrible. They’re nothing but illiterate comlaites there and here. Show some thought, guys. Anyway. Huh. Sigh, sigh, sigh. I do think Pierro Scaruffi is the greatest rock critic of all time. I have not known of a rock critic other than him who knows so much about the nearly unnoted yet totally supreme music artists such as Tim Buckley and Van Morrison, and could write substantial material about them that actually rings true to you once you listen to them. Besides, Pierro is very good at selecting the right words for his descriptions. For example, he described My Bloody Valentine's music as something thet "thrives on chaos and sweetness" if I recall the gist; or The Doors' as "Shakespearian", which indeed rang true to me. I salute Pierro. He knows his stuff. And the best part is he is not easy to dismiss records that sound disorienting at first spin. Thanks to him, I dug out some of the most satisfying music there is, which, if not for his eloquent reviews I would have simply ignored.
auberginedreams 03.24.19	Has he not heard any music in the last 30 years or so?
GhandhiLion 03.24.19	good bread.
J() Alexander 03.24.19	Some of those albums suck ngl.
JustJoe. 03.24.19	care to expand?
GhandhiLion 03.24.19	he gave mbv, neu and tvu a 1.
sixdegrees 03.24.19	https://www.sputnikmusic.com/images/members/479240.jpg
AlexKzillion 03.24.19	You telling me Fantano isn’t the only music critic?
J() Alexander 03.24.19	"he gave mbv, neu and tvu a 1." I didn't 1 MBV (I don't like it though), Loveless has a 2.0. The ones I don't like there are: White Light/White Heat, Loveless, Neu!, Twin Infinitives, Blonde on Blonde, Suicide, Zen Arcade and Slow, Deep, and Hard. Also, Fair Forward Voyagers is very easy to find, come on.
neekafat 03.24.19	"Note that he has never given a 10/10 to any album." wow what a cool madman genius
sixdegrees 03.24.19	@ghandilion is this your old account
neekafat 03.24.19	"Show some thought, guys. Anyway. Huh. Sigh, sigh, sigh." was a good effort but this gave the trolling away
GhandhiLion 03.24.19	@sixdegrees I wish