Rating Scheme
I’ve never really liked the arbitrary rating systems that a lot of reviewers employ. Can you really tell the difference between a 6.8 and 7.2? On a day to day basis, is a three and a half star that much worse than a four star or better than a three star? Worse yet, weeks, months, or years down the road, how stable is that rating really going to be? With all this in mind it seems like a bad idea to employ my own system but hopefully I’m not going to fall into the same traps as some concrete rating system. I’m basing my ratings around both my immediate reaction to the record/show as well as how wether or not I would like to relive the experience down the road (i.e. my want to play the record again or see the band again). It’s not going to be prefect and there are some experiences that are gonna be on the fence, but hey if you feel that I’ve got something wrong, ask me what I think down the road and I’ll give you my opinion. Now without further ado, from worst to best the ratings are:
- Terrible: I’m putting the record into the microwave or I feel the need grab the instrument out of the performer’s hands, smash it on the ground and tell them to give up.
- Bad: I’m most likely never going to listen to the record again and if a song comes up I’ll most likely skip over it. At a show I’m going to head inside to get another beer and talk to friends away in a location where I can’t hear the band playing.
- Mediocre: Most likely I’m never going to purposely seek out the record for another listen, but if a song comes up I won’t skip over it. At a show, boredom is fully set in but I don’t feel compelled to walk away yet.
- Good: I like the album and while I won’t listen to it feverishly, I’ll still give it another spin or two. Shows of this value make me want to see the band when they are playing in town again.
- Great: I’m listening to the album on repeat and I have at least two songs I listen to over and over. If a band that gets this rating and is coming within 100 miles I’m going to see them.
- Perfect: An album only gets this rating once it crawls it’s way into my heart. An album is not born Perfect, it must earn it after repeated listens and enter into my musical lexicon. When a show is Perfect I will remember for years and years to come without prompting and being reminded by another party.
Keep in mind that there will be a lot of Goods and less Bads and Terribles than Greats and Perfects as I’m self selected in terms of music and shows. I currently receive no advanced copies of records for review (not that I ever will) and pay for my attendance concerts. As such I’m not going to go out of my way to purchase a record or ticket that I don’t think I have a chance of enjoying. Hell, even if I didn’t pay my own way, I wouldn’t feel compelled to waste my time on stuff I don’t have a chance of liking. That would be idiotic.
