CD reviews. Gospel or useless

Message

Bob the Builder · #1 Post by **Bob the Builder** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 8:05 pm

There are many places that you can find different CD reviews.
Often, I've bought an album, and a few months later, read a review on it. Some times I don't agree with the reviewer at all.
Do you find this, or if not, are reviews a big determination on you buying or not buying a CD.

Brian

gatorgal · #2 Post by **gatorgal** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 9:52 pm

Don't pay attention much to CD reviews. Like movie reviews, I may read them to see what others think, but it doesn't sway my decision either way to purchase a CD or color my opinion of a certain CD and/or artist.

Tina

Ron · #3 Post by **Ron** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:15 pm

Well, I write a lot of CD reviews and I like to think they aren't worthless. Of course they shouldn't be taken as Gospel, either. I expect a lot of people use reviews as a starting point to identify CDs with potentially danceable songs on them, and then use sound clips or other means to decide whether to buy them. Or to identify which CDs by a particular artist might be the most deserving of further scutiny.

And once you get a feel for the reviewer and their biases, you can decide how much weight to give their recommendations. Or whether to reverse their recommendations. For example, after a couple of Alan White's recommendations on the old swing djs mailing list, I understood that he only seemed to like bad (in my opinion) pop swing music by modern artists. So I would avoid his recommendations. (By the way, I notice that his website, swingtop40.com isn't around anymore. R.I.P.)

Ron · #4 Post by **Ron** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:20 pm

gatorgal wrote:Don't pay attention much to CD reviews. Like movie reviews, I may read them to see what others think, but it doesn't sway my decision either way to purchase a CD or color my opinion of a certain CD and/or artist.

Tina

Well, I use movie reviews pretty extensively to decide what to see. It's a lot better than guessing, or relying on my impression from advertising. The best ones are the ones with combined reviews, like rottentomatoes.com

gatorgal · #5 Post by **gatorgal** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:29 pm

Ron wrote: Well, I use movie reviews pretty extensively to decide what to see. It's a lot better than guessing, or relying on my impression from advertising. The best ones are the ones with combined reviews, like rottentomatoes.com

Never heard of the Rotten Tomatoes site, but I watch a lot less movies than when I was a kid. I agree, trying to find quality entertainment from advertisements is an exercise in futility.

I go online to find out what a movie is about than to find out what everyone thinks. But I really don't use it to sway my opinion. For example...

I just saw "Lost in Translation" last Sunday with a friend. Now that was a movie that got a lot of great press and reviews, but when I read a synopsis of the film it really didn't float my boat, even though I'm a fan of Bill Murray. Now after my friends saw it and gave it the "thumbs up", I was encouraged to see it, even though it took some time.

Same with music... some random reviewer, who may or may not have an agenda, doesn't really sway my "vote", but if someone I respect or whose tastes align with mine says "Hey, give this CD a listen", then I'm more apt to listen to it with an open mind. If that makes sense.

Tina

Matthew · #6 Post by **Matthew** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:30 pm

I think it depends on the type and quality of the review. I've found Ron's reviews to be very helpful, because he gives his opinion AND the pertinent, technical information on which he bases the opinion. He clearly lists his preferences, and notes where he thinks others may disagree. This is very different from "This CD stinks because there are no songs I'd spin."

gatorgal · #7 Post by **gatorgal** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:42 pm

I'm obviously clueless...

Ron, you have reviews?

Tina

Nate Dogg · #8 Post by **Nate Dogg** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:55 pm

Matthew wrote:I think it depends on the type and quality of the review. I've found Ron's reviews to be very helpful, because he gives his opinion AND the pertinent, technical information on which he bases the opinion. He clearly lists his preferences, and notes where he thinks others may disagree. This is very different from "This CD stinks because there are no songs I'd spin."

Ditto, his site is very helpful and his details are pretty revelant. Some of other review sites are too general (Ex: somebody raves about a 30s - 40s era Duke Ellington CD, yet they don't really say anything that helps me decide why I should by that one over the multitude of other similar CDs available).

Same things goes for CD recomendations on this site. The more specific that a recomendation is, the more likely I am to buy it.

#9 Post by **JesseMiner** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 1:02 pm

Bob the Builder wrote:There are many places that you can find different CD reviews. Often, I've bought an album, and a few months later, read a review on it. Some times I don't agree with the reviewer at all. Do you find this, or if not, are reviews a big determination on you buying or not buying a CD.

Reviews, both good and bad, are a great tool to use when looking for new CDs. They are most useful when I know who the reviewer is and what his or her tastes are.

gatorgal wrote:I'm obviously clueless...

Ron, you have reviews?

Once again, let me point towards the SwingDJs Links section where you can go to reviews by Ron, Reuben, Lawrence and others.

Jesse

gatorgal · #10 Post by **gatorgal** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 1:24 pm

Thanks, Jesse!

Why do I feel like I should stand in the corner?

Tina

Drew · #11 Post by **Drew** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 9:05 am

Consider the source.

It ultimately depends on who wrote the review, but even so I am much more likely to buy unknowns on personal recommendations from trustworthy friends than I am from a written review. Same goes for movies, plays, restaurants, etc.

My problem with a lot of reviews is that from my experience most critics have forgotten how to enjoy themselves.

Roy · #12 Post by **Roy** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 10:28 am

I don't use CD reviews personally. I listen to reccomendations from a few DJ's who tend to have independent tastes and the rest of the stuff I seek out I heard on the radio and wrote down the song. I have a quest to find good stuff that no one else has, so I try to avoid getting what is popular with all swing DJ's. I already have a few hundred CD's that everyone else has so I see no reason to get more stuff everyone else has.

For movies I am just the opposite, my taste in movies tends to line up pretty well with Roger Eberts taste's. My tastes don't alighn with the most popular movies, so I pay particualry close attention to what he says.