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PostPosted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 11:35 pm 
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Einherjar
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Afro Lint wrote:
In defense of these turds, reviewing isn't easy. Do you have any idea how many times I use the word "killer" in reviews? All the damn time! And I hate it. But it's hard to not follow trends if you write reviews consistently. It's not like telling a story, where characters and settings change the way you write. With reviews you're writing about the same thing every frickin' time. Yeah, different bands, but you're writing about the exact same things. It's hard to keep things fresh. I generally hate most of my reviews. Haha. They seem cool at first, like Zad said, but later you're like, "Fuck me...that's dreadful." But it doesn't matter, because most people don't read all your reviews, so they probably don't pick up on those things.

With that said, some people clearly have no business writing anything.


ken speaks the truth on this matter

I generally don't like anything I've ever written in terms of reviews with maybe two exceptions.

it's just very difficult to be inventive or interesting when you're writing essentially the same thing over and over again. Very little can be done with the format in general.

that metallica review is just balls though.


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:00 am 
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Karma Whore
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Afro Lint wrote:
Mintrude wrote:
Afro Lint wrote:
In defense of these turds, reviewing isn't easy. Do you have any idea how many times I use the word "killer" in reviews? All the damn time! And I hate it. But it's hard to not follow trends if you write reviews consistently. It's not like telling a story, where characters and settings change the way you write. With reviews you're writing about the same thing every frickin' time. Yeah, different bands, but you're writing about the exact same things. It's hard to keep things fresh. I generally hate most of my reviews. Haha. They seem cool at first, like Zad said, but later you're like, "Fuck me...that's dreadful." But it doesn't matter, because most people don't read all your reviews, so they probably don't pick up on those things.

With that said, some people clearly have no business writing anything.

I'm my own worst critic. I generally hate any reviews I write, but people seem to like 'em.

Same here. There's only so many ways you can say something. I've actually reused descriptive lines before without realizing it. Haha.


I used to use the same line in every review at one point. I'm glad I don't do that anymore!


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 8:43 pm 
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Ist Krieg
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Afro Lint wrote:
In defense of these turds, reviewing isn't easy. Do you have any idea how many times I use the word "killer" in reviews? All the damn time! And I hate it. But it's hard to not follow trends if you write reviews consistently. It's not like telling a story, where characters and settings change the way you write. With reviews you're writing about the same thing every frickin' time. Yeah, different bands, but you're writing about the exact same things. It's hard to keep things fresh. I generally hate most of my reviews. Haha. They seem cool at first, like Zad said, but later you're like, "Fuck me...that's dreadful." But it doesn't matter, because most people don't read all your reviews, so they probably don't pick up on those things.

With that said, some people clearly have no business writing anything.

My reviews on Clint's site....how many godamn times have I used the word "epic?" It's so difficult not to! On my review for the Blade of Spirit album I actually changed it "operatic" because I was so dead-set against saying "epic" again. And operatic suggests something altogether different! It is a tricky business. But that Arch Enemy review is just so noobish it's unreal. Like when I look back on some of my old reviews on Metal Archives, it's severe cringe territory.

But seriously. Harry Potter. :rolleyes:


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:04 pm 
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Dead Machine wrote:
Afro Lint wrote:
In defense of these turds, reviewing isn't easy. Do you have any idea how many times I use the word "killer" in reviews? All the damn time! And I hate it. But it's hard to not follow trends if you write reviews consistently. It's not like telling a story, where characters and settings change the way you write. With reviews you're writing about the same thing every frickin' time. Yeah, different bands, but you're writing about the exact same things. It's hard to keep things fresh. I generally hate most of my reviews. Haha. They seem cool at first, like Zad said, but later you're like, "Fuck me...that's dreadful." But it doesn't matter, because most people don't read all your reviews, so they probably don't pick up on those things.

With that said, some people clearly have no business writing anything.


ken speaks the truth on this matter

I generally don't like anything I've ever written in terms of reviews with maybe two exceptions.

it's just very difficult to be inventive or interesting when you're writing essentially the same thing over and over again. Very little can be done with the format in general.

that metallica review is just balls though.
I agree that it is hard to be inventive when writing a review, but I don't really think that is the point. The main purpose is to be informative, and being interesting comes second.

It's also worth mentioning that reviews of bands you are already familiar with are much easier to write / read and are more interesting because of that. As for bands you have never heard of, the score and the "it sounds like band x, y, and z mixed together" sentence are what help to draw you in and check out the band, or stay away.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:58 am 
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Metal King

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If you read back on most of my reviews, I always tried to put something personal into it. How I discovered the band, a tour story, something different that could set it apart. Of course, with new bands you can't do that.

And I agree it is about being informative, but at the same time if you're reviewing to truly promote the band, you want to keep it interesting so people don't just quit reading the review altogether. If you wrote like that, you might as well just put down a score and call it a day. You know.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:15 pm 
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Ist Krieg
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The main things I don't like in reviews are if theres more than a paragraph on the band's history (if I like the band I probably already know that and if I've never heard of them I probably don't care unless it involves interesting stuff like murder and/or pedophilia or something) or if the album has more than 5 songs and the review goes through them each systematically describing them (kinda meaningless if I haven't heard the album and completely useless if I have). I don't think either of those really qualify as hilariously awful though :x

otherwise it just comes down to the writers talent

one thing that annoys me with review websites in general is that the reviews feel the need to be at least 3 paragraphs long when I think in general you can describe an album perfectly well in a paragraph or two :\


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:45 pm 
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noodles wrote:
one thing that annoys me with review websites in general is that the reviews feel the need to be at least 3 paragraphs long when I think in general you can describe an album perfectly well in a paragraph or two :\


Yeah, there have been times that I've finished a review, and it just looks really short compared with the norm here. I used to feel apprehensive about posting something like that, but not anymore. It really depends on the album, and the reviewer, when deciding how much is enough.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:51 pm 
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Einherjar
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I don't mind a lengthy review myself but it doesn't need to be several pages long or anything. I'd say a few paragraphs that are well written can usually sum up an album just fine.

Most of the reviews on the site here seem to nail that fairly well.


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:23 am 
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Sailor Man
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As always, I'll point out the only Gorguts review on this site. Really shameful stuff. Morbid Angel copycat, wtf does it have to do with Morbid Angel anyways?


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:42 am 
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Dago wrote:
As always, I'll point out the only Gorguts review on this site. Really shameful stuff. Morbid Angel copycat, wtf does it have to do with Morbid Angel anyways?


Absolutely nothing. All that shows to me is that the reviewer knows positively jack shit about both Morbid Angel and Gorguts. That is if you didn't already grasp that fact when he says that Obscura is their debut. Pretty shameful indeed.

I didn't realize that was the only Gorguts review here. Maybe I'll have to push Considered Dead, The Erosion of Sanity, or Obscura to the top of my "classics to review" list.


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:16 am 
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Sailor Man
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:dio:


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 7:32 pm 
These two types of albums are IMO the hardest to review:

1. Complex/proggy albums.

2. Albums where almost every song sounds alike.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:22 pm 
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Metal Lord

Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:15 pm
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Seinfeld26 wrote:
These two types of albums are IMO the hardest to review:

1. Complex/proggy albums.

2. Albums where almost every song sounds alike.


Then in a killing song section you should write:

- "all of them" (because they're all the same)

OR

- "none of them" (because they all suck the same)


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