Metal Reviews

as you may know in wine and spirits products are often judged in blind tastings, with varying degrees of information concealed, from not even revealing the colour of the wine (you can use dark glasses) to letting the guy know the region, grape or vintage to put his tasting in context, but no more than that.

i have seen countless times how expectations due to the label, reputation, price, etc. can have a big impact in how the product is perceived. it definitely makes a difference and there's a reason why mosts critics and trade panels assess products with some degree of 'blindness'.

having been making an effort to start listening to more new metal in recent weeks, i've noticed i get more enjoyment out of releases i missed from bands that i already liked than most other stuff that simply comes recommended. i also get more enjoyment out of stuff with great reviews than stuff that's less consensual. maybe i simply enjoy it more because it's just better music, or it could be part of me wanting to like it.

so i was thinking of trying something similar to blind tasting. but questions emerge:
- to what degree should it be 'blind'?
- how to set it up?

and in formal reviews, i wonder whether this would be a cool thing to try. a first blind listen, with no preconceived notions, and then with information, to classify it in the context of the genre or the artist's body of work.

obviously some stuff is instantly recognisable, but still.

would like to hear your thoughts on this.

I remember my old Sony mp3 player had a function where when one album finished, it would shuffle to a random new album. I miss that and I've never found one quite like it for the iPod. Partly because albums I'd dismissed or forgotten about would come on, and I'd think "wow this is really cool, who is it?" until I was able to recognize it.

I tend to try to listen to stuff with as little information as possible - an "it's good" from someone with good taste like trapt, the knowledge that it's a classic opera, or hunting down the side musicians who played on a jazz album I like.

So yeah, blind listening is a cool idea. I try to do it in some ways but I've never bothered figuring out a rigorous set up.

You can easily set any iPod to shuffle albums. It's called settings.

when putting stuff in the ipod, you know what goes in the mix. when it comes up you'll probably be able to recognise it.

I was responding to noodles, didn't quote him though.

Shuffle albums isn't quite the same because you have to press play for it to start shuffling albums...

wait I think I just figured it out

tee hee

I used to even 'blind buy' albums back when I had money for it. Lot of fun when you discovered something great, but it also led to some duds. Now I tend to try find out everything out I can before listening.

nop it didn't work :-(

DW i was replying to you both i guess.

i'd really like to try this, but a set up isn't easy. just like in wine tasting i think you need another person's help to do it properly.

what do you think of the merits of blind listening in a formal setting? maybe it would be cool if we tried this for a week or two at MR. reviewers would only be told the genre (having Chris or Danny review tech death would be silly, for example).

We have a list of promos ordered by name and genre. I'm very hesitant to grab promos off the list that I don't know, simply because there is so much that I do know that doesn't receive proper coverage. If I was in your situation of trying to cultivate a new taste or aesthetic then blind testing would seem helpful, but I'm at the point where I know exactly what I want and so reach for those albums mostly. There is more in that field than I could ever listen to properly. Sometimes new albums catch me off guard and they blow me away, like the new Shining album, but it is usually only insofar as they conform to something I already like or know that I'm looking for. Nothing catches me totally off guard anymore while still being something I like. Dare I say.

i know it's hard to keep track of artists we already like and follow, but i wonder what impact it has on appreciating new artists vs established ones.

it depends on whether you're inclined to forgive or punish aspects you don't like from a band you know, and how you'd react to the same happening with a new band. i think i'm more forgiving of slower/cornier (i usually dislike slow music) parts in Kamelot than in, say, the sound-alike Serenity, for example.

the degree of 'prejudice' varies from person to person i guess.

Interesting topic. I try and pick things that I'm new to/that sound good sometimes and give them an open-minded listen - my first review of Serenity came around through that, iirc, and I do try and pick things I'm not familiar with as much as the band promos that I'm a fanboy of. Think I do this on purpose, as I've been burnt out with specific genres before and hated the experience, so trying to keep an open mind in all directions is a reaction to that...