1a (9): A question of balance
A key question any reviewer, or would-be reviewer has to ask themselves before beginning an article is why are you reviewing this particular album? I don't think any of us just reach out and grab the nearest off the shelf or from the music directory on our Pcs, or indeed shuffle our ipods and take what comes up. I do this in a section called “Spinning the wheel”, yes, but that is a conscious decision made with a very definite aim in mind: to randomise my selection and through that medium hope to come up with something different that I would perhaps not normally review. And anyway, that's only an occasional feature, it's not how I usually decide to review albums.
There are probably four reasons why you might choose an album for review, and they depend also on how you go about reviewing.
1. You might love the album, and want to share it with others, in the hope of making them love it too.
2. You might hate the album, and want to tell others why you hate it.
3. You might not yet have heard the album, but want to or
4. You might have been recommended to listen to it, by a friend, radio station, magazine review, anything.
All of these are good and valid reasons for picking an album for review, and each reason will lead more than likely to your approaching your review differently. If you love the album, you probably know it inside out and can expound for hours about it, filling page after page with gushing praise. A word of warning: don't go overboard. A shamelessly slavish devotion to an album will probably come across as insincere, as in, you probably haven't got a bad word to say about it, and won't hear one from anyone else. This labels you as somewhat close-minded, and discussion of this album with you will be discouraged, unless by other devotees who also want to pray at the same altar.
Try always to be objective. In scenario one, you love the album but that does not mean everyone else does. Many will hate it, or just think it's okay. If you're lucky, you'll have many lively, possibly heated discussions on this topic, and in these discussions, as already mentioned in my previous post, you need to rein in your indignation and disbelief that anyone could seriously think this is not the greatest album in the history of music ever, and listen to opposing views. You may even find that your opinion of the album changes very slightly as a result. No-one's saying you're suddenly going to hate it, but you may manage to see flaws that your devotion previously made you blind to. It's good to have a different set of eyes or ears on the subject.
If you go for option 2, you have to be
very careful. You may hate the album, but just as in example one above, your opinion may not be shared by others. If you start slagging off the album and calling it rubbish, you will almost certainly get responses, ranging from the snippy to the outright hostile. Worse, you will begin to alienate people who might previously have considered reading your journal. Annoy them by slagging off what might be their favourite album, and you have created an uphill struggle for yourself. It's hard enough to get readers as it is without you putting unnecessary obstacles in your own path, and that of potential readers.
Always treat every album you review with respect, even if you hate it. Outline why you hate it, how you think it could have been made better, and perhaps compare it to another album, either in the artiste's catalogue, or, if you hate ALL their music, something similar, and show how you believe it fails to measure up, where it goes wrong. Always bear in mind that differing views exist, and respect those views. Comments like “It's not my cup of tea” or “You might like it but I hate it” are very useful, as they show the reader that though you hate this album, you understand there are those out there who may not. This will certainly mollify any miffed readers, and may make them think twice about responding hotly to your criticisms.
But there is nothing at all wrong with reviewing an album you hate. I have done it many times, though usually more with an album I've been disappointed with than one I hate for its own sake. Perhaps something in the catalogue of an artist whose material I generally enjoy that fails to live up to my expectations,(Chris Rea's “The road to Hell part 2” is a good example, as is Gary Moore's “A different beat”) or an album I bought on recommendations but was let down by (Bon Iver's “Bon Iver” and Jeff Buckey's “Grace” spring to mind). I end up being so disappointed with these albums that I need to tell my readers about them, and so I do. But I'm always careful to point out that though I didn't like these albums, others may. It's not that the recommendations were wrong, just that, as an old Irish radio DJ used to say, “they didn't suit me”.
The third method then is perhaps the most interesting. A large percentage of the albums I review get listened to for the first time when I write the review. This way I get an honest first impression, without the time to reflect and wonder whether or not I really like/hate the album. Now of course that can work in reverse: listening to an album only once often does not give you all the experience you may need with that album, and your opinion may change over time (hence my “Last Chance Saloon” feature), but usually I can make up my mind whether or not I like the album on the first listen.
If this is the way you're doing a review, do remember to listen to it all. There's a temptation to skip through, but when you do that you can often miss different, unexpected turns in songs that could very well change your opinion of them, and possibly the album too. Of course, many reviewers will frown on this method, espousing the belief that you need more than one listen in order to be able to make a thorough, honest and informed review of an album. And that can indeed be the case. It really depends on you. When you listen to an album, do you automatically like/hate it on first listen, or do you usually need to hear it a few more times before you make up your mind? If the latter, I wouldn't recommend reviewing on first listen, as you may end up having to eat your words and look rather silly if your opinion changes after you've posted a vitriolic lambastation or indeed praiseworthy adoration of a particular album.
Finally, there's the recommendation. That's pretty similar to the above, but in some ways the choice has been partially taken out of your hands, as someone else has said this album is good and you now want to know if they know what they're talking about. Don't make the mistake of, if you have a totally opposite reaction to the album than they had, writing in your review that “reviewer X must be mad” or “reviewer Y doesn't know about music if he likes this!” No-one's forcing you to review an album you haven't heard, so it's a calculated risk, and if it doesn't come off it's not the fault of whoever recommended it to you. It just may be that they have different musical tastes to you (this should be obvious: if you hate, for instance, hip hop or dubstep or opera, and someone recommends an album in those genres, you're probably going to be wasting your time, as your mind has already been made up to hate it. Don't review an album just to prove you don't like it purely on account of its genre or style) or that, whereas you normally like the same sort of music, here you differ. Differences are what make us all so unique as human beings, and everyone can't like the same thing.
You may even find that if you decide to review an album to tell everyone how much you hate it, if you haven't listened to it for some time, that it isn't that bad after all, and your review must then reflect this. Or you may still hate it. But I would never shy from reviewing something because I expected it to be good and it turned out not to be. It's more open and honest when you can tell your readers, “well I expected this to blow my socks off, but hey, it's not so great after all!” No-one likes anyone to set themselves up as perfect (again, except me
) and to be fallible is human. And welcome.
So, whether you're reviewing an album because it's Band X's latest and you can't wait to tell people about it, or it's one that you've been meaning to get rid of because it's so bad but never got round to it, or indeed it's something you've never heard before and are curious about, try to treat every album with the same amount of respect and dignity that you would if reviewing your favourite. This helps readers to see you have a balanced approach in your writing and your reviews, and they can begin to believe that you're a source to be relied upon.
Respect, at all times, in all things. It's not a bad creed to live by, you know.