Online Album Reviews
 

So where do you guys read and watch album reviews? Post the links! Especially if you know some good video album reviewers as those are usually the most interesting. Have you guys heard of Velocities In Music? What do you think of them?

Home - Velocities In Music

rateyourmusic and allmusic are usually what i go to.

stay away from Pitchfork though, it may lead to hipsterism, trolling and elitist views.

I seldom actually read reviews, on the basis that I'm not interested in a complete stranger's opinion, and wouldn't like to to influence my own. If I were to read a review, I would want it to be written by someone I know and respect, and even then I would rather discuss what they thought than be told it.

I read reviews just to see what others thing, but then i listen for myself and give my on opinion on what i think... which i hope leads to somebody else giving their opinion on what they... and so on and so on and so on.

I look at it for suggestions, not to be told what is the best.

Like with Rate My Music, i will download a top rated album, as an introduction... but then go from there all my own.

That should be what these sites are used for, suggestions and nothing more.

Same with movies or anything.

My biggest issue with these things would be, who is reviewing it? it is like... if you look at the movies.. if somebodies favorite movie is Citizen Kane, and they wind up reviewing a b-movie like Basket Case... how do they approach it? When reviewing something, I think it is best to stick to the comfort zone and taste of your own first before branching out. Somebody who has watched nothing but art films for their entire life, and then watches a b-movie horror film will not rate it based on it's own merits, they will be more likely to rate it based on it only in relation to their own tastes.

A good review is subjective, weighing out the pros and cons of something, looking at the good, but also noticing the bad. Opinion alone can't hold a review and won't speak to everybody.

who exactly writes reviews for allmusic anyway? Is it a team of reviewers?

yeah, different people. Not just one. I think they have different "experts" for different styles.
http://www.allmusic.com/explore/writers-bloc/

Metacritic gives you a good sampling of many reviews. All Pitchfork is good for are concert announcements on their site.

I really enjoy Glide Magazine for reviews of shows and albums. They've got a good sampling of music I'm interested in, and I actually get to read reviews and be updated on the jam band scene whilst also being able to read about indie/alternative and more mainstream releases.

Glide Magazine

I like pitchfork. They have a huge database and I've learned about a lot of new music through them. I also very rarely disagree with their reviews (except the Mars Volta ones). Someone should explain to me why pitchfork is so hated because I don't get it.

^I think people hate em due to the fact that they act like snobs. Basically a bunch of music elitists.

How do they act like snobs? Is it because they generally use colorful vocabulary? Or is it because they give a lot of "mainstream" artists bad reviews (which they deserve 99% of the time)?

I do not think it is the actual site that is the problem, just the majority of the people who pop up who just agree with everything... instead of just coming to their own conclusions, they seem to just agree with everybody elses.

I do not get that type of thing, like people who won't go to a movie cause Roger Ebert said it sucked.

I just look at that site as a source of entertainment. some of their stuff is well written, and reeks of retro teenage angst a lot of the time. It is like a review site for the jaded, made by the jaded.

I do not mind Pitchfork, but I find 99% of people who I have met who frequent it obnxious.

Maybe it's because they're guilty of what so many other music reviewers are; getting behind an artist just so they can be remembered as the source that broke the artist through. Not as bad about this as NME, per se, but still. They also try to appeal to a certain audience, which I guess is ok if you're the audience they reach out to. Plus, one need only look at a Brent DiCrescenzo review to see why pitchfork is trash.

allmusic is the one and only professional review site I trust remotely, and even then they can be a bit loopy. Sometimes their scores and reviews don't match up at all, probably has something to do with how ridiculously large a database they have.

Oh and I love people who equate reading reviews to jeopardizing your personal tastes. I don't know about you but I have enough self control to read critics' reviews and not let them decide for me whether I like something or not. Mostly I use them to discover music I haven't yet heard anyways.

I occasionally go to sputnikmusic or amazon when considering to look at an album. Gives you a more accurate idea of how the album is by the number of viewers who contribute to those sites.