Most positive/negative AMG writers

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Most positive: Thom Jurek. I don't think I've ever not seen him praising an album to the sky. I think everything he's reviewed on the whole site is 4 1/2 or 5 stars. And they're frequently reviews that make you feel like running out and buying the album because it will change your life forever.

Most negative: Michael Galluci. I don't think I've ever encountered a good review by this guy. I think he maxes out at 2 1/2 stars. He sounds like a cranky middle-aged man.

Agree/Disagree? Fire away!

― Farmer Al (King Kobra), Friday, 13 June 2003 00:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Negative: Richie Unterberger. This guy claims to be some kind of "expert" on psychedelic music, but his writing never evinces any kind of passion or enthusiasm for the music or its ethos. He never gets excited about anything, never conveys much about the way a piece of music works or feels. He reads like a lonely, joyless hack.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Friday, 13 June 2003 00:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I like his book about weird bands.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 13 June 2003 00:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Well I probably sounded like a meanie there. I've never read his book, but I once was curious about it. On the basis of his AMG stuff, I doubt I'll pick it up. It just seems that often he takes the things that make psychedelia wonderful - its excesses; its ridiculous, fanciful qualities - as negatives. He seems to fundamentally misapprehend a genre he claims to be interested in. He's also very much of the fact-checking type school of writing. Which is what I meant by the "hack" comment - not to say that he can't do his job, just that there is this boring, workmanlike quality to the way he approaches lots of records that I find rich and colorful and exciting. His aesthetic is different from mine - fair enough.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Friday, 13 June 2003 00:44 (twenty-two years ago)

i didn't know that there was any negative writing on AMG. Maybe i don't look up the right stuff.

― scott seward, Friday, 13 June 2003 00:46 (twenty-two years ago)

It's there.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 13 June 2003 00:55 (twenty-two years ago)

miami vice had great music

― keith (keithmcl), Friday, 13 June 2003 00:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Then imagine that music done in a way that is pure shit.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 13 June 2003 00:58 (twenty-two years ago)

so not 'smugglers blues' then?

― keith (keithmcl), Friday, 13 June 2003 00:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember seeing one review of something from Canada where Jason Ankeny goes off on a big tirade against Canada and how it's just a wannabe-U.S. and all this stuff, and by the end, the thing pretty much winds up with a rendition of "God Bless America", a 21 gun salute, fireworks, and a nuclear bomb being dropped on Ottowa... Anyone know what review this is? I really wish I could remember.

― King Kobra (King Kobra), Friday, 13 June 2003 00:59 (twenty-two years ago)

everyone in detroit used to wet their pants over thom jurek, it was weird.

― keith (keithmcl), Friday, 13 June 2003 01:03 (twenty-two years ago)

everyone in detroit used to wet their pants over thom jurek, it was weird.

What do you mean? Why is he famous there?

― King Kobra (King Kobra), Friday, 13 June 2003 01:04 (twenty-two years ago)

The negative reviews of Good Charlotte's and RFTC's latests (both of which may be the bands' best work) actually made me want to get the albums.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 13 June 2003 01:04 (twenty-two years ago)

hah! that's a good one, ned. although i am partial to streets of fire. sounds like a clunker. i only know the helios creed albums from that time period(or maybe later).i'm trying to think of the chrome album i have that's cool and from a later date. i will have to go look.

― scott seward, Friday, 13 June 2003 01:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Most opaque: Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Many of his reviews comprise a series of clumsy vacillations whereby he rehearses and gives credence to every facet of the conventional wisdom surrounding a band/album. His reviews are filled with numerous turnarounds begining with "But" and "Even so"--in a fruitless effort to contain the contradictions that arise through such an approach. He usually ends up staking out a position that resembles what you'd get if you googled an album and then produced the mean of all the reviews that turned up. He says everything and nothing. There's something distinctly unpleasant about reading his stuff, like you picked up a glass of lemonade and wound up gulping a mouthful of air.

― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 13 June 2003 01:19 (twenty-two years ago)

i just don't feel right criticizing the AMG. it's too damn handy. i applaud the effort. not that anyone is being mean. i use it all the time. i even admitted to stealing from it in a review i did on the OHM box for the voice. i had to write something on black sabbath recently and it was the first thing i turned to on the web.

― scott seward, Friday, 13 June 2003 01:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I actually agree with Unterburger most of the time, as far as it goes, but what bothers me is:

(a) his prose style, which is far from affable and is so cool in its pronouncements that you get the idea that r.u., like geir, would never deign to be swayed by a counter-argument

(b) his tacit conviction that the greatest music ever was made in the 60s (if you look at his list of favorite albums i believe they are ALL from a 5-year period in the 1960s) and that all contemporary music, however good, must be viewed with a certain level of skepticism and reduced expectation.

that said i like his books ok and he does have a bewilderingly comprehensive knowledge of obscure cd reissues.

and all this should be taken with a dose of salt, i guess, since i too am v. grateful for the service that amg provides and i hope my criticisms are taken as constructive.

― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 13 June 2003 01:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I like Erlewine. I find him to be even-handed and pretty darn incisive. He always manages to say exactly what I can't fully put my finger on or articulate.

― King Kobra (King Kobra), Friday, 13 June 2003 01:40 (twenty-two years ago)

...along with everything else... STE is all things to all men.

― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 13 June 2003 01:41 (twenty-two years ago)

i think that AMG should hire Geir ...

― Tad (llamasfur), Friday, 13 June 2003 03:10 (twenty-two years ago)

we've done this a thousand times but i figure that amg stays most useful as a resource if the reviews tend to be mainly factual, evenhanded, and often summaries of the critical consensus.

it fits with the discography, credits, and allthe other good stuff that i like getting a sense of from amg.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 13 June 2003 04:29 (twenty-two years ago)

yes but if they are "summaries of the critical consensus" shouldn't they be announced as such. what bugs me is that ste (he is hardly the only culprit in the world, mind) passes this rehashing of not-consensus-but-conventional-wisdom (something approximating consensus perhaps but with contradictions) off as his own internal wranglings with the album in question. which may be fair (i mean, maybe his internal wranglings bear an uncanny resemblance to the shape of critical opinion) but there isn't an observation i can perceive that doesn't sound secondhand, even if it's spoken from the reviewer's own soul.

i agree sterling about conveying information and perhaps critical opinion but one should be clear that this is what's happening. color me literal.

― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 13 June 2003 04:35 (twenty-two years ago)

the completely gratuitous slaughter of Brazen Hussies' "Shit My Pants" made me cry

― dave q, Friday, 13 June 2003 08:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Amg is pretty great when you think about it, in my opinion its reviews are about the most even handed on the web. I sort of agree with some of amateurists comments on ST Erleweine, they can be a bit empty, but having said that sometimes hes quite concise and to the point like when reviewing the dylan albums. and seeing him slag off the new blur album did sort of bring a smile to my face, if you look on metacritic, hes actually one of the few critics to even dare point out faults with it (i never got what was supposed to be so good about blur, and im bloody english). thom jurek is great on amg though, loads of passion

― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Friday, 13 June 2003 09:03 (twenty-two years ago)

but they gave ya-ba 4 stars, dave!

― Tad (llamasfur), Friday, 13 June 2003 09:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Isn't his dad (or someone related to him) the man behind the AMG? I was led to believe that by something on Bomp's Iggy page.

― Vic Funk, Friday, 13 June 2003 12:31 (twenty-two years ago)

i thought he himself was the man behind amg.

― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 13 June 2003 12:41 (twenty-two years ago)

(Haha Ned you know they played "The Kiss" on Miami Vice once, right?)

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 13 June 2003 12:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Michael Erlewine

The criticisms and compliments are very appreciated.

― AMG-ILX Helpdesk (Andy K), Friday, 13 June 2003 12:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Jurek wrote for Touch & Go, NME, Sounds, Creem, RS, Motorbooty, etc.

― AMG-ILX Helpdesk (Andy K), Friday, 13 June 2003 13:02 (twenty-two years ago)

didn't Mike Erlewine get booted out/bought out of his own company?

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Friday, 13 June 2003 13:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Haha Ned you know they played "The Kiss" on Miami Vice once, right?

The blind monkey/banana phenomenon again applies.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 13 June 2003 13:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I also admire the big effort that's involved in a site like AMG. OK, for most ILMers and genre specialists it can be annoying to get pocket sized general consensus reviews etc but for the masses out there who buy the odd CD and never read any music criticism it's a fantastic source for recommendations.

― David Gunnip (David Gunnip), Friday, 13 June 2003 13:53 (twenty-two years ago)

The trick, David, is I think to be able to find the balance between the two impulses. I don't think of myself as someone carrying a grand critical synthesis forward but I do think I can speak on a number of things beyond the norm and can do so in ways that both a general browser and someone looking for something more specific can appreciate.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 13 June 2003 13:55 (twenty-two years ago)

And you're doing it just fine Ned. I enjoyed reading your reviews of all those old shoegazing records when I first happened across AMG in 2000, depite already owning all the bloody records mind you.

― David Gunnip (David Gunnip), Friday, 13 June 2003 14:02 (twenty-two years ago)

I heard "Rythym of The Heat" at the start of Miami Vice one day. They played "Biko" at the end too.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 13 June 2003 14:07 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.tomheroes.com/images/robbgyro.jpg

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Friday, 13 June 2003 14:07 (twenty-two years ago)

aaron i kiss you

― jess (dubplatestyle), Friday, 13 June 2003 14:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Alot of the reviews on the AMG website seem to be overly positive. The first paragraph is usually so positive as to sound like cloying adcopy. In fact, the only review I remember that seemed definitely negative was the last few sentences of the Vanilla Ice discography.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 13 June 2003 14:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I LIKE the overweening positivity, but we've been through this before.

― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 13 June 2003 15:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Best Miami Vice music: "In Dulce Decorum" by the Damned!

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Friday, 13 June 2003 15:28 (twenty-two years ago)

overweening positivity

http://www.hiponline.com/artist/music/w/ween/ween-bio_tile.jpg

"Should we just cover all of Lovesexy?"

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 13 June 2003 15:28 (twenty-two years ago)

So has anyone else seen the Jason Ankeny review I was talking about above??

― King Kobra (King Kobra), Friday, 13 June 2003 17:04 (twenty-two years ago)

I LIKE the overweening positivity...
Welll...yeah...positivity is good...up to a point. But, if you're dealing with somebody who sucks* very badly, you need to make it clear to stay away. Being too eager to "look at the silver lining" might steer the buying public astray. And they'll waste money on that Milli Vanilli remix rekkid, hate it, and lose faith in your ability to review.

...but we've been through this before.
Well, considering that a large contingent of ILM is amatuer and professional record reviewers, its something that occasionally has to be brought up.

SUCKAGE RATIO
Suck a Dried Pea through a Toilet Paper Roll = 50su. (Suckitude Units)
Suck a Golf ball through a garden hose = 850su.
Suck a Grapefruit through a drinking straw = 1912su.
Suck a Bowling Ball through a coffee stirrer = 5080su.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 13 June 2003 17:07 (twenty-two years ago)

"steer the buying public astray" = "oh no! i've purchased a record a lot of people don't like! oh no!"

― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 13 June 2003 18:23 (twenty-two years ago)

we've been through this before and it was decided (by me) that heather p. is teh win. if any of you talk to her can you send her a cyber-hi from "me".

― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 13 June 2003 18:47 (twenty-two years ago)

"oh no! i've purchased a record a lot of people don't like! oh no!"
sigh. No, amatuerist...in this scenario, the customer bought a record HE HIMSELF didn't like...and he did so because he wasn't properly warned that it was kkkkkurap!
The record review in the hypothetical scenario wasn't negative enough to dissuade him.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 13 June 2003 19:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I feel that reviewers should be positive *where merited*. Of course, a generally genial, positive approach to music is to be ever encouraged, but... occasionally, the AMG can seem to over praise many things. Flaws in records are deliberately overlooked, and at times the analyses do not seem balanced enough; the ratings often correspond very little to the actual reviews, either way.
But it's a wonderful project and a great online resource, and must be praised. Its general informative qualities are to be commended, as is the attempt to be generally positive. As someone discusses earlier, I believe it is often best to look on the AMG as a repository of information and of 'general critical received consensus'. Obviously there are some reviewers with much more personalised traits (generally something I prefer), but it is generally not in this vein as a site.

― Tom May (Tom May), Friday, 13 June 2003 23:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I got nothing but love for AMG!

― James Blount (James Blount), Saturday, 14 June 2003 02:01 (twenty-two years ago)

if ned has an overweening theory behind his critiques, then i'd like to know how he connects MBV w/ Carcass.

― Tad (llamasfur), Saturday, 14 June 2003 04:11 (twenty-two years ago)

It's all about the loud love.

LOUD LOOOOOVE!

Etc.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 14 June 2003 04:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Ned you did the Soundgarden reviews?

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Saturday, 14 June 2003 04:24 (twenty-two years ago)

LOUD LOOOOOVE!

and festering, rotting body parts (and exploded eardrums)!

― Tad (llamasfur), Saturday, 14 June 2003 04:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Nah, I just decided I liked the phrase there. ;-) I just like noise in general.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 14 June 2003 04:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Word up.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Saturday, 14 June 2003 05:03 (twenty-two years ago)

As with reviews in general, one has to identify himself with the critic's taste before following its recommendations. For instance, I trust in Ned's reviews, as everyone of its high-ranked albums was great in my opinion, but, though my taste and Erlewine's sometimes coincides, we have different opinions on many albums (like the old Tool reviews that, thankfully, were replaced some time ago).

― JP Almeida (JP Almeida), Saturday, 14 June 2003 15:25 (twenty-two years ago)

... occasionally, the AMG can seem to over praise many things. Flaws in records are deliberately overlooked, and at times the analyses do not seem balanced enough; the ratings often correspond very little to the actual reviews,
Yes. You just said, very eloquently, what I have fumbling about.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Saturday, 14 June 2003 16:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I have not been able to see the name Stephen Thomas Erlewine without breaking out into a hive since 1997 because of what he had to say about Medazzaland, which is much, much better than Rio, thankyoufuckingmuch. I cannot understand why music critics like him want to paint certain musical artists into a corner and try to turn them into easy-to-handle cliches instead of actually opening up their minds and listening to the music. Half of his review for Medazzaland seemed to be an indictment of Duran Duran because they dared to move on after all the Taylors had gone, and the other half seem to be an automatic assumption that since the band didn't want to record "Hungry Like the Wolf" for the 1,000,000th time their music was no longer worth listening to. It simply did not seem as though the album was actually fully listened to, and this review enraged me thoroughly.

Rather surprisingly, the best review of Medazzaland I read back when the album was released was from some college music weekly. The reviewer was happily surprised by the musical direction the band was going into and went into great detail as to which songs the reviewer was most impressed with. It did indeed seem as though (he? she? I can't remember the name of this person!) had actually gone through the trouble of listening to the album, and since I hadn't seen this person's name mentioned anywhere in the online fan sphere before I knew he/she wasn't a heavily biased, rabid fan.

Oh yeah, and why the hell does Greatest rank as the best DD album to get??? Greatest was a major cash cow project for Capitol, and really didn't get the thumbs-up from the band. It was a cheaply-made, rushed-through job, with all of the songs heavily butchered, little information about the band in the sleeve, and quickly made graphics. I would never, ever, ever recommend Greatest to anyone wanting to get into Duran Duran, because I do not think it is at all a good introduction to the group. What I would do is get them to get Decade (which at least leaves the singles as whole songs), then The Wedding Album, and then let them get into both before recommending anything further.

― Dee the Lurker (Dee the Lurker), Saturday, 14 June 2003 17:37 (twenty-two years ago)

You've got a point about Greatest getting the pick -- especially regarding the edits. You lost me completely on the Medazzaland > Rio bit, though. I hope no dangerous bees fly from the hive you break into.

occasionally, the AMG can seem to over praise many things. Flaws in records are deliberately overlooked, and at times the analyses do not seem balanced enough

I'm pretty sure I've covered this a couple times before in older threads, but that's a constant hazard when a good percentage of the writers are covering records/bands that they are interested in. I'd elaborate here but the AMG-ILX Helpdesk keeps shorter hours during the weekend.

― AMG-ILX Helpdesk (Andy K), Saturday, 14 June 2003 18:12 (twenty-two years ago)

and props should go out to Steve Huey, who did an especially involved re-telling of the epic myth Ol Dirty Bastard: Want the Pussy, But Not the Heartache

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Saturday, 14 June 2003 18:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Jason Hundey alway has ass-kissing reviews.

Just check some for his reviews of The Gathering or Cave In.

― Andrzej B. (Andrzej B.), Sunday, 15 June 2003 02:52 (twenty-two years ago)

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