Referring to Albums as "Efforts" C/D

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Fucking wanky college radio hosts.

― stephen morris, Sunday, 11 April 2004 22:16 (twenty-one years ago)

making one is certainly an effort

― the surface noise (electricsound), Sunday, 11 April 2004 22:16 (twenty-one years ago)

eh, doesn't bother me as much as these:

"unceremoniously cut/dumped/etc"

You want a ceremony?

"sophmore album"

this one has been done to death and I recently became horrified to learn that i have actually used this in print, but it's a classic dud.

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Sunday, 11 April 2004 22:18 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't see what the problem is

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Sunday, 11 April 2004 22:19 (twenty-one years ago)

On their 2003 effort Darts of Pleasure, Scotland's Franz Ferdinand ... [says something about the music]

That construction always cracks me up. The "on their [date] [name of record] [band does something]" one.

― Broheems (diamond), Sunday, 11 April 2004 22:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it's done because of creative writing fears: ie, never use the same noun or verb twice in a paragraph when there's a synonym. See also "opus".

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 11 April 2004 22:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, but repeating words is distracting ad lame, too.

― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Sunday, 11 April 2004 22:26 (twenty-one years ago)

if i'm reviewing a boring album, but i feel that i should be charitable (because it's probably good for folks who are into this sort of thing) referring to the record as an "effort" is perhaps a pleasing way of implying "i'm giving this album an ok review, but it actually bored the pants off me." or maybe not.

plus what dom said is prob true as well.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Sunday, 11 April 2004 22:26 (twenty-one years ago)

See, I don't have a problem with variety. But I've counted, he's used effort 13 times. Out of 10 records. And he keeps quoting AllMusic. And his voice is all nasally. I'd change the station but he's played Siouxsie Sioux, Public Image LTD, and Devo already.

― stephen morris, Sunday, 11 April 2004 22:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Phone in and request some Mack 10. Remember Mack 10? God he was shit.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 11 April 2004 22:33 (twenty-one years ago)

On their 2003 effort Darts of Pleasure, Scotland's Franz Ferdinand

Bold stuff like that is usually there to pad the word count.

― Andy K (Andy K), Sunday, 11 April 2004 22:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I've noticed a lot of these are "efforts" released on "imprints" rather than labels.

― Curt (cgould), Monday, 12 April 2004 00:33 (twenty-one years ago)

sophmore effort is the worst.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Monday, 12 April 2004 10:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Lately I've been getting intensely annoyed by those tossers who use the phrase "whisper it" in reviews.

Like "one might even say it sounds like, whisper it, the beatles"

FUCK OFF YOU STUPID "I LEARN HOW TO WRITE BY OSMOSIS" TOSSERS.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 12 April 2004 10:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I've noticed a lot of these are "efforts" released on "imprints" rather than labels.

an imprint is a subsidiary label. there's a difference.

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 12 April 2004 10:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Er, don't think it always is. Unusually I've agreed with basically everything else written on here thus far, though

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Monday, 12 April 2004 10:50 (twenty-one years ago)

That was the strongest effort to date.

― , Monday, 12 April 2004 10:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I like it in the context of "a poor effort," but not as well as "a poor showing"

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Monday, 12 April 2004 12:19 (twenty-one years ago)

There's something cloying about that whole "whisper it" style actually, it's like those writers who try to make fun of themselves or the assertions they're making, or try to force a certain reception to their work. What if the reader doesn't want to whisper it? What if the reader thinks it's about as controversial as milk on cornflakes?

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 12 April 2004 12:39 (twenty-one years ago)

As a repetitive tic, any of those things can be annoying. As an occasional synonym to avoid saying "album album album", it doesn't particularly bother me. And as for learning to write by osmosis, I know what you're saying -- I've read plenty of things and thought, "Oh, right, I read that Bangs/Christgau/Eddy/Marcus/whoever piece too." On the other hand, doesn't everyone learn how to write by osmosis? It's in the way that you use it, etc.

(Describing articles or reviews as "pieces," C/D?)

― spittle (spittle), Monday, 12 April 2004 13:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes I guess so, but what I'm bemoaning is people who just learn to write from reading ANY review! Like they use "whisper it" because they see another critic using "whisper it". Does anyone ever say "whisper it" in that context unless they're writing a music review?

It seems odd, like a sort of trade cliche.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 12 April 2004 13:05 (twenty-one years ago)

To avoid being repetitive, I just call them "discomabobs".

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 12 April 2004 13:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Unless you are bestowed some kind of magical music writing abilities from a very young age (and that probably is most ilm posters!) Then i think the use of all these clichés is a way into writing about music at a more sophisticated level. I have had people submit reviews to me before which are written to formula; 'on the latest effort/offering from x manages to do y'. but they've soon developed their style from this. I’m not entirely sure where they pick it up from in the first place. Do they teach it in schools? Rock criticism 101?

This being typical:

‘The debut offering from this Ohio group who play controlled and restrained, highly stylized, rhythmic post-punk. Thirteen songs of distanced emotion and swallowed pain, delivered with great bass playing, virtuoso-caliber, jazz-tinged drumming, delayed and echo-drenched guitar, and desperate vocals.’

I agree with John, in that 'effort' is much better and only passable for me when used to refer to the rigor or actual artistic investment involved in the record. I.e. ‘Effort’ per se. I also find the use of it in a deliberately lazy way quite funny but I think this is quite hard to convey.

Really though, anyone with access to a brain and a thesaurus (and not necessarily in that order) should be able to put a record in context without resorting to this tedious convention. Dud dud dud.

― myke boomnoise (myke boomnoise), Monday, 12 April 2004 14:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I call 'em platters.

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Monday, 12 April 2004 14:52 (twenty-one years ago)

the effort made in this post to slate writers who write 'effort' has been stunning.

― yeahyeahyeah (yeahyeahyeah), Monday, 12 April 2004 21:14 (twenty-one years ago)

No, it's just a bit foolish inasmuch as you wouldn't dream of using it in day to day conversation - but personally, I do it all the time cos you can't just go on saying albums over and over. I still say 'LP' as much as possible.

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 08:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I like "record". It remains unpolluted.

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 08:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, 'lp' and 'release' and 'record' i deem acceptable for use. Very matter of fact. Although i'm not sure why i prefer them over 'effort' and 'offering'. I don't realy find myself having to refer to the release more than once or twice though. There's a nice header for that.

― myke boomnoise (myke boomnoise), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 08:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Effort=Classic

I get annoyed by the 'recipe' technique used as an alternative to "sounds like"

"Take a pile of xxx, throw in a cup of yyy, a dash of zzz and a pinch of you-know-who and you've got the latest effort by ..."

NME recently (well about a year ago) started including pie charts with album reviews (43% Nevermind, 12% Eye-liner, 17% Hallucinogens, etc.) which is as dud as dud gets.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 09:24 (twenty-one years ago)

even more grating than "effort" is "affair." One of the best editors I ever worked with banished this term from his mag's review section and I've hated it ever since. But the all-time lamest rock cricket term has to be "eponymous." Back in the early 80s, Christgau excised it from a piece, calling it a phony show of erudition that occured only in record reviews. Why do these things persist?

― lovebug starski, Tuesday, 13 April 2004 10:32 (twenty-one years ago)

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