What Makes A Good Reviewer

Imagine our embarassment when we realized that two of the promised reviews for last week weren't actually posted. So ... for the Aural Odyssey section this week, we have that review of Frontier's Suture ep. Tangerine Dream's Mars Polaris will be added next week (10/18). [Or, as it appears, soon -ed.]

Because it is a minor issue that has come up elsewhere, I thought I'd spend a moment or two on it here. That issue is the role a reviewer must take when evaluating an album.

Those of us who share our opinions of any work, be it music, art, sculpture, or even website design, must be very aware of what impact our words may have. If we are respected voices in the community - whatever community we are in - we have to be very aware of the fact that what we say influences people and their decisions. Think of the furor that Oprah Winfrey started by her comment about beef - right or wrong, it is true that a large percentage of her viewers will follow her lead. She recommends a book, the number of copies sold quadruples.

Now, obviously, Oprah is a very widely known media figure, while I am not. Which doesn't make my opinion any less valid, but my community is smaller and my sway is less.

A reviewer, a good reviewer, has the obligation to be fair with their audience - to state their opinion truthfully, without resorting to personal attacks on band members, producers, etc. But, even more so, aware of their influence on their audience. A reviewer can state whether they would recommend the album or not - a recommendation to those who are of similiar mind about the music under review - but it would be unprofessional to blatantly discourage anyone from purchasing the album. Most readers know this. You know this. It is a fine line, however, between not recommending and disuading.

Our role as reviewer is to tell you what to expect should you chose to buy the album, and why we aren't giving it our "seal of approval."

I think of this example - in reading the reviews in a major progressive music magazine, I once came across a review of a album (I forget which now) that compared the artist to Marillion, saying that because it was trading in the same style of music, he didn't like it (he didn't like Marillion, either). I, liking Marillion, viewed this as a selling point, and added it to my "seek out" list. That's no guarantee I'm going to end up liking that album, and in fact, I may find things that have nothing to do with its similarity to Marillion to make me dislike it.

Anyway, I wanted to share my thoughts on this, because I hope I am doing a good job in walking that fine line.

On tap this week: Alaska's self-titled debut, Poverty's No Crime's Slave To The Mind, Frontier's Suture, Listen's Close Your Eyes And You're There and more.

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Published on: 1999-10-11 (2190 reads)