1. Who are you, and what do you want from me?

2. How do you review an album? I just want to know whether it's good or not...

3. What's the point of the "recommendations" section?

4. Are your reviews subjective or objective?

5. But James, you gave band "x" full marks for the individual scoring bit but only an 8/10! What the hell?!

6. So which score has the most importance?

1. Who are you, and what do you want from me?
My name is James Gallichio; I listen to/play a lot of music and find that it's a fundamental part of many people's lives. I hate the fact that, these days, music is about material gain rather than making something decent. What annoys me even more is that it has become extremely difficult for artists who do try and do something different and creative to get their music heard; not because people don't buy their albums, but really because people don't even know they exist. Subsequently I want to help expose people to artists who you don't hear on the radio all too often - that is, artists who don't suck.

2. How do you review an album? I just want to know whether it's good or not...
Yes, yes, I get the point, you're in a hurry and you don't want to read a big shpiel. Well, kid, fuck you. I'll tell you when I'm good and ready.

...umm...ok, well the system functions as follows:

Scoring:
Albums are given a score, and this is derived as follows; each album is rated for the following:

Creativity: that is, how the album differs from what is mainstream, predictable crap. For instance, for this, both Simple Plan and Ashlee Simpson would receive '0' - rated out of 10
Listenability: how easy the album is to digest as a whole for average person. As an example, Mudvayne would receive a score around 1 or 2, while The Beatles would get 5's - rated out of 5
Continuity: how consistant is the album? If there are five really great, amazingly fantastic songs, but then 4 horrible pieces of shit, it will get a low score. However, if it's crap - yet consistantly crap, it will do well :) - rated out of 5

After these are rated, I will crunch the numbers and give a standard score out of 10, as well as recommendations as to who might like this album. However please note that the final rating is not just the average of the 3 aforementioned scores; they will also take into account other things, such as the production values inherent in the album.

One final note, albums are not reviewed against each other. I can't stress that enough. Don't say "ohh, Little Barrie got a better score than The Beatles, that must mean James thinks they're a better band". That's stupid. Don't be stupid. Sometimes, if there is a correlation between separate releases from a band in terms of style and genre (such as the 2 Air albums I've reviewed) then I'll compare them to each other, but the ratings are plainly a guideline, and there is contest involved whatsoever. Seriously, how/why would I compare Air to Joni Mitchell?

3. What's the point of the "recommendations" section?
Well, me, I'm glad you asked! These are recommendations as to who might like this particular album; it lists other artists/genres that fans of the reviewed generally tend to enjoy. It's an easy way of telling whether or not you'll be a fan, and also helps you find some new artists that you might like.

4. Are your reviews subjective or objective?
I will attempt to review all albums objectively - as, of course, just because I don't like something, it doesnt mean that it isn't good (usually). Subsequently everything will be reviewed purely on basis of merit and regardless of my personal tastes in genre. For the most part, anyway; of course it's difficult to look for the strengths of, say, "side trance"..

5. But James, you gave band "x" full marks for the individual scoring bit but only an 8/10! What the hell?!
Yes. I'm enigmatic like that. Like I say above, the reviews are done on the basis of merit. I try to do them subjectively, but sometimes that's hard; for instance, if I hear an album which, comparatively to every album ever made, is excellent, it's going to get high ratings for "creativity" "continuity" and "listenability". However, the very same album could be the band's worst, or maybe the style is doesn't allow for much depth or the lyrics aren't very subtle or something nitpicky like that; like I said my "scores" do not cover absolutely everything!

6. So which score has the most importance?
As a general rule, the "Overall Rating" is the most important, as it's an "on the whole" score of the album.