Human Canon Ball Relaunched: A Trip Through Time

Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4 ... 27, 28, 29  Next
View previous topic :: View next topic
Author Message
baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
United States

  • #21
  • Posted: 10/31/2017 23:57
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
AfterHours wrote:
The other point I have a question on is people's ratings systems, which in most cases to me, don't make sense in practice. If yours works for you, then by all means continue, but I do wonder (not just for you, but for many), about the ratings of tracks being, in many cases, equal or greater than the whole rest of an album (which also includes the songs that are apparently greater than it!?). I think it's highly unlikely that you/anyone (in a vast majority of cases) actually thinks a given track (especially when taking up 1/10th or so of a given album, is actually better than the rest of said album. Perhaps I'm mistaken but...

...

Do you truly think that The Beach Boys' song "Please, Let Me Wonder" and "Kiss Me, Baby" is (a) better than the entire rest of the album put together, which also includes these very "5/5" songs but is only collectively "3.86/5", is (b) one of the greatest works of music in history (with perfect scores of 5/5), and (c) if not, what is your criteria?


My enjoyment of an album is mostly based on my mean level of enjoyment. For the most part, it doesn't build additively with each minute of great music I hear. If there were an album with 50 minutes of sublime music and 10 minutes of pure shit, would you prefer that to an album with 35 minutes of sublime music and 0 minutes of pure shit? I wouldn't.

a) Yes, the other material drags the album down to a lesser mean point of enjoyment.
b) Yes.
_________________
Add me on RYM
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
AfterHours



Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

  • #22
  • Posted: 11/01/2017 22:33
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
baystateoftheart wrote:
If there were an album with 50 minutes of sublime music and 10 minutes of pure shit, would you prefer that to an album with 35 minutes of sublime music and 0 minutes of pure shit?


I strongly doubt I would (unless perhaps the 50 minute sublime work was much better than the 35 minute one), but based on your ratings of the tracks, that didn't seem to be the case (for the most part) for you with regards to The Beach Boys album.

It is highly unlikely and virtually never happens (if ever at all) that a truly incredible artist and album/work features a portion of its album that is that amazing with another portion being truly awful.

If your ratings system works for you, I'm not here to argue you out of it -- but out of curiosity, to make sense of it.

I would agree that many mediocre albums are especially ordinary/weak in quality material, very inconsistent and tend to feature very little, if any, carryover/build-up in "cumulative quality" from track to track. However, this does not tend to be the case with the masterpieces of history or even 2nd/3rd/4th/5th tier masterpieces/"minor-masterpieces". There tends to be a much greater, unified (programmatic/conceptual/cyclic form) artistic purpose/statement and cumulative emotional impact being conveyed.
_________________
Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad



Location: Ground Control
United States

  • #23
  • Posted: 11/02/2017 05:13
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
Love your taste mate.

Glad to see you still at it.
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad



Location: Ground Control
United States

  • #24
  • Posted: 11/02/2017 05:17
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
AfterHours wrote:
Something I wonder (and sometimes ask) when I see someone rating by track and then giving an overall score based on that average is ... why don't you account for the fact that tracks have varying running times and would therefore have varying degrees of impact on the overall average? For instance, if you had an album where one song was 1/2 the running time of the album (20 min) and the other half was five 4-minute songs, that one 20 minute song would have the same impact on the overall rating as all five of the others combined, shouldn't it? (this example isn't directly related to any of the albums you've rated, I don't think, but I used it because it easily demonstrates what I mean)


I hate derailing this great journal even more (it's happened to me)...

But I think track length/ has nothing inherently to do with the quality of the work. Sure it plays a role (if you can make a 3 hour movie feel like time just flew by... well then it likely is a damn good movie).

In other words if a song is 2 minutes long and it is just as amazing as a song that is 10 minutes long... that means nothing to me in a rating system.

It's not like you go to IMDB and the rating systems are skewed according to run time...

Anyway that's my two cents. Again sorry for thread hijack.

Continue on with your beautiful work.
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
AfterHours



Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

  • #25
  • Posted: 11/02/2017 05:36
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
sethmadsen wrote:
I hate derailing this great journal even more (it's happened to me)...

But I think track length/ has nothing inherently to do with the quality of the work. Sure it plays a role (if you can make a 3 hour movie feel like time just flew by... well then it likely is a damn good movie).

In other words if a song is 2 minutes long and it is just as amazing as a song that is 10 minutes long... that means nothing to me in a rating system.

It's not like you go to IMDB and the rating systems are skewed according to run time...

Anyway that's my two cents. Again sorry for thread hijack.

Continue on with your beautiful work.


Thanks Seth, but no one said what you're addressing here. We're talking about the fact that, say, a 33 minute song on a 38 minute album (such as Pharoah Sanders' Karma) is going to mean more towards the overall rating, by the simple mathematical fact that it is taking up more of the album. Whether the 33 min song is better than the 5 minute one is beside the point. That it is taking up more of the album and therefore has a greater impact towards the overall rating (good or bad) was what we were discussing.
_________________
Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
United States

  • #26
  • Posted: 11/02/2017 11:38
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
sethmadsen wrote:
Love your taste mate.

Glad to see you still at it.


Thanks Seth! Smile
_________________
Add me on RYM
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
AfterHours



Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

  • #27
  • Posted: 11/03/2017 22:31
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
sethmadsen wrote:
I hate derailing this great journal even more (it's happened to me)...

But I think track length/ has nothing inherently to do with the quality of the work. Sure it plays a role (if you can make a 3 hour movie feel like time just flew by... well then it likely is a damn good movie).

In other words if a song is 2 minutes long and it is just as amazing as a song that is 10 minutes long... that means nothing to me in a rating system.

It's not like you go to IMDB and the rating systems are skewed according to run time...

Anyway that's my two cents. Again sorry for thread hijack.

Continue on with your beautiful work.


Though, in response to what you are saying, I would say -- simply/generally speaking -- that:

(a) I agree that length on its own does not justify a higher rating. That would be silly. Many long tracks/songs are unjustified/boring/insignificant.
(b) However, greater length does give the artist more opportunity to attain something greater than he/she might if the song/track/movement were shorter. It depends, of course, on what they do with it.
(c) If said artist uses such greater length to produce a work that has more emotional/conceptual significance and creativity, then the length is justified.
(d) Most of the greatest songs/tracks/movements are longer than pop songs due to the fact that most of the greatest artists did "c" -- fully/extensively developing their art into greater, more significant and complete emotional/conceptual experiences, than lesser artists or most pop artists.
_________________
Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings


Last edited by AfterHours on 11/04/2017 15:02; edited 2 times in total
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
United States

  • #28
  • Posted: 11/04/2017 14:15
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
Scored Re-Listens For The Week Ending 11/4

The Masterpieces:

The Hissing Of Summer Lawns - Joni Mitchell 4.65
Midnight Marauders - A Tribe Called Quest 4.60

The Classics:

Nashville Skyline - Bob Dylan 4.30

The Strong:

Revolver - The Beatles 4.08

~~~~~~~~~~

New Listens / Non-Scored Re-Listens [*] For The Week Ending 11/4

The Classics:

Begin - The Millennium
Sing For Very Important People - The Free Design

The Strong:

Take A Picture - Margo Guryan
Olé Coltrane - John Coltrane
Live At The Old Quarter, Houston, Texas - Townes Van Zandt
There's A Riot Goin' On - Sly & The Family Stone
Live! - Bob Marley & The Wailers
Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit - Courtney Barnett*

The Merely Solid:

Somethin' Else - Cannonball Adderley
Truth Gotta Stand - The Luv'd Ones
Doolittle - Pixies
Hunting High And Low - a-ha
Trap Symphony (EP) - Migos
_________________
Add me on RYM
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
United States

  • #29
  • Posted: 11/11/2017 17:36
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
Scored Re-Listens For The Week Ending 11/11

The Masterpieces:

Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan 4.71

The Classics:

Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen 4.52
After The Gold Rush - Neil Young 4.39
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - Wu-Tang Clan 4.36

The Strong:

Abbey Road - The Beatles 4.24

~~~~~~~~~~

New Listens / Non-Scored Re-Listens [*] For The Week Ending 11/11

The Classics:

One Kiss Can Lead To Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost And Found - Various Artists

The Strong:

Bona Drag - Morrissey
Operation Heavenly - Heavenly
Astigmatic - Komeda Quintet
Genesis - Wendy & Bonnie
Bee Thousand - Guided By Voices
Go Sailor - Go Sailor

The Merely Solid:

Kiss - Carly Rae Jepsen
Home Counties - Saint Etienne
Songs In The Key Of Life - Stevie Wonder*
_________________
Add me on RYM
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
United States

  • #30
  • Posted: 11/18/2017 21:10
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
This week I listened to a lot of new music, and did fewer scores for my chart. Some of these were my friend's records that we listened to together (&).

Scored Re-Listens For The Week Ending 11/18

The Classics:

Liquid Swords - GZA 4.52

~~~~~~~~~~

New Listens / Non-Scored Re-Listens [*] For The Week Ending 11/18

The Classics:

Ladies Of The Canyon - Joni Mitchell*
On The Corner - Miles Davis
Fly Me To The Moon - Bobby Womack*

The Strong:

Crazy For You - Best Coast*
Ridin' Dirty - UGK
Half Way Home - Angel Olsen (&)
Fade Away (EP) - Best Coast
Isn't Anything - My Bloody Valentine
Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus - Charles Mingus

The Merely Solid:

Song For My Father - The Horace Silver Quintet
London Weekend - Another Sunny Day
Fear Of Music - Talking Heads
Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt
Different Class - Pulp
Girls In The Garage, Vol. 1 - Various Artists
My Tennessee Mountain Home - Dolly Parton (&)
Trans-Europe Express - Kraftwerk

The Good, But Flawed:

ArrangingTime - Pete Yorn (&)
_________________
Add me on RYM
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic
All times are GMT
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4 ... 27, 28, 29  Next
Page 3 of 29


 

Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Similar Topics
Topic Author Forum
Human Canon Ball baystateoftheart Music Diaries
[ Poll ] Poll for the next canon list Luigii Music
Discussion of Trip Hop Luigii Music
You must listen to the album below yo... baystateoftheart Games
Best road trip music EVER! 1234567890 Lounge

 
Back to Top