What do your ratings mean? - Music - Forums : Best Ever Albums

Sometype

Gender: Male
Age: 26

Romanelli wrote:

I don't use ratings. I don't have time for it, and it only muddles things up for me.

literally came to type pretty much this exact sentence. ratings are never solidfied for me; no matter what, the last experience i had of an album is what i'm rating. theres no way to consistently think of an album as a 7/10 or a 5/10 when enjoyability of music depends on so many different varying factors (mood, relatability, familiarity, etc.)

also, when i would do ratings, it had got to a point where i felt like i was listening to music JUST to give it a rating. it would lead to me not revisiting albums enough or giving them enough of a chance before moving on.
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Temporary33

If I rate something, it's usually a 100 because that means I liked the album. Not rating something has no meaning because it could mean I haven't gotten to it or just that I never listened to the album.

bobbyb5

Gender: Male
Location: New York

Sometype wrote:

literally came to type pretty much this exact sentence. ratings are never solidfied for me; no matter what, the last experience i had of an album is what i'm rating. theres no way to consistently think of an album as a 7/10 or a 5/10 when enjoyability of music depends on so many different varying factors (mood, relatability, familiarity, etc.)

also, when i would do ratings, it had got to a point where i felt like i was listening to music JUST to give it a rating. it would lead to me not revisiting albums enough or giving them enough of a chance before moving on.

I I believe you're correct. I think that's the direction I'm going to go in. Another thing that's true that I've noticed, is that a lot of people rate albums by what they think of the the person who made it, and not on the actual music therein. There's a lot of hero worship involved. It's very personality-driven.

PurpleHazel

bobbyb5 wrote:

Something doesn't have to be groundbreaking in order to be awesome or in order to have a 90 rating. After all very few things are actually groundbreaking, but they're still great. Most things that people call groundbreaking these days aren't really very groundbreaking at all.

Agreed: An work doesn't have to be groundbreaking to be great and be given the highest ratings. Very little in rock has broken completely new ground since 1980, very little in jazz could be called groundbreaking since 1970, yet if an artist builds on or blends pre-existing styles in a fresh way and executes them skillfully, that work could deserve a 90 or higher rating. In the case of jazz, an artist can also break ground on their instrument, but even then very little major innovation has been done since the early 70s.

Quote:

Conversely, most things that are groundbreaking actually aren't very good.

It depends. The contenders for first ever rock song aren't all great. And jazz predates records as a mass medium. But the greatest innovators within those genres once they've already been established tend to be great.

wooolf

Gender: Male
Age: 45

Sometype wrote:

literally came to type pretty much this exact sentence. ratings are never solidfied for me; no matter what, the last experience i had of an album is what i'm rating. theres no way to consistently think of an album as a 7/10 or a 5/10 when enjoyability of music depends on so many different varying factors (mood, relatability, familiarity, etc.)

also, when i would do ratings, it had got to a point where i felt like i was listening to music JUST to give it a rating. it would lead to me not revisiting albums enough or giving them enough of a chance before moving on.

The only way my mood would bias my ratings is when I hear something I don't like while in a bad mood, I'll rate it lower. Still, something good remains good, even if in a bad mood. If you're referring to for example 'being in love' as a mood, these states are exceptional and can indeed impact the experience you have with music very much. But just be wary of rating when in such 'unstable' moods Smile

If a rating's off because of mood, for me it will only be 5 points off and one can always adapt or revisit their ratings.
Relatability: we're all human beings with their social contexts. No arguing that. But still I believe we have more in common than we have differences in general respect (philosophical bias alert Smile

) I.e. if anyone can relate, many others will. Relatability is only partly in the eye of the beholder Smile

It's usually the artists that makes something relatable or otherworldly. That said, I tend to rate 'otherworldly' over 'relatable'.
Familiarity seems like the opposite of originality. But indeed, many 'average' people will find something good just because they know it. But that effect tends to lessen or disappear as you listen to more music, which is the case for most active members I presume.
Rating is not an objective science (as AfterHours mentioned) and it shouldn't be.

I find myself listening to certain albums I don't really enjoy to be able to rate it or mark as listened. That's a pitfall to avoid indeed. But sometimes it can be rewarding to give something you don't like initially a second chance. And if it's really not my thing, I think I'll rate it anyway even without listening to it fully or just skip to the next album. (Or mark it listened if I know what it sounds like overall)
In my case: my ratings even give me incentive to revisit certain albums I liked: 'Did I rate that 80? Why?' -> then I'll listen to it again and enjoy it again. (Upon relistening I mostly find that I agree with my original first rating, if not it'll mostly need a change of +/-5 points.)

So in my opinion, all these factors get less important as more and more people rate an album and weigh in all their _personal_ criteria. So then others can see which albums are 'generally' considered good and which aren't. Which is actually the point of this site if I'm not mistaken. I've used BEA for years just to find albums worth listening to -before becoming an active member- the best site I'd found for doing just that. If everyone stopped rating, BEA would lose a lot of its value. (Not saying you guys who don't rate don't contribute any value, au contraire! Lists and forum posts are at least as valuable!)

The overall BEA charts are based on rank score, but I still tend to 'sort by avg rating' as with the rank score, the factors 'popularity' and 'familiarity' play a big part. The most interesting albums to me are oftentimes the less known but highly rated.

I say good day!
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Liedzeit

Gender: Male
Age: 64

Romanelli wrote:

I don't use ratings. I don't have time for it, and it only muddles things up for me.

Right, you need the time to track down Beatles Covers. Confused

One thing is clear, rating music is very childish. Nearly as childish as compiling lists of "best albums".

To answer the question. The rating is never about the music. It is always about me. 100 means, this is the kind of music that I want people to think I like.
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wooolf

Gender: Male
Age: 45

PurpleHazel wrote:

Agreed: An work doesn't have to be groundbreaking to be great and be given the highest ratings. Very little in rock has broken completely new ground since 1980, very little in jazz could be called groundbreaking since 1970, yet if an artist builds on or blends pre-existing styles in a fresh way and executes them skillfully, that work could deserve a 90 or higher rating. In the case of jazz, an artist can also break ground on their instrument, but even then very little major innovation has been done since the early 70s.

Quote:

Conversely, most things that are groundbreaking actually aren't very good.

It depends. The contenders for first ever rock song aren't all great. And jazz predates records as a mass medium. But the greatest innovators within those genres once they've already been established tend to be great.

A note on the 'groundbreaking' topic. I'm thinking for example something like

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

ᐔ ᐌ ᐂ ᐍ ᐚ by Qebrus
I find it very difficult to categorize something like that as plainly good or bad. For many people this will fall in the 'unlistenable heap of crap' category and many others will think it's brilliant. For me it sounds groundbreaking so I'll give it a high (even if preliminary) rating.
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Sometype

Gender: Male
Age: 26

wooolf wrote:

The only way my mood would bias my ratings is when I hear something I don't like while in a bad mood, I'll rate it lower. Still, something good remains good, even if in a bad mood. If you're referring to for example 'being in love' as a mood, these states are exceptional and can indeed impact the experience you have with music very much. But just be wary of rating when in such 'unstable' moods Smile

If a rating's off because of mood, for me it will only be 5 points off and one can always adapt or revisit their ratings.
Relatability: we're all human beings with their social contexts. No arguing that. But still I believe we have more in common than we have differences in general respect (philosophical bias alert Smile

) I.e. if anyone can relate, many others will. Relatability is only partly in the eye of the beholder Smile

It's usually the artists that makes something relatable or otherworldly. That said, I tend to rate 'otherworldly' over 'relatable'.
Familiarity seems like the opposite of originality. But indeed, many 'average' people will find something good just because they know it. But that effect tends to lessen or disappear as you listen to more music, which is the case for most active members I presume.
Rating is not an objective science (as AfterHours mentioned) and it shouldn't be.

I find myself listening to certain albums I don't really enjoy to be able to rate it or mark as listened. That's a pitfall to avoid indeed. But sometimes it can be rewarding to give something you don't like initially a second chance. And if it's really not my thing, I think I'll rate it anyway even without listening to it fully or just skip to the next album. (Or mark it listened if I know what it sounds like overall)
In my case: my ratings even give me incentive to revisit certain albums I liked: 'Did I rate that 80? Why?' -> then I'll listen to it again and enjoy it again. (Upon relistening I mostly find that I agree with my original first rating, if not it'll mostly need a change of +/-5 points.)

So in my opinion, all these factors get less important as more and more people rate an album and weigh in all their _personal_ criteria. So then others can see which albums are 'generally' considered good and which aren't. Which is actually the point of this site if I'm not mistaken. I've used BEA for years just to find albums worth listening to -before becoming an active member- the best site I'd found for doing just that. If everyone stopped rating, BEA would lose a lot of its value. (Not saying you guys who don't rate don't contribute any value, au contraire! Lists and forum posts are at least as valuable!)

i wasnt really listing those factors as factors i take into account when rating, i used them as examples as to why i dont rate anymore. And i'm using familarity in the sense of being familar with an album or artist not a particular sound like 'originality' would suggest. What i'm getting at is the whole "letting an album grow on you" kind of notion. I've straight up disliked albums but after several listens found myself loving them. So if this is the case what is the point in rating? if all i'm rating is how the last experience with an album made me feel? it seems like a pointless add-on to my music listening experience. HOWEVER, i do really appreciate that others can get their ratings in order and keep them fresh because otherwise this site and many, many other sites wouldnt function all that well.

Although when i talk about mood, i guess it kind of extends to emotions felt, setting, what situation i'm in at the time, what experience i tie to that album. For example i'm going to enjoy Bon Iver more in the winter when I'm feeling my most sombre and reflective, therefore (when i used to rate) I would give it a higher score in that instance of listening. Whereas, for me, Bon Iver at the height of summer at midday with loads of friends sitting on a sunny beach somewhere just wouldn't quite have the same effect or level of enjoyability.
With regards to your point about rating changes, I was way more partial to changes in ratings when i used to, and would find myself changing ratings alllll the time. In terms of knowing what I reccommend or enjoy without having access to what i'd rate an album; my charts here, top played artists/albums on last fm, spotify playlists, listened list on BEA, favourites list on BEA are all places where you can find some of my favourite music without needing to know my ratings.

Basically, I understand the usefulness of rating as a collective completely. But i myself just found that it became a chore. I'd be thinking of what rating i'd give an album all the way through, rather than actually listening to the music.

Hopefully i've conveyed my points a little better (this was very rushed as i realised i start my job in an hour Anxious

), it could very easily all be total gibberish Laughing

But yeah i was in no way saying everyone should stop rating just trying to explain why i dont personally.
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wooolf

Gender: Male
Age: 45

Sometype wrote:

Hopefully i've conveyed my points a little better (this was very rushed as i realised i start my job in an hour Anxious

), it could very easily all be total gibberish Laughing

Not at all gibberish. Thanks for the reply!
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boyd94

My ratings are mostly arbitrary, i.e. I have my list of albums ranked in order of preference, and at certain points I'll decide that anything below this album is an 8, 7, 6 and so on based on what feels right, roughly aligning so that a mediocre/average album will rate a 5-5.5/10 and 8+ are varying degrees of masterpiece. People rating average albums 6-7 are overrating them in my view, it's a positive rating that suggests a good album.

I've tried applying formulas and so on but they're a waste of time, I've found no way of doing it that satisfies me so I'm just going on instinct, notes, and comparison with other works. Just looking at AfterHours formula and even that has enough caveats to make me feel uneasy about using it.