Miscellaneous Musical Meanderings

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Rhyner
soft silly music is meaningful magical


Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Utah
United States

  • #51
  • Posted: 02/28/2018 04:12
  • Post subject: Re: Miscellaneous Musical Meanderings
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I added an explanation of my ratings to the original post:

Rhyner wrote:
Here's what my scores mean, if you're curious:
I've worked out my rating system from the starting point of a single principle that I think should be true of any rating system, no matter whose (this assumes ratings from zero to a hundred; adjust accordingly when using other numbers or stars or whatever). Everything that I've built on this principle is disputable, but the principle itself is the rock-solid foundation that I wouldn't dream of changing.

Here it is:
A score of 0 is the worst I can give, a score of 100 is the best I can give, and a score of 50 is neutral.

In the case of music, I like pretty much everything I ever listen to, so almost every music score I give is above 50. How much I like it determines how high above 50 I rate it. Most music falls into the 50s and 60s range, and anything above that is something I have a special connection with. Giving something a 100 means it is my absolute favorite thing ever, something I adore more than anything else. It doesn't mean it's flawless, just that I love it completely. My ratings are totally subjective. I have no interest in trying to rate stuff objectively, whatever that means anyway.

Here's a rough idea of what a given score means (scores below 50 are less worked out because they're much rarer, but they're pretty much a negative mirror of the top half):
100 – Favorite Ever
95 – A Favorite
90 – Essential
85 – Really Great
80 – Great
75 – Really Good
70 – Quite Good
65 – Solid
60 – Enjoyable
55 – All Right
50 – Neutral
40 – Kinda Bad
30 – Quite Bad
20 – Terrible
10 – Trash
0 – Worst Ever

Here's another way to think about it, clumping my scores into bigger categories:
90-100 – Favorites
78-89 – Love
66-77 – Like a Lot
55-65 – Like
46-54 – So-So
35-45 – Dislike
23-34 – Dislike a Lot
11-22 – Hate
0-10 – Most Hated

Here is a series of questions I ask myself to properly determine an album (or whatever)'s score (this is assuming the score is 50 or above; again, negative mirrored versions of these questions apply to negative scores):
1. Do I like it? If this is an easy yes, then whatever I'm rating will get at least a 60, and I move onto question two. If this is a no, I assign a score of at most 50 and ask myself the mirror questions. If the answer is somewhere between yes and no, then I gauge my level of enjoyment and assign an appropriate score between 50 and 60. For instance, if to the question I hesitantly answer, "Sort of...", the score will probably be in the 53-55 range. "For the most part" would get a score in the upper 50s. And so on. This same idea applies to all of the following questions as well.
2. Is it special? If yes, then the score is at least 70—move onto question three. If no, the score is 60. If between, then of course the score is between 60 and 70. What do I mean by special? I don't know, to be perfectly honest. What I'm asking myself here is whether the item in question has a certain... je ne sais quoi... that makes it stand out above the pack. This is entirely subjective, and has a lot to do with the relationship I have with said item. In fact, my scores can largely be interpreted as representations of relationships with what I'm rating—the higher the score, the stronger the relationship. I rarely give a score above 70 within the first several times I listen to an album. That connection has to build up over time.
3. Do I want it in my life regularly? "Yes" gets a score of at least 80 and goes to question four. Anything less than yes gets a lesser score, down to 70 for a no, of course. This question is a bit misleading, because what I'm asking myself here is more complicated, but the way I phrase it above is the best way I can boil it down to a simple one-liner. What I'm really asking is if I think of what I'm rating as part of who I am as a person. Will I think about it on a regular basis? In the case of music, will I sing or hum or whistle it all the time? Will I add it to playlist after playlist and want to keep coming back regardless of how many times I've already listened to it? That's what I'm asking.
4. Do I feel like I can't live without it? Yes: at least 90 and question five. No: 80. In between: in between. Now, I'm not ridiculous enough to think there's any music I truly can't live without. Even if my favorite stuff of all time disappeared completely and I never got to hear it again, I could live a full and complete life, no problem. But that's not what I'm asking here. The key word is "feel". Do I feel like I can't live without it? And there is indeed music for which the answer is yes. Stuff that feels essential to who I am, that I would fight mightily to keep in my life, if it came to that.
5. Is it my favorite ever? If I get this far, then whatever I'm rating is one of my all-time favorite things, and the score I give between 90 and 100 simply shows how it compares to my other all-time favorites. 100 is reserved for the best of the best of the best of the best. 99 is the second best of the best of the best of the best. And so it goes, roughly. If I have too many favorites then some of them will get the same score, but you get the idea.

It has taken me a lot of thought and a lot of time to build this system and feel comfortable with it, and while I'm sure it won't work for everyone, it works for me. Please feel free to ask questions if it's unclear, or criticize it if you think it has problems.
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Rhyner
soft silly music is meaningful magical


Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Utah
United States

  • #52
  • Posted: 02/28/2018 05:29
  • Post subject: Golden Years #1: 1991
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Diamonds And Pearls by Prince & The...Generation

This is the first time I've heard this one. I listened to it three times.

For the most part, this is enjoyable. It could be shorter, and the rapping is hit and miss (largely miss). Overall it's nothing special, and nowhere near as good as his all-time classics, but it's serviceable.

Score: 57/100

Next up: Use Your Illusion II by Guns N' Roses
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Rhyner
soft silly music is meaningful magical


Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Utah
United States

  • #53
  • Posted: 03/02/2018 05:58
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Use Your Illusion II by Guns N' Roses

I've heard this one before, at least a couple times. I listened to it three more times.

It's okay... I kinda like it, except for all the terrible "eye-ee-eye"-ing and "oh-ooo-oh"-ing in Axl Rose's singing. And how incredibly over-long it is. Why-ee-eye in the world did they decide to release two huge albums at the same time? Why not cut it down to their best material and do just one? Eh, oh well. It is what it is. And what it is is pretty exhausting, with some nice stuff here and there.

Score: 53/100

Next up: Out Of Time by R.E.M.
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Rhyner
soft silly music is meaningful magical


Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Utah
United States

  • #54
  • Posted: 06/30/2018 18:44
  • Post subject: Golden Years #1: 1991
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I'm gonna pick this up again, finally.


Out Of Time by R.E.M.

I've heard this one before, at least a few times. I listened to it three more times.

This has grown on me more and more with each of the last three listens. At first it was my clear least favorite of R.E.M.'s discography, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe it's because I've been listening to the podcast R U Talkin' R.E.M. RE: ME?. In any case, I agree with what most people seem to think of this album: Radio Song would be better without KRS-One, Losing My Religion is good (though still quite overrated in my opinion), and in general the album is not as consistent as it could be.

But I enjoy it. And I enjoy it more each time I listen.

Score: 61/100

Next up: Screamadelica by Primal Scream
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Rhyner
soft silly music is meaningful magical


Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Utah
United States

  • #55
  • Posted: 07/01/2018 20:39
  • Post subject: Golden Years #1: 1991
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Screamadelica by Primal Scream

I've heard this one before. Three times or so. I listened to it three more times.

This album is quite a mixed bag. Movin' On Up, Damaged, I'm Comin' Down, and Shine Like Stars are enjoyable enough I suppose, but they feel like they're from a completely different album from the songs that surround them, which are just overlong...um...house music? I'm ignorant of the proper labels, but it's tediously repetitive, emotionally empty electronic beats, for dancing and doing drugs or whatever. That's called house music, right?

I am not a fan of that. And it goes on for sooooooo long. Come Together doesn't need to drag on for ten minutes. That's ridiculous, and does nothing but pad the album's stupidly long run time. They should have cut at least twenty minutes of stuff, I'd say. The question is, what would be left? Aside from the few songs I mentioned (themselves too long as well), there's not much here of any substance. (And even those four songs I said I like aren't amazing or anything.)

So.... mixed bag. I'm not sure whether it will grow on me or just get old with repeat listens, but it's hard for me to judge it for sure with just the listens I've given it. For now, I'll just give it a neutral score, with the intention of returning to it at a later date to see if my opinion has changed one way or the other.

Score: 50/100

Next up: New River Head by The Bevis Frond
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Rhyner
soft silly music is meaningful magical


Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Utah
United States

  • #56
  • Posted: 07/09/2018 23:44
  • Post subject: Golden Years #1: 1991
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New River Head by The Bevis Frond

This is the first time I've heard this one. I listened to it three times. To be precise, I listened to the 2xLP version twice, and the CD version once.

This is yet another long album that doesn't grab me the way I'd hope. This guy (the "band" is apparently pretty much just one person--Nick Saloman) seems stuck in the past. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. Or a good thing for that matter. Just worth mentioning, I thought. For instance, Wild Jack Hammer feels like a Jimi Hendrix ripoff, He'd Be a Diamond could easily be a Byrds song, and Chinese Burn strongly reminds me of Elvis Costello. I actually had to check to see if they were covers. This whole album feels that way--like Saloman is merely fixated on artists of the past, rather than having his own artistic vision to express. That doesn't have to be a bad thing if the music's good, but I just don't feel this one. I'm not saying it's bad though. It's just unremarkable.

And I keep harping on it because it's true, but for Christ's sake, if you're a musical artist releasing an album, please please please cut it down to just your best material. It's okay if it's only half an hour or even shorter. In my eyes, the far better problem to have is to leave your listener wanting more, rather than to make them ache for the thing to finally end. I listened to the two different versions of this album, and I didn't miss any of the songs that were left off the shorter version--and it still felt long. Seriously, cut ruthlessly. That's just my two cents, for what it's worth.

Score: 49/100

Next Up: Mental Vortex by Coroner
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Rhyner
soft silly music is meaningful magical


Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Utah
United States

  • #57
  • Posted: 07/10/2018 19:00
  • Post subject: Golden Years #1: 1991
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Mental Vortex by Coroner

This is the first time I've heard this one. I listened to it three times.

Yay. Another metal album. I am not the target audience for this stuff. Again, I find the sick-sounding vocals (sick as in unwell, not cool) more silly than hardcore or whatever they're going for. Again, the instrumentation doesn't do anything for me. And again, it's too long. I start out enjoying it well enough, or at least not disliking it, but by the back half it has become tedious and I just want it to end. Same old story.

This album does get some bonus points for the Beatles cover at the end, but that doesn't do a whole lot to balance out the other, negative, aspects.

Score: 49/100

Next Up: Cyclops Nuclear Submarine Captain by Dogbowl
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Rhyner
soft silly music is meaningful magical


Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Utah
United States

  • #58
  • Posted: 08/06/2018 22:34
  • Post subject: Golden Years #1: 1991
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Cyclops Nuclear Submarine Captain by Dogbowl

This is the first time I've heard this one. I listened to it three times.

This is not too shabby. Generally enjoyable. A potential grower, but for now I don't see it as anything particularly special. It's too repetitive in places and yet again--surprise surprise--it's too long. The general silliness mostly loses its charm by the end. The first half is definitely stronger than the second. But yeah, not bad.

Score: 58/100

Next up: Laughing Stock by Talk Talk
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Rhyner
soft silly music is meaningful magical


Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Utah
United States

  • #59
  • Posted: 08/07/2018 16:52
  • Post subject: Golden Years #1: 1991
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Laughing Stock by Talk Talk

I've heard this one before. I'm not sure exactly how many times, but at least a few, and probably fewer than ten. I listened to it three more times.

I like Talk Talk, but I don't see why people go so nuts for this album and Spirit of Eden. I think The Colour of Spring is easily their best, and I might even prefer some of their earlier stuff to these last two albums. Maybe. I don't know. I need some more listens. That said, I do like this album, quite a bit. I've listened to Spirit of Eden a lot more than this one, but I'd say they're of about equal quality. I don't know if I prefer one over the other. Again, I guess I need more listens.

I love the comments on this album. Several people say something along the lines of "It's boring, too slow, can't get into it" only to come back later and say "I changed my mind, this is brilliant". Apparently this one is a real grower.

Score: 67/100

Next up: Weld by Neil Young And Crazy Horse
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Rhyner
soft silly music is meaningful magical


Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Utah
United States

  • #60
  • Posted: 08/10/2018 19:38
  • Post subject: Golden Years #1: 1991
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Weld by Neil Young And Crazy Horse

This is the first time I've heard this one (I mean, it's a live Neil Young album, so I've basically heard it all quite a bit, just not these particular renditions in this sequence). I listened to it three times.

Not bad. It's Neil Young, so you pretty much know what to expect. If you like him, you like him. If not, not. I enjoy his stuff well enough, but I'm not a huge fan. This one goes on quite long, but for whatever reason it doesn't bother me too much in this case.

All in all it's pretty good.

Score: 59/100

Next up: Rothko Chapel ; Why Patterns? by Morton Feldman
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