How important are critic's opinions to you?

Generally, critics are close-minded arseholes, that think music has to suit THEM.

They do not take the band into mind, what the bands influences are, what they're capable of, and what they set out to create.
 
...The critics don't know me, and there is no way that they could possibly understand what i enjoy in music,

so no, i couldn't give a flying fuck what a critic says...!
 
Hi all,

I generally make my own mind up, i very rarely take any notice of reviews, usally if i am unsure i will just download a couple of songs by them to see if i like them.
 
Originally posted by Isternos
Hi all,

I generally make my own mind up, i very rarely take any notice of reviews, usally if i am unsure i will just download a couple of songs by them to see if i like them.
Click to expand...

Me, too.

Trapped is right, also.
 
Critics have never influenced my music purchasing/listening decisions. I may read a critics review AFTER I've listened, but only for a laugh. How can 1 critics opinion be of any value anyways? Critics write based on their tastes, and how do I know if that critic is just like me?

I don't.
 
I've had a subscription to dutch Aardschok magazine for over
ten years now. Over the years, by reading their reviews I've got to know lots of bands (including Opeth!) I'd never heard of before. If it's a good review, I'll try and download a couple of songs, and if I like it, I'll try and buy the album (which is not always easy when it's not a "big" band). So basically these reviews are my starting point. Once I know the band I'll get my updates from their website or such.
 
I might read some reviews before bying, but usually I make my own mind. If I'm unsure, I'll download some samples and then make the decision.
 
i read reviews if i stumble across them. If i do read them i try and figure out what the reviewer likes and read the review with that in mind. Im not worried in the least IF they like it or not, i dont care what they give it out of 10, but i do care about what they say are the albums strong and weak points. Purely to see if it sounds at all like a band i would get into, not to see whether they are 'good' or 'bad'.

So yeh i sometimes use reviews to find out what a band is like, but never to find out how good they are.

The main worth in reviews is by reading either a large large range of reviews from many different people/angles... or by finding a reviewer with the same taste as you. Hard to find/do either.

I also sometimes read reviews after ive bought something, to see other's opinions, a good review for an album i dont like can make me see some things in a new light, from a different angle, and maybe help me to like the album, or at least give it another spin.
 
Originally posted by Sullen Jester
Generally, critics are close-minded arseholes, that think music has to suit THEM.

They do not take the band into mind, what the bands influences are, what they're capable of, and what they set out to create.
Click to expand...


I couldn't agree more! I steer clear of reviewers for the most part. They are the most closed-minded cretins who are only out to fill a certain quota in whatever rag they write for.

I see it, like the songs, figure out if i'm familiar with the name, take a chance and jam it!

That's how it was in the old days,and I like to keep it that way.
If that was the case, I'd have never bought the first three Bathory's for that shitty production ;) As it turns out, they're masterpieces!
 
Well, as usual, I'm going against the grain here :p

I'm a huge fan of critics. I love going to Amazon.com and checking out the ratings. I also search for personal ratings/reviews of certain albums I'm interested in buying. I like asking "what do you think about this album or that album?" and hearing the different opinions. How do you think I found out about Opeth? I did a search on Yahoo for "best melodic death", and it led me to Opeth. I know Opeth is not death, but that's how it happened. I found out about Demoncy by doing a search on "best black metal", "top 10 best black metal albums" and the like. I'm subscribed to dozens of personal album rating pages. Since these people keep up-to-date on releases, the information can come to me. Amazon.com is my favorite - I do a search for Dimmu Borgir, for example, and it gives me a list of what other customers that have bought Dimmu Borgir have also bought. I also love their "listmania" feature (that's how I found out about Immortal, Dissection, and some other bands). Well, that's it. :D

Now, that's not to say that because one critic thinks a band is junk I won't go ahead and buy the album anyway. For example, COF. I like this band, and no critic can ever tell me how much they suck, because I don't think so, and that's all that matters.

I also get Promethian Crusade. This magazine is chock-full of reviews of bands I've never even heard of. If the review sounds interesting, I'll try out the band. Usually it's right on the money. :D
 
I only use reviews to learn about new bands. Of course, this is often a dangerous method as reviewers (and listeners) look for different things in music compared to me, so it took a while to find a reviewer (Jim Raggi) that has similar tastes to me. I know what types of bands I should listen to his recommendations for, and which to ignore. I figure about 90% of my purchases based on his reviews go well. The other 10% I have to get rid of...

But for CDs I plan on purchasing anyway (like the new Green Carnation), I'll read the reviews, but I'll still get it.

And while I'm at it, I'll just plug Mr. Raggi's zine, Lamentations of the Flame Princess. It's got a forum here on UltimateMetal if y'all don't know it. It's listed as LotFP under the hosted zines.

I really should be working,
rob
 
I read reviews to learn about new bands, also. It doesn't matter whether the review is favorable, I read the description of the sound and see if it interests me. Then I download it if it sounds interesting and make up my mind from that. So, whether or not I agree with the review, reviews are useful in learning about new bands. Metal Judgement is a good site for that. They review 2 new albums every week, plus they have other reviewers do a few albums in the Summary Judgment section every week. I've discovered dozens of bands through them, and not all of them got favorable reviews :) http://www.metaljudgment.com/
 
See, I think most of you are full of shit. If you ask people "how does this look on me?", and in all sincerity most of the people tell you you look like crap wearing that certain thing, 9x out of 10 you won't wear it again. If you THINK you don't care what other people think, that's fine, but human nature dictates otherwise. We as humans tend to take other people's opinions into account, whether we think we do or not.

This applies to music too. Unless you absolutely adore a band, and NOTHING can make you change your mind, other people's opinions can and sometimes do influence you liking (or hating) a certain band. If you constantly hear how COF sucks, they are shit...sometimes you try to hear where the band is really sucky - you question yourself, saying "what the hell do I hear in this band, when everyone else is saying they're shit?" I know I've questioned my like of COF once or twice because of people's opinions, but once I relisten to a COF album, it reinforces my like for them.

Reality check :p
 
If the reviewer breaks the album down in a way that, whether or not he likes it, I get a good idea of what the band sounds like, I enjoy reading reviews of bands I have never heard.
 
I find reviews usefull at times. I can't download samples (no free internet) so sometimes when I know I want to hear a band read a lot of reviews to see what people say about the albums and decide which one I'd like the most. Generally I ignore their personal feelings towards it and just look for the facts...and that helps me decide.

Hence when I write reviews I try to be more factual and opinionated as that isn't going to help anyone... :D
 
I've read that the drummer from Morbid Angel (I cannot recall his name) is the "best" drummer around, now.

What about Juuso Backman (Thales), or Peter Wildoer (Darkane), or Kirk Olsen (Kyser)?

In my opinion, they are the best drummers I have heard. Ever.

A critic could have a really high opinion of a drummer, because of his precise back beat, and impeccable timing, but thats it. He may not utilise everything in his drumming arsenal, thus limiting himself.

This is where Peter Wildoer hits me, as he hits anything and everything, and makes it sound good.
 
if its in a magazine and they praise an album/s i like and after a while you can tell that you can trust the critic/review to be somewhat a judgememnt you might give. i mean if someone slams an Opeth or Katatonia album (loads did) then i wont trust any of their reviews in future as they probably dont like what i like. i dont read too much into it anyway, if i dont like something it goes back to HMV.
 
I read reviews extensively while in the process of discovering a band, and I can understand the power of the written word to pique your interest, to educate, and in some cases to disgust. A well written criticism can immensely improve your understanding, but of course nothing is more important than your own eyes and ears...
 
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