So per many posters' requests, I've revamped the Album and Single Review Threads. But instead of having two separate threads, we can review all albums and singles in this one thread.
Also, the great Fighting4Justice came up with an excellent idea. From now on, we're going to treat this thread like Metacritic. Whenever you review an album include a score (based on a scale from 0 to 100). As the reviews pour in, I'll keep this thread updated with scores.
Let's also create a list of albums that users can choose from so we can get the most reviews submitted in for each single album. We'll get a more accurate rating of that album than just to have 1 or 2 reviews for that "specific" album. It also gives those that aren't aware of certain artists the chance to be exposed to their music if its suggested for review here.
I pretty much agree with the other critics on this one. This is a solid debut album and, arguably, the best CD to come from an "American Idol" contestant. Essentially this is a covers album, but most of the songs are very obscure. The standout tracks for me are "I'll Never Stop Loving You," "I Will Be" and first single "It's Your Love." Doolittle's singing is rich and effortless and the melodic arrangements are perfect for her voice. Some of the songs, namely a reworking of Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire," fall flat. Also, I would've liked to have seen some original material here, but overall this album is a strong soul record that sounds like it could've been released in 1969.
MY SCORE: 83
This message has been edited. Last edited by: DoubleD,
Originally posted by musicluva123: What album and/or single are we critiquing first?
I just critiqued Melinda Doolittle's album so I guess we can start there. But you guys can critique anything you want and I'll just update the first post.
Originally posted by torontophenom: Let's also create a list of albums that users can choose from so we can get the most reviews submitted in for each single album. We'll get a more accurate rating of that album than just to have 1 or 2 reviews for that "specific" album. It also gives those that aren't aware of certain artists the chance to be exposed to their music if its suggested for review here.
I'm going to constantly update the master post with the list of albums that are being reviewed in this thread. We all have different tastes in music and some of us won't have all the albums being reviewed so I don't want to get too strict on what people can review.
Just constantly look at the master post up top to see which albums have been reviewed.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: DoubleD,
Originally posted by musicluva123: Instead of using # ratings, can we just rate the album/single with a letter grade? It seems easier that way.
The whole point of this thread is to copy Metacritic's format. You give the album a Number Grade which is basically a percentage out of 100% and then average it out with the other reviews.
Finally Kelly is back in top form with her latest effort. After the critical and commercial disappointment of "My December", Kelly returns to her Pop/Rock heavy hook influenced tunes and hits it right on the nose with this new album. She proves with this effort that she is the most versatile American Idol winner. The Ryan Tedder produced tracks are among the biggest standouts here which include the crazy infectious "If I Can't Have You" as it mixes techno with rock which is destined to be a single, "Save You" which channels Kelly's her inner sympathy for a relationship gone bad, "Impossible" where Clarkson delivers a power vocal performance & Already Gone" which does have some similarity to Beyonce's "Halo" which is also produced by Tedder. Clarkson's "Already Gone" is the superior track. Clarkson's vocals on "Already Gone" is an ode to Sarah McLachlan Besides the Tedder tracks, other standouts include "Long Shot" which was a song that Katy Perry co-penned and you so can tell this was supposed to be a Katy Perry song but Kelly did a great job with this track. The production is stellar, its single material and its fun overall. Clarkson also has a very good shot at landing another Female Pop Vocal win again at the Grammys next year with this next track titled "Cry". The song will go down as a Clarkson classic. Other notable tracks include the "Don't Let Me Stop You" & "All I Ever Wanted". It's actually quite amusing that "My Life Would Suck Without You" is one of the weaker tracks on this album as it's the first single. Overall, this album is jam packed with so many single choices. Clarkson will have no problem achieving a string of successful hits on this album something which could not be said with her previous effort "My December". Expect this album to receive a Pop Vocal Album nomination at next years Grammy Awards.
Score: 83
This message has been edited. Last edited by: DoubleD,
Originally posted by Gucci: Are we just reviewing albums/singles for 2009 only? Or could we review some albums/singles that were released in late 2008?
I think we can review any albums we want that are still charting I guess?
Originally posted by Gucci: Are we just reviewing albums/singles for 2009 only? Or could we review some albums/singles that were released in late 2008?
You can review anything you want.
I will also occasionally review my sex life in this thread. I will give letter grades to each of my performances. But I will only review the performances where I play music in the background.
Originally posted by Gucci: Are we just reviewing albums/singles for 2009 only? Or could we review some albums/singles that were released in late 2008?
You can review anything you want.
I will also occasionally review my sex life in this thread. I will give letter grades to each of my performances. But I will only review the performances where I play music in the background.
Originally posted by Gucci: Are we just reviewing albums/singles for 2009 only? Or could we review some albums/singles that were released in late 2008?
You can review anything you want.
I will also occasionally review my sex life in this thread. I will give letter grades to each of my performances. But I will only review the performances where I play music in the background.
Originally posted by Gucci: Are we just reviewing albums/singles for 2009 only? Or could we review some albums/singles that were released in late 2008?
You can review anything you want. I will also occasionally review my sex life in this thread. I will give letter grades to each of my performances. But I will only review the performances where I play music in the background.
I think for an album to be ranked, there should be at least 2 reviews because some fanatic can come in here and review a piece of crap album and give it 100% and that will top the chart.
And, doesn't the grading scheme seem a little narrow? To get a 89 on Metacrtic is amazing and extremely difficult. A 3 star out of 5 album would be like 60% which is borderline fail?
I usually did the grading scale like this:
90-100 = A+ 85-89 = A 80-84 = A- 77-79 = B+ 74-76 = B 70-73 = B- 67-69 = C+ 64-66 = C 60-63 = C- 57-59 = D+ 54-56 = D 50-53 = D- <50 = F
Stars would work out like this:
5 Star Scale:
2.5 Stars = 50% --> D- 3.0 Stars = 60% --> D+/C- ish 3.5 Stars = 70% --> C+/B- ish 4.0 Stars = 80% --> B+/A- ish 4.5 Stars = 90% --> A/A+ ish 5.0 Stars = 100% --> A+
4 Star Scale:
2.0 = 50% --> D- 2.5 = 62.5% --> C/C- ish 3.0 = 75% --> B 3.5 = 87.5% --> A 4.0 = 100% --> A+
The correlations between grades seem more appropriate, don't they?
For consistency sake though, EVERYONE should do a numerical grade.
Originally posted by torontophenom: Let's also create a list of albums that users can choose from so we can get the most reviews submitted in for each single album. We'll get a more accurate rating of that album than just to have 1 or 2 reviews for that "specific" album. It also gives those that aren't aware of certain artists the chance to be exposed to their music if its suggested for review here.
I also like this idea.
Posts: 8669 | Location: Canada | Registered: October 26, 2005
Originally posted by Fighting4Justice: I think for an album to be ranked, there should be at least 2 reviews because some fanatic can come in here and review a piece of crap album and give it 100% and that will top the chart.
And, doesn't the grading scheme seem a little narrow? To get a 89 on Metacrtic is amazing and extremely difficult. A 3 star out of 5 album would be like 60% which is borderline fail?
I usually did the grading scale like this:
90-100 = A+ 85-89 = A 80-84 = A- 77-79 = B+ 74-76 = B 70-73 = B- 67-69 = C+ 64-66 = C 60-63 = C- 57-59 = D+ 54-56 = D 50-53 = D- <50 = F
Stars would work out like this:
5 Star Scale:
2.5 Stars = 50% --> D- 3.0 Stars = 60% --> D+/C- ish 3.5 Stars = 70% --> C+/B- ish 4.0 Stars = 80% --> B+/A- ish 4.5 Stars = 90% --> A/A+ ish 5.0 Stars = 100% --> A+
4 Star Scale:
2.0 = 50% --> D- 2.5 = 62.5% --> C/C- ish 3.0 = 75% --> B 3.5 = 87.5% --> A 4.0 = 100% --> A+
The correlations between grades seem more appropriate, don't they?
For consistency sake though, EVERYONE should do a numerical grade.
I noticed that the gap between each grade DoubleD was a bit off and didn't really do the grading system full justice. Thanks for creating that grading scheme up.
