2015 Ratings (so far)

[Geoff]

It wouldn't be the Tate version - no one could give that one higher than 20% realistically.

 

I've not heard the "proper" one yet, but I know 90% will be about 20% higher than what I'd even dream of.

 

Curethesane, mate, if they're the best two albums you've heard this year, with ratings like that, my tip would be to try some of the good ones! I generally consider myself a pretty fair and sometimes hard marker, but if something around the 70% mark is as good as you've heard all year, you've evidently missed out on anything worthwhile so far.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Curethesane, mate, if they're the best two albums you've heard this year, with ratings like that, my tip would be to try some of the good ones! I generally consider myself a pretty fair and sometimes hard marker, but if something around the 70% mark is as good as you've heard all year, you've evidently missed out on anything worthwhile so far.

Hmm, no, it just goes to show how varied and arbitrary these rating systems are.

[Glen]

Mmm i dont think anyone would consider 70-80% as 'great'??

 

Would they?

 

My rough benchmarks are -

 

20% - terrible

30% - poor

40% - weak

50% - average

60% - solid

70% - good

80% - very good

90% - excellent

100% - perfect

[Geoff]

I find it really hard to generalise in 10% blocks, because obviously, 71% is a very different album to 79%... both in the 70% bracket.

 

My rough summary on scoring would be:

 

0-60% - not really worth ever playing again after that first spin. Harsh? Maybe. But true.

 

60-70% - probably got a couple of okay songs on it, but doesn't ever need to be heard as an album ever again either.

 

70% - the lowest percentage for a listenable album to be spun again... just.

 

70-80% - lower end of this bracket is a good, solid album, mostly with songs with a good hook. Strong album overall. Higher end of this bracket is on the verge of being something great.

 

80-90% - This is where I want to start my collection in the future. 80% means you're onto something pretty great. There's guaranteed to be a greater than 50% portion of excellent songs on every album from here on in.

 

90%+ - Absolute excellence. You're looking at each song on the album hitting that 9/10 mark (generally speaking) so you know you've got a fantastic album on your hands.

 

And Karpetface, I'm not sure you're correct. My point re-Curethesane is that if you've bothered to sign up to and post on this forum, one assumes that you have an interest and appreciation for the music discussed on these pages?

 

So if your favourite two albums of the year are two albums that absolutely no one else on the forum has mentioned all year (in 10 months!), and that you yourself rate 70% and 65% respectively (regardless of how your rating system works), you can pretty safely assume, in the world of the music we love, they're probably not very good albums.

 

Why not try just a handful of the albums that are popping up across the board on this and other sites of the music we all supposedly love?

 

Definitely not saying "just like what everyone else likes" because I hate that thinking more than anything in the world. But a bit of logic need be applied, imo.

[CureTheSane]

OK, so I look at say Dr' Feelgood.
An album I really love.

 

T.N.T. (Terror 'N Tinseltown) - intro doesn't count

Dr. Feelgood - 10

Slice Of Your Pie - 3

Rattlesnake Shake - 4

Kickstart My Heart - 10

Without You - 10

Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.) - 10

Sticky Sweet - 5

She Goes Down - 10

Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) - 10

Time For Change - 10

Based on that the whole album gets an 82% from me.

Drop 3 songs and it gets 100%

Yet it still rates and an amazing album regardless, and sometimes you need some fillers for contrast between average and killer songs.

So based on that, I'd rarely rate an album over 90%.

Maybe I'm not playing the rating game right?
Maybe I'm too harsh in rating some songs?
Maybe I don't feel the need to get over 80% for it to be a great album?
I guess in the end my scale is simply different, so it's probably better for me not to play and warp the other ratings...

 

When I was looking up the track list to copy & paste I came across a track by track from Vince & Nikki.

They seem to feel the same as as me about some songs.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/dr-feelgood-motley-crues-track-by-track-guide-to-1989-classic-20090505

[Glen]

OK, so I look at say Dr' Feelgood.

An album I really love.

 

T.N.T. (Terror 'N Tinseltown) - intro doesn't count

Dr. Feelgood - 10

Slice Of Your Pie - 3

Rattlesnake Shake - 4

Kickstart My Heart - 10

Without You - 10

Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.) - 10

Sticky Sweet - 5

She Goes Down - 10

Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) - 10

Time For Change - 10

Based on that the whole album gets an 82% from me.

Drop 3 songs and it gets 100%

Yet it still rates and an amazing album regardless, and sometimes you need some fillers for contrast between average and killer songs.

So based on that, I'd rarely rate an album over 90%.

Maybe I'm not playing the rating game right?

Maybe I'm too harsh in rating some songs?

Maybe I don't feel the need to get over 80% for it to be a great album?

I guess in the end my scale is simply different, so it's probably better for me not to play and warp the other ratings...

 

When I was looking up the track list to copy & paste I came across a track by track from Vince & Nikki.

They seem to feel the same as as me about some songs.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/dr-feelgood-motley-crues-track-by-track-guide-to-1989-classic-20090505

 

no you dont actually.........and certainly not as awful as the songs you have highlighted ;-)

 

Dr Feelgood has a handful of good songs and whole bunch of filler.....one of the most overrated albums of all time imo.

 

But hey to each their own ;-)

[Glen]

for the record I rated it 77% when doing 1989 and was as kind to it as possible.

 

I think that is a fair score.

[CureTheSane]

But the album is irrelevant to the point I was trying to make.

All music is subjective and will be interpreted differently by different people.

My point was that this was an album that I really like, one of my favorites, yet it only gets an 82% because there are some songs I think are average on it.

 

I could probably only find a few albums where all songs would rate over an 8/10

Just randomly going back through the thread and selecting an album I see C.O.P. – State Of Rock

1.Loner 100

2. I Want The World To Know 95

3. Nightmare 96

4. Without you 90

5. On the run 89

6. In my dreams 98

7. She’s gone 85

8. In the night 84

9. Broken Heart 86

10. Darkness 100

 

I've never heard this album before, nor the band, but based on the ratings I sure as hell better go out and get it because Darkness and Loner are PERFECT SONGS
Then there are 3 more which are very close to perfect.

[Geoff]

I also rate 'Dr Feelgood' around that mark at 83% and obviously have no issue with the rating around that mark. I'd agree on the best and worst songs, but I don't think any of the best songs are worth a 10 - definitely not, imo - but then on the flipside, I also don't think any of those weaker songs are anywhere near that bad, lol. In my world, 3's and 4's are for shocking songs with no trace of a hook and really bad musicality and probably even some brass thrown in the mix... maybe a jazz vibe?

 

The weak songs on 'Dr Feelgood' are not as good as the rest, but I love the musicianship / production / vibe of the album, and all 3 songs have solid (if not basic and banal) hooks and yeah... to me they're all at least in that 7/10 region as I wouldn't actually skip them if I was listening to the CD. Just good simple hard rock songs.

 

But honestly, to each their own. My main worry was just that you weren't actually hearing the best albums available. And I guess that COP review verifies that tenfold. Judging by those scores, is that basically the best album you've ever heard in your life, lol? That is extremely generous, and just makes me wonder what you'd think of some of the albums from this year we've all rated quite high. Something like Care of Night, Degreed, Issa or Room Experience or something.

[Glen]

yeah I think that was Kouros rating actually.....

 

On the whole rating an album.........yeah I agree that there are not many albums which have consistently great songs above 8.5/10.....and in many cases there is a shocker of a song on a gem of an album, which might drag the overall score down.

 

However, I accept this in an overall rating of an album.......if the band chooses to stick a filler on an album then so be it.

 

And of course it is down to an individual's taste.....naturally......what I consider to be a filler might be someone else's favourite song!

 

But how else can you rank albums in any given year other than just guessing what's best and what's not.

 

And so this debate rumbles on...............

 

I didnt think that rating each song, adding it up and dividing by 10//11/12 or whatever was such a difficult / controversial concept

 

Perhaps it is.

[CureTheSane]

My main worry was just that you weren't actually hearing the best albums available. And I guess that COP review verifies that tenfold. Judging by those scores, is that basically the best album you've ever heard in your life, lol? That is extremely generous, and just makes me wonder what you'd think of some of the albums from this year we've all rated quite high. Something like Care of Night, Degreed, Issa or Room Experience or something.

 

OK, so I listened to C.O.P. - a couple of songs on youtube.

Not really my cup of tea. Kind of like a Guiffria vibe to them - very AOR, and while I like some Guiffria, and a little bit of AOR at times, it's really not my kind of music.

Let me know if any of the others you recommend are somewhere between Tuff and Maiden and I'll give them a listen

 

Not dissing the AOR, just prefer heavier or sleazier music.

[kourosofsteel3]

 

My main worry was just that you weren't actually hearing the best albums available. And I guess that COP review verifies that tenfold. Judging by those scores, is that basically the best album you've ever heard in your life, lol? That is extremely generous, and just makes me wonder what you'd think of some of the albums from this year we've all rated quite high. Something like Care of Night, Degreed, Issa or Room Experience or something.

 

OK, so I listened to C.O.P. - a couple of songs on youtube.

Not really my cup of tea. Kind of like a Guiffria vibe to them - very AOR, and while I like some Guiffria, and a little bit of AOR at times, it's really not my kind of music.

Let me know if any of the others you recommend are somewhere between Tuff and Maiden and I'll give them a listen

 

Not dissing the AOR, just prefer heavier or sleazier music.

 

 

 

Ha, Airstream, The Night Flight Orchestra and C.O.P are labelled as AOR. Guess the differences.

 

Actually, I find it impossible to love all the 3 of them. Love really catchy, technical, with an abundance of hooks and vocal lines/gymnastics yet safe stuff, check C.O.P.

 

Are you interesting in becoming a fossil after your death? There are better ways, like picking your burial spot carefully, instead of listening to Airsream+ TNFO.

[kourosofsteel3]

yeah I think that was Kouros rating actually.....

 

On the whole rating an album.........yeah I agree that there are not many albums which have consistently great songs above 8.5/10.....and in many cases there is a shocker of a song on a gem of an album, which might drag the overall score down.

 

However, I accept this in an overall rating of an album.......if the band chooses to stick a filler on an album then so be it.

 

And of course it is down to an individual's taste.....naturally......what I consider to be a filler might be someone else's favourite song!

 

But how else can you rank albums in any given year other than just guessing what's best and what's not.

 

And so this debate rumbles on...............

 

I didnt think that rating each song, adding it up and dividing by 10//11/12 or whatever was such a difficult / controversial concept

 

Perhaps it is.

 

 

Yeah, I concur with this statement. Average is better than median in these cases.

[Geoff]

Yep, 100% agree with all that, Glen. My only issue with the rating system has ever been that a band could have a CD full of 7/10 songs, which is not really a great album; and for the sake of the argument, another band could have five 10/10 songs and five 5/10 songs and still score about the same. And we all know which album we'd listen to again and again every time.

 

But at the end of the day, I agree with the sentiment that it's the band's choice. They live and die by all the songs they put on an album so it's only fair to rate the whole thing as it is.

 

I know people seem to get irritated by the whole rating thing, but I truly see no other better way to do it if you want to get all your ducks in a row and get some sort of non-random order into your music collection. The system may have its flaws, but as far as I am able to understand, it's got less flaws than any other way or rating albums.

[CureTheSane]

a band could have a CD full of 7/10 songs, which is not really a great album;

 

Don't understand how 7/10 is not a great song.

I guess that helps me make sense of the whole rating system.

I guess if it is music, rather than the spoken word, or poetry, then any song automatically gets maybe a 3?

If listening to it doesn't make you want to poke your ears with skewers, then it becomes a 5?

Something that you're happy to listen to more than once gets a 10?

 

It's all a bit weird and confusing to me, so like I said, I'm not gonna play because I'd just be rating to a different criteria.

But I like the idea of the ratings system - it may help me discover some new music

however, I guess I'll only be looking to check out the songs/albums that rate over 90%

 

Only request I'd have is if each band could be described, Heavy Rock, AOR, Country (Mike Tramp), Glam, etc

[Glen]

Well put it this way - at school if you got 70% in an exam was that considered a 'great' mark?

 

Not really - it would be a good mark.

 

90 % would be a great mark....

 

Jesus. Thats it im done......

[Dead Planet]

I just relistened to Dr Feelgood last week for the first time in many years and it was surprisingly better than I remembered....

 

Dr. Feelgood - 9

Slice Of Your Pie - 8

Rattlesnake Shake - 8

Kickstart My Heart - 10

Without You - 8

Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.) - 8

Sticky Sweet - 8

She Goes Down - 9

Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) - 8

Time For Change - 7

Which works out to 83, which while pretty good is a lower score than I would have thought but it does prove to me that there are damn few 90+ releases around once you start judging a release song by song.....

[heavyharmonies]

Geoffman... I am shocked that Art Nation didn't make it into your top 30 thus far. While I'm not sure it will make it into my top 5 for the year, I'm pretty sure it's in the top 10.

[Glen]

Hes forgotton it ;-)

[The Rocker]

 

OK, so I look at say Dr' Feelgood.

An album I really love.

 

T.N.T. (Terror 'N Tinseltown) - intro doesn't count

Dr. Feelgood - 10

Slice Of Your Pie - 3

Rattlesnake Shake - 4

Kickstart My Heart - 10

Without You - 10

Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.) - 10

Sticky Sweet - 5

She Goes Down - 10

Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) - 10

Time For Change - 10

Based on that the whole album gets an 82% from me.

Drop 3 songs and it gets 100%

Yet it still rates and an amazing album regardless, and sometimes you need some fillers for contrast between average and killer songs.

So based on that, I'd rarely rate an album over 90%.

Maybe I'm not playing the rating game right?

Maybe I'm too harsh in rating some songs?

Maybe I don't feel the need to get over 80% for it to be a great album?

I guess in the end my scale is simply different, so it's probably better for me not to play and warp the other ratings...

 

When I was looking up the track list to copy & paste I came across a track by track from Vince & Nikki.

They seem to feel the same as as me about some songs.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/dr-feelgood-motley-crues-track-by-track-guide-to-1989-classic-20090505

 

no you dont actually.........and certainly not as awful as the songs you have highlighted ;-)

 

Dr Feelgood has a handful of good songs and whole bunch of filler.....one of the most overrated albums of all time imo.

 

But hey to each their own ;-)

 

Love the album myself!

[Glen]

Mine -

 

Dr Feel 8.75

Slice. 6.5

Rattlesnake. 7

Kickstart. 8.5

Without. 7.25

Same ol. 8

Stickt sweet. 7.75

She. 7

Dont go. 8.75

Time. 7.5

 

Overall 77

[The Rocker]

Geoffman... I am shocked that Art Nation didn't make it into your top 30 thus far. While I'm not sure it will make it into my top 5 for the year, I'm pretty sure it's in the top 10.

In my top five for sure!

[AlphaMale]

Newies yet to be rated but I have them on the playlist:

 

Stryper

Art Nation

Saxon

Michael Monroe

Fates Right Band

[kourosofsteel3]

Here are some ratings, while trying to manage to listen to the whole Winery Dogs cd in my 4th attempt...

Eclipse Armageddonize 82,55%

Bonfire Glorious 84,30%

Europe War of Kings 51,50%

Care of Night Connected 89,70%

Impellitteri Venom 63%

Blind Guardian Beyond The Red Mirror 52%

Scorpions Return To Forever 62,50%

Kelly Keeling Mind Radio 80,90%

Sweet&Lynch Only To Rise 70,00%

Santa Cruz S/t 85,20%

Universe Mission Rock 70,50%

Virgin Steele Nocturnes of Hellfire & Damnation 31,40%

Stromwitch Season of TheWitch 23,90%

U.D.O. Decadent 58,30%

Michael Shenker's Temple of Rock Spirit On A Mission 63,33%

Raven Exterminator 50,25%

George Lynch Shadow Train 37,80%

Talon Fourplay 69,00%

Papa Roach F.E.A.R. 76,50%

Art Nation Revolution 91,00%

Sorcerer In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross 78,13%

Armored Saint Win Hands Down 69,44%

Drakkar Run With The Wolf 59,75%

LANDE, JORN & HOLTER, TROND Dracula - Swing Of Death 80,40%

Cholane Caution 70,75%

The Night Flight Orchestra Skyline Whispers 57,70%

Magister Templi Into Duat 69,75%

C.O.P. State Of Rock 90,40%

Seven Witches The Way Of The Wicked 54,45%

[Geoff]

Geoffman... I am shocked that Art Nation didn't make it into your top 30 thus far. While I'm not sure it will make it into my top 5 for the year, I'm pretty sure it's in the top 10.

 

I couldn't understand what you were talking about, so I looked back in this thread to see when I last posted my top 30... and it was on 2nd of September. Art Nation was released on 28th of August. Holy shitballs, my good man, let the thing go through my ears first!!

 

Seriously, the simple and only explanation is that I was yet to hear, let alone rate the thing. At the moment, it is 13th on my list, but it and Room Experience are in desperate need of updated scores, and looking at my top 13, I think when all is said and done, Art Nation will slot in around the 6th to 8th spot somewhere. I played it back to back the other night while doing a few things outside and jeez there's a lot to love about it. Like I said somewhere, solos don't do much for me these days, but some of the solos on it are just superb.

 

Oh, and as for the Cutethesane/Glen discussion above... I'm with Glen; I cannot comprehend what is so hard to understand about it! If 70% was the highest score you ever gave an album, then sure, it'd be good. But to suggest then that there is nothing out there worth over 80%, for example, is just silly. Plain and simple. 70% is a fine score, but 80%, 90% and 95% is a much better score, so aren't they the great albums? And isn't 70% pretty obviously somewhere well below this?

 

Just randomly from this year, I have rated Care Of Night's album 90% and Mark Slaughter's 'Reflections' in a Rear View Mirror' 70%. I think the Slaughter album deserves that score because it's solid enough thing with listenable songs, but why would I get hung up on something like that (or a Burning Cow or Boobaflex album) when an album like the Care of Night one exists?