Overly generous ratings??

Sean Trane wrote: Well actually these kinds of sites (such as ours, but RYM or more)  must also take on an encyclopedic view of the whole jazz spectrum, imho. After all, don't we announce ourselves as "ultimate" first and foremost???

That is a good point, but we'd need a collective effort. As I said, many reviews are personal.

Ricochet wrote: Suddenly nobody is reviewing higher than 3.5.

Thinking of holding off on doing some reviews for a while, actually

But seriously, when I have time I'll review a few and see how they turn out. I believe I can change the rating one day, if I take a second look at an album and decide to edit a review?

And I'm going to try and review albums I've had for at least several months. Years is better. Though I may make an exception for one album that I believe needs some exposure that I've only had for a month or so.

In my enthusiasm for this site I found myself wanting to review the albums I liked the most in my collection so, therefore, high ratings were inevitable.  Now that I'm going through the secondary material I'm much more judgmental and hard to please.

Ricochet wrote: You know Hugues, a fellow countryman of yours I read is very generous with the ratings. As if all new jazz is riveting.

I'm pretty even when it comes to ratings. I rated albums anywhere from 5 stars to 1 1/2 stars. Of course my ratings here are based on how good it is in a jazz context, not necessarily if it is progressive or innovative. I haven't heard much jazz that is worth less than 3 stars; the only time this would happen is if it is "smooth" jazz (the kind that isn't good), or if it is jazz-related rock and doesn't have ANY jazz in it (certain Zappa albums, etc...). The rare occasion would be if the sound quality was poor, or the playing was very sloppy (which is rare in jazz)

The ratings should be based on if it is a good addition to a jazz collection, and to weed out the outstanding and great from the average or run-of-the-mill

5 stars = No jazz collection is complete without it
4 1/2 stars = Just as essential as a 5 star album, but doesn't quite hit the masterpiece status
4 stars = Exceptional album, usually just a great, solid album
3 1/2 stars = Might be a dud here or there, but at least half the album is essential jazz listening
3 stars = Average album, if you've heard this one, you've probably heard dozens like it. Good, but nothing special
2 1/2 stars = Another average album, except this one is boring, or very sugar coated smooth jazz
2 stars = Probably only 1 or 2 songs worth having, the rest is bad/average. Maybe the production is not so good; or it is not jazz-related, but might be enjoyed by a jazz fan. (sometimes this can be applied to 2 1/2 star albums)
1 1/2 stars = Poor quality/sloppy playing/sugar sugar sugar!
1 star = If an album gets one star or less, it's either the smoothest of smooth jazz, or is bad music in general.
1/2 star = use your imagination....




Edited by darkshade - 14 Jul 2011 at 3:58pm

darkshade wrote: If this site had a top 100 like at PA, it wouldn't include jazz-related albums like Funk, JR-Rock, etc.... right?

The JBs are in Funk Jazz, James may still crack that top 100 yet.  ..Good God!! .. Hit Me!!  .. Hunh!!!    ..and so on

I'm going to move this thread to General Discussions, don't take the Just For Fun as a diss, that was just standard practice I got from your old buddy Tony back at the rock-n-roll site, wrongly placed threads go to Just for Fun, its nice so you don't have to think about it too much.

js wrote: darkshade wrote: I don't have any albums by The JB's, only James Brown himself. At least 2 of his albums should be considered for funk-jazz like Revolution of the Mind or The Payback, as there is some jazz improv on top of funky goodness during these albums. But I would understand keeping it under funk, I mean, that's what it is. I believe I have both of those albums, I'll check it out. The JBs are one of my favorite bands of all time, no one can play like they do, no one.

RotM is a live album, and probably would have a better chance of making it. Both albums don't really reveal their jazzier moments until you've listened deeper into the album.

Any recommendations for where to start with The JB's?

Sounds good. As much as I enjoy the P-funk sound, it's not among my favorites. I like more the James Brown, Sly, Lettuce; more in the pocket funk. Pfunk has that too, but I dont know how to say this, it's sometimes a little too "slick" I guess...

I'll look at The JB's stuff and see what happens.