Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the purpose of this site? Primarily to provide ratings and analysis of albums that I enjoy, hoping that you will enjoy these albums and my reviews of them.

2. Why should I listen to you? You don’t have to. Anyone can be a rock critic, which you already knew if you read Rolling Stone on a regular basis. I do have some “real critic” qualifications, however, having written album reviews for a national music magazine called Goldmine since 1996.

3. Why do you review all of R.E.M.’s albums but only 3 Boz Scaggs albums when they both have a similar amount of albums? Because I only have 3 Boz Scaggs albums (note: I've since added a few more) and I have all of R.E.M.'s albums. Feel free to help out my collection! (P.S. I’ll gladly work out any trades).

4. What made you decide to start this site? Originally I wanted this to be a book, which would not only review albums that I like (including full discographies of all-time greats, but more importantly, paying special attention to neglected artists like Tindersticks or bands I feel haven’t received their just due from critics, such as Iron Maiden) but which would tell an overall story on the history of rock music in the process. I have a very limited amount of time to work on these reviews, however, and was probably overly ambitious, sacrificing quality for quantity. I have since slowed down my output considerably, and I thought I’d get some of the reviews I’m not embarrassed about “out there” on the Internet. I have lots more where this came from, and I do hope to see these reviews in book form some day.

5. Why don’t you have any reviews or albums that precede 1960? Anything preceding the sixties is beyond my area of “expertise.” There are plenty of great books out there about founding fathers such as Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard, so feel free to check them out.

6. Why don’t you review more hip-hop albums? Simple. I’m not a fan of the genre, which I view as more of a singles medium (the first filler free hip-hop album I hear will be my first). Also, I generally like my artists to sing (which is why I like “trip-hop” artists like Portishead), though there are exceptions to that rule (Lou Reed, for example). That said, I do have a soft spot for Run DMC, the Beastie Boys, and some other hip-hop artists, but by and large I find most of these artists to be grossly overrated. For those of you who would suggest that my failure to fully embrace hip-hop makes me a racist, I say that’s hogwash. For further proof, read my reviews of Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, D'Angelo, Aretha Franklin, Sly & The Family Stone, Lauryn Hill, and a host of other great African American artists.

7. What don’t you review more jazz albums? Again, it’s beyond my area of “expertise,” though I will try to review “jazz-rock fusion” artists such as Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, both of whom should greatly appeal to rock fans.

8. Why is your site so plain looking? This is mostly due to a lack of time. I’d like to make it more interesting to look at, and maybe I’ll get to that eventually. However, when I visit other review sites I’m more interested in the writing than the presentation, so I guess my site reflects that.


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