Hello, everyone!
My name is Andrew Oliver, and I have been graciously accepted to write for and participate in this blog. I had a blog of my own, which fell to the wayside due to lack of interest, but that’s not important right now. What is important is that from now on, I will be creating videos, articles, and reviews for you to feast your eyes on.
Which brings me to the real topic of this article in particular: What is the purpose of a review?
Certainly, this is one of the many topics which differs from person to person, and while certain methods may have varying degrees of success, there really is no right or wrong way to go about it, but, for what it’s worth, I’ll share my point of view on the matter.
In my opinion (key word here), far too much of music criticism is, hence the name, focused on criticizing the music being reviewed. This necessitates the critic rating the musical work to project his or her opinion about the quality of the album. I think that this is, in some ways, an issue.
If a music critic gives an album a bad score, someone who may have listened to it and enjoyed it, might not bother, creating a missed opportunity for both the artist and the listener. This is why I avoid numerical ratings, grades, or rankings of any kind, and also, why I try to avoid criticizing, and, instead, describe the music instead so that people who like that variety or genre will be encouraged to check it out and so those who might not be familiar can get an idea of what they’re dealing with.
I hope that my style suits you well as I post more in the future!
Seasons greetings,
Andrew Oliver
