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Peeetchfork! They rule!

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victor_smithe:

--- Quote from: Johnny C ---See, that's not even the worst review because she actually talks about what the album sounds like. Some of them don't even grant us that courtesy.

EDIT: Case in point: this.
--- End quote ---

But knowing (and lovin) Chris Cornell thru the years, this may be the funniest thing ever. Its a crap review but it is hilarious.

Inlander:
The aim of a piece of writing should always be to convey information to the reader - NOT to say "look at me!  Look how clever and witty I am!"  For a reivew - whether it be of a C.D., a book, a film or whatever - this is doubly so.  At their worst the Pitchfork reviews are not reviews at all: they're smug smirks put into words.  If the writers don't have the discpline to weed that kind of crap out, then the editor should.

Johnny C:

--- Quote from: muffy ---That says, there is a balance to be reached
--- End quote ---

You know, there's a great book called Kill Your Idols, in which rock critics basically tear apart classic albums that they hate. The best essay in it is probably the review of The Doors, which is essentially a transcript of the critic and the book's editor listening to the album and saying why they don't like The Doors. It is pretty in-depth, but it manages to be funny while at the same time drawing attention to the points that the critic wanted to get across.

By contrast, the worst essay was that of the critic who hated Rumours. It was basically just a fantasy where he killed Fleetwood Mac. The album wasn't even mentioned.

And probably the second worst essay was the incredibly dry deconstruction of Neil Young's Harvest - a track by track discussion of why the album's bad, without wit or anything.

Point? There is a balance to be reached; however, I don't think


--- Quote ---Nah... People only mention the bad reviews. No one would say "Hey guys check out this great review! It clearly states what the music is like, and is written in a way which is easy to understand! It's not too opinionated or biased either!"
--- End quote ---

is giving the readers of Pitchfork any benefit of the doubt. We criticize because we love, dammit, and we love when they hit that balance. They do need to be flicked on the ear occasionally, though, so they don't veer one way or the other and become crap (like the two essays which kind of marred an otherwise flawless read).


(i'm tired so there may be apologies later.)

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