that'll certainly keep this frostback out.

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chickswithdicks (July 24, 2008)

frostback, i like that.

Or it's an example of how the user submitted review system works very well. As otherwise none of us may have bothered to review it at all.

We're better off with motivated fans writing about bands they like than someone giving the album a dispassionate and uninterested pan because they're being forced to sit through it.

-adam

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chickswithdicks (July 24, 2008)

i'd typically rather read a critical analysis of something than just fan gushing though. not to say that someone can't review their favourite band just because it's their favourite band but in at least half these cases the 4 and 5 star reviews are just total garbage.

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Shindo (adam) (July 24, 2008)
That's the trade off, I recognize it but I'm arguing that the alternative is worse.

All the reviewers are volunteers and nobody's forced to review anything, so in that case you'll get a lot of positive reviews from fans because that's what they're motivated to write about. On the plus side though you do get lots of content and participation from the site readers. Of course not everyone's a qualified critic so you'll get some less than enlightened viewpoints, but the comment section is there so that you can talk back and tell the reviewer that you disagree.

The alternative is for a closed system or one that is heavily moderated so that the published opinions are only the ones that reflect some overarching agenda of me and the other editors. You'd get far less reviews, and they may be of better quality and consistent voice, but the community would be worse

show rest of commentThat's the trade off, I recognize it but I'm arguing that the alternative is worse.

All the reviewers are volunteers and nobody's forced to review anything, so in that case you'll get a lot of positive reviews from fans because that's what they're motivated to write about. On the plus side though you do get lots of content and participation from the site readers. Of course not everyone's a qualified critic so you'll get some less than enlightened viewpoints, but the comment section is there so that you can talk back and tell the reviewer that you disagree.

The alternative is for a closed system or one that is heavily moderated so that the published opinions are only the ones that reflect some overarching agenda of me and the other editors. You'd get far less reviews, and they may be of better quality and consistent voice, but the community would be worse off for it and the breadth of bands covered would drop dramatically.

-adam
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chickswithdicks (July 24, 2008)

i think there's a happy medium somewhere in there. obviously an example of a closed system not working would be pitchfork. not only are their reviews typically not informative but you basically know their viewpoint before reading anything.

websites like allmusic seem to pull it off decently though, they typically have pretty good reviews and a decent scoring system as well as a wide range of coverage.

i like the community review aspect of this site because of the tiny independent bands that would otherwise go unnoticed, it's just when it comes to larger releases it almost seems like the more experienced staff writers should maybe handle those reviews.

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Shindo (adam) (July 24, 2008)

There's always room for improvement, and with the appropriate time and overhead it could obviously be better... but AllMusic remember has vast resources compared to little ol' us. Any change we make to the process will need to be workable for our editors and writers, all of which are just doing this in their spare time.

-adam

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chickswithdicks (July 24, 2008)

yeah, i totally understand that allmusic is a much larger operation, but they also cover basically every genre of music known to man where as punknews covers just a small group of bands in comparison. there just seem to be a few members on this site that submit consistently solid reviews and i'd just prefer to see them on certain releases rather than random fans. just my two cents.

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SloaneDaley (July 24, 2008)

from a staff writers point of view I think the occasional stinker on an important review is a rare occurance, sometimes it is disappointing, but I don't think it happens THAT often. The reviewers that are from the community that contribute semi-often are actually pretty good. A good number of the other writers like me were just came from the community contributing and if we hadn't had that option we might not be staff today.

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Wentz_Equals_Death (July 24, 2008)

adam, you are having a meaningful conversation with a guy named chicks with dicks. welcome to the internet

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chickswithdicks (July 24, 2008)

you can't appreciate a good Clerks reference? where is SalsaShark when i need him.. or her.

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Wentz_Equals_Death (July 24, 2008)

ahhhhhh, i can appreciate but i guess not recognize :(

now if i can only figure out what baldsteve's name is all about...

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chickswithdicks (July 24, 2008)

it's a little obscure i guess, it was one of the titles on the crazy porns that randal had. also salsa shark is from him eating his chips. this is kind of making me realize what a loser i am.

I decided to skip Wankstock so I will not be seeing HWM

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scientistrock (July 24, 2008)

How does your soul feel?

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SloaneDaley (July 24, 2008)

I had to live my heart and never follow, I'm sure they understood.

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scientistrock (July 24, 2008)

You've fallen down, but you'll get back up.

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chickswithdicks (July 24, 2008)

yeah same here, i can't afford that ticket price to hang out with people i don't like and see hwm for what, 25 minutes?

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SloaneDaley (July 24, 2008)

yeah, I'm seeing Propagandhi and Brutal Knights on sunday so I'm not THAT disappointed.

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chickswithdicks (July 24, 2008)

i've never seen brutal knights before, are they any good? i'm pretty excited to see propagandhi as a 4 piece though.

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SloaneDaley (July 24, 2008)

I've seen BK a number of times and they've ranged from decent to amazing. It depend's on how good Nick's jokes are and the crowd sometimes they can get really into it. I have not seen them in a venue this big before so I'm not sure how that'll translate as I've seen them in places like the Bovine and Wrongbar.

I'm not a huge huge Hostage Life fan in a live setting and might miss them cuz my girlfriend works late but they should be reasonably fun.

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chickswithdicks (July 24, 2008)

hmm.. do you recommend i check out bk this way or wait to see them at a smaller club?

i have no intention of catching hostage life so i'm just figuring out if i'll just head over solely for propagandhi, i'm getting old.

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SloaneDaley (July 24, 2008)

I guess since I haven't seen them this way I have no idea how it will be use your best judgement. Prop will kill though, they were great at Funhaus last time.

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chickswithdicks (July 24, 2008)

most definitely. i've never had a bad propagandhi live experience.

does that d4/nofx double header in the fall scratch you where you itch?

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SloaneDaley (July 24, 2008)

Kool Haus doesn't really tickle my fancy, but I do love D4 and the lady friend said she has kind of wanted to see NOFX live for awhile. So it is likely I'll be at one of the shows.

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chickswithdicks (July 24, 2008)

i'm pretty excited. the kool haus sucks balls but i haven't seen nofx for a couple years. every time i see them they get worse and worse, yet the show is better and better. i'm not 100% on pairing them with d4 though, that's 2 bands in a row that talk more than play..

Fully acknowledged.

-adam

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Dudley_Shale (July 24, 2008)

Not a bad thing. It's all completely true.

As well as America.

Death By Bunny? Hahahahahaha.

Thats a girl?