Ratings System

So I just wanted to post this as a blog post so its in everyone's face, and not hidden away in some tab that doesn't get updates for sixth months at a time. I've realized that our rating's system isn't exactly self explanatory, or at least mine isn't. I'll just post a number an what it correlates to -

1. Utterly awful. A 1/10 score denotes that it is physically irritating to listen to the music. If I assign a 1/10 I haven't listened all the way through because I was impatient and the noise was pissing me off.

2. Terrible. A 2/10 identifies music nearly completely devoid of value. Frequently this value just equates to a decent recording job and a cool line or two on an album. It won't elicit a serious display of anger / annoyance, but it'll get close.

3. Bad. A 3/10 is given when the music is about as enjoyable as white noise. The music starts to take on identifiable good traits other than the recording. Usually at least one instrument is at least close to average.

4. Lack-luster. A 4/10 is a continuation on the trend seen above. Better instruments, a 4/10 marks where an album is finally good enough that its worth pirating. A 4/10 DM record for a death metal fan should be worth about a 5.5/10 DM record for a thrash fan.

5. Mediocre. A 5/10 is significant of an album where the bad aspects are equal to the good aspects. Typically speaking a 5/10 will be worth picking up for a fan of a specific genre because the fan's appreciation for the genre is enough to tip the overall value of the album to be more good than bad. This doesn't make it a good cd, but it becomes worth your time to listen to, when the bad outweighs the good, obviously, its not worth the time it takes to listen to the cd, to listen to it.

6. Below Average. Self explanatory, a 6/10 is just a bit below "average".

7. Average. A 7/10 marks the boundary between an album thats just "meh" to a good album. I say average because typically speaking, "average" equates to an album that isn't really special, and has nothing that makes it shine, but nothing that makes it particularly bad.

8. Real Average. 8/10s represent a band or album that is genuinely entertaining to listen to, or a band / album that has something that makes them/it "special".

9. Very Good. 9/10s signify an album that is very good and not worth passing up on. We have a lot up here because we also tend to review things we have in our itunes, and therefore, like.

10. "Perfect". 10s identify an album that I consider to be without flaws. That doesn't mean that its a classic, just that there isn't anything that I feel the band should get knocked for.

So there's how I rate albums so people can understand why my ratings are typically on the higher side.