Can I have your review opinions?

xsarith

xsarith

Senior Member
Hey guys,

So basically my band filled in at short noticed for a band last weekend due to their guitars injuring his back, I also agreed to supply the, this slot was bigger than I usual as it was twice as long and a co-headlining slot.

Anyway the night was great, I loved the other bands, everyone was friendly and I enjoyed playing and though everyone enjoyed us too. people came up to us after we played saying they really liked us and asking for our EP and stuff.

There was a semi new online magazine the reviewing the night and conducting interviews with the bands which I thought was good. The journalist also came up to us really enthusiastically and gave us praise on how we played, said we was tight as a band and showed good music.

The review was posted the next day as follows:

"THIRD BAND – TERAS
Not an awful lot to say about these guys, didn’t perform well in my opinion, must try harder, much harder."

That's all that was said, I politely commented asking why, as then if we had more information we would know where to improve.They responded saying that the review was filled out with with as much information given.

This of course didn't answer my question so to cut a long story short, after a lot of back and forth a few days later the only reason they have come up with is "The guitar tone was bad"

I didn't want to make this into a rant thread but I would like your opinion on this matter. Who's right. Does the reviewer not have to give reasons behind his statement and am I being unprofessional about the lack of detail. I don't want to sound like I'm trying to defend my band, I personally welcome bad reviews so then we know were to improve.

Opinions?
 
Well, you wouldn't be the first band in history have a journalist treat you nicely, then write something negative.

As for the review itself, how could we possibly know if it's accurate? We weren't there. What we DO know is, it's devoid of any useful criticism, so I would just move on and forget it. Look for feedback elsewhere.
 
xsarith said:
The review was posted the next day as follows:

"THIRD BAND – TERAS
Not an awful lot to say about these guys, didn’t perform well in my opinion, must try harder, much harder."
Click to expand...

This is called unconstructive critcism. It had no basis, made no arguments, showed no evidence. Spend as much tine brewing on it as you had time to read my words... and move on.
The online mag sounds more like this guys blog.
 
opentune said:
This is called unconstructive critcism. It had no basis, made no arguments, showed no evidence. Spend as much tine brewing on it as you had time to read my words... and move on.
The online mag sounds more like this guys blog.
Click to expand...
Exactly this ^. Anyway, it wasn't like this guy was from Metal Hammer magazine or anything like that- nothing to stew over IMO (although it would be great to see some footage of the night if you have any so we can judge for ourselves).
 
Don't feel bad, every band gets crappy reviews, regardless of musicianship and musical quality. It's all part of making music, not everybody is going to like your stuff.

Here is a review we received when I was playing in a band, right after the release of one of our cd's. Even though the review is old, it is still on the website because it is so damn funny.

"Death Metal at its worst ! For torturing people with this rotten music, this band should be tied down in a room and forced to listen to the Spice Girls backwards continuously for two weeks strait as payment for their crime of releasing such horrible art that has no redeeming value."

There was wonder if the guy even bothered to listen to the cd, as he gave no reason as to why it was so horrible.

So don't let it bother you, one guys opinion won't ruin your musical career in any way (my old band is now signed, even after this review).
 
Thanks for all the feedback guy, I'm definitely not stewing over this, its some kid in his bedroom writing a review that was published by a local webzine. which after talking with a few other so far that webzine has actually had a fair few negative feedback given to it for this reason.

This definitely wont effect the bands career in anyway I can see anyway, so there isn't much need to fret.

My main question was I right to question why there was no information about it?

All bands will get bad reviews but I don't see the point from the publishers side of things to publish a sentence with no content which just slanders the band.

Meh, honestly I don't really care that much anymore especially after the posts from you guys, you've all driven reassured me the review doesn't matter and to move on. (that's a good thing to haha)
 
Music journelists seem to just gravitate toward the negative.

I remember reading in Rolling Stone about how bad the "Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East" album was and how the same rag mag threw "Layla" under the bus.

Two of the best and biggest selling albums of all time,so don't take it personally.

Lester Bangs who wrote for Cream and Rolling Stone magazine made no secret about how he went out of his way to dislike everybody.

That's just the way critics roll.

Steve B
 
tamadrm said:
Music journelists seem to just gravitate toward the negative.

I remember reading in Rolling Stone about how bad the "Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East" album was and how the same rag mag threw "Layla" under the bus.

Two of the best and biggest selling albums of all time,so don't take it personally.

Lester Bangs who wrote for Cream and Rolling Stone magazine made no secret about how he went out of his way to dislike everybody.

That's just the way critics roll.

Steve B
Click to expand...

Also seems like the majority of professional critics didn't much like Led Zeppelin back in the day either. You can only do your best.
 
tamadrm said:
Music journelists seem to just gravitate toward the negative.

I remember reading in Rolling Stone about how bad the "Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East" album was and how the same rag mag threw "Layla" under the bus.

Two of the best and biggest selling albums of all time,so don't take it personally.

Lester Bangs who wrote for Cream and Rolling Stone magazine made no secret about how he went out of his way to dislike everybody.

That's just the way critics roll.

Steve B
Click to expand...
Same era, Joe cocker mad dogs, too.
 
Most music critics, or guys who write for music publications are usually filed musicians themselves. Therefore they all assume they are better than the bands they are watching and will rarely offer anything positive.

There are some who are good writers who genuinely like music, and those are the ones who will give you good reviews, both positive and negative. You will quickly be able to tell the difference!
 
Any journalist who would criticize the Allman Brother's Band of the 70's was blind and tone deaf. I saw them and they blew me away. Great jams. I am a scientist by trade so criticism is something you deal with daily in publications-I acknowledge it but pay it no mind anymore. I just keep plugging away. Like the movie "Signs" swing away, swing away. Reminds me of Dave Mathews interview where he lamented that "I am just tryin' not to suck-I may suck-but I am tryin' not to." I agree and adopted his philosophy.
 
opentune said:
This is called unconstructive critcism. It had no basis, made no arguments, showed no evidence. Spend as much tine brewing on it as you had time to read my words... and move on.
The online mag sounds more like this guys blog.
Click to expand...

I've read better reviews on blogs than this. Hell, I've read better reviews on blogs than on many popular websites (not just music, mind you).
 
There are only a few visionaries among music critics. All others carefully gravitate to the negative until the band starts to generate buzz, then they all roll over one another claiming how great it is and they were the first to discover it.

Just hijacking the thread now, gear reviews in magazines are the complete opposite: everything is great or even better, everyone's a winner (everyone's a sponsor, rather) but if you're in the market for something there is no way to take a decision.
 
xsarith said:
My main question was I right to question why there was no information about it?

)
Click to expand...

yes, i believe you were . there's a chance it may make this journo think twice before posting totally un constructive criticism next time. Then again it might make no difference but in your position i would have done the same.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top