Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Per letmeintomyzone's thread about getting more information for the album pages on AM, I've created this thread so that people can claim which albums they'd like to get review blurbs and other album information for. Rob created an excellent example of what information will be collecting that isn't already on the page. I'll include it here.
245. Talking Heads [link to artists page] – Fear of Music
1979 / Art rock, New Wave, Post Punk / 40 min
Highlights: Life During Wartime, Memories Can’t Wait, I Zimbra
Edgy, intense and claustrophobic, Fear of Music is the record where Talking Heads started making sense, filling out their earlier, somewhat bony art-rock with fleshier funk. Nowhere is it more successful than when twitchy house-rocker Life During Wartime hits full tilt. – The Guardian [link]
Or, if you prefer generic form:
Album Ranking. Artist Name - Album Name
Album Cover
Highlights: pick three songs off the album that you find to be highlights
"Critics' blurb" - Critic name or Review site [link]
I've gone through and cherry-picked certain albums that I'd like to do myself. Make your selections as you will - whether you want to individually pick ones that you're particularly passionate about or you want to pick a particular block of albums to do. I feel as though starting with 25 per person will make the task reasonable enough - although this will need all the help available, so feel free to do more or less. I've prepared a Google spreadsheet that we can use to collate everything for the final project, record which albums that you'll be handling there:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing
Not sure what timeframe to put on this, particularly since it's not really a poll. But how about till the end of the summer? So up until August 15th?
If anyone has any thoughts regarding this endeavor, let me know!
245. Talking Heads [link to artists page] – Fear of Music
1979 / Art rock, New Wave, Post Punk / 40 min
Highlights: Life During Wartime, Memories Can’t Wait, I Zimbra
Edgy, intense and claustrophobic, Fear of Music is the record where Talking Heads started making sense, filling out their earlier, somewhat bony art-rock with fleshier funk. Nowhere is it more successful than when twitchy house-rocker Life During Wartime hits full tilt. – The Guardian [link]
Or, if you prefer generic form:
Album Ranking. Artist Name - Album Name
Album Cover
Highlights: pick three songs off the album that you find to be highlights
"Critics' blurb" - Critic name or Review site [link]
I've gone through and cherry-picked certain albums that I'd like to do myself. Make your selections as you will - whether you want to individually pick ones that you're particularly passionate about or you want to pick a particular block of albums to do. I feel as though starting with 25 per person will make the task reasonable enough - although this will need all the help available, so feel free to do more or less. I've prepared a Google spreadsheet that we can use to collate everything for the final project, record which albums that you'll be handling there:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing
Not sure what timeframe to put on this, particularly since it's not really a poll. But how about till the end of the summer? So up until August 15th?
If anyone has any thoughts regarding this endeavor, let me know!
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
acroamor, shouldn't you add at least at least the albums that made it to the top 750 for those climbers? Also it would be a good idea if there's at least the top 25 albums from 2015 added so they'll be ready for Henrik to add if they make it into the top 500.
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
How long should the blurb be? (i.e. how many words/characters)
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Thanks everyone for doing this!
Would it always have to be one blurb?
Would it always have to be one blurb?
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Wouldn't it be a bit much if we added more blurbs. The pages could easily become too full.Henrik wrote: Would it always have to be one blurb?
As for the lengts of the blurbs, I suggest something between 50 and 100 words.
I added my name to about 50 of these titles, though I doubt I will begin with this before the weekend. If the need be I will pick up more later. I see the deadline is for the 15th of August. Is it likely that there will be an update on this list before that?
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I just added a whole bunch of blurbs, but now they are gone! Also, most of the list has disappeared as well! It starts with OK Computer. What the heck happened?
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
My bad, I put a filter on the years so I could only see albums from 97 on, just remove the filter and it should be fine (or I'll do it next time I have access to a computer)
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Added a couple of blurbs for Public Enemy It Takes A Nation.. and Stevie Wonder Songs In the Key.. Hopefully I did it right. If not let a brother know and I'll fix it.
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
JimmyJazz, you got your Sinatra albums mixed up! I fixed it for you.
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
How many albums should we claim? I've taken about 10 so far, but I don't want to be a scumbag and take a lot in the top 100, for example.
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I took about 40 something I think. I think that at most 50 like Rob did is the limit for a user personally.Listyguy wrote:How many albums should we claim? I've taken about 10 so far, but I don't want to be a scumbag and take a lot in the top 100, for example.
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Yeah I'm trying not to hog it up. I really like doing this but I only do a couple a day to give others a chance if they want.JimmyJazz wrote:I took about 40 something I think. I think that at most 50 like Rob did is the limit for a user personally.Listyguy wrote:How many albums should we claim? I've taken about 10 so far, but I don't want to be a scumbag and take a lot in the top 100, for example.
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Other users should feel free to contribute if they feel like it! We have a giant amount of albums still waiting to be claimed!
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Plus we should have more added to the list so that it can be ready for the top 500 the next update.JimmyJazz wrote:Other users should feel free to contribute if they feel like it! We have a giant amount of albums still waiting to be claimed!
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I noticed that JimmyJazz also puts the author and year of the review at the end of his critics blurb's. Do we need to do that for each of ours as well or does it matter?
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I do that mostly because it is good to attribute the words to an individual and not just the publication, which is what They Shoot Pictures does anyways. Of course, some of the blurbs like the ones I got from Rolling Stone's album list have no author, so I just put Rolling Stone.bootsy wrote:I noticed that JimmyJazz also puts the author and year of the review at the end of his critics blurb's. Do we need to do that for each of ours as well or does it matter?
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
OK I'll start doing that as well and add that to the ones I've already done. I think it looks good and professional doing it that way. ThanksJimmyJazz wrote:I do that mostly because it is good to attribute the words to an individual and not just the publication, which is what They Shoot Pictures does anyways. Of course, some of the blurbs like the ones I got from Rolling Stone's album list have no author, so I just put Rolling Stone.bootsy wrote:I noticed that JimmyJazz also puts the author and year of the review at the end of his critics blurb's. Do we need to do that for each of ours as well or does it matter?
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Any feedback for the blurbs I placed? Good, bad, or somewhere in between?
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I sticked (with one tiny exception) to the AM songs list when it comes to picking the highlights, since I consider those are the songs critics would recommend, but looking as some choices by other people, I see it's not what everybody did ! Should we have a guideline for that too ?
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I think I want to handle this differently, as mentioned in another thread:Nassim wrote:I sticked (with one tiny exception) to the AM songs list when it comes to picking the highlights, since I consider those are the songs critics would recommend, but looking as some choices by other people, I see it's not what everybody did ! Should we have a guideline for that too ?
Henrik wrote:I agree with Daniel. I just got the idea that if I could get help to identify the album for each song on AM, and the AM id/link for each album that is on AM, then I could link to these albums from the song pages but also backtrack what songs that appear on AM for each AM album.Daniel wrote:I would be interested in seeing track listings for the albums, or even a list of the songs from the albums that are also in AM's Top 6000 songs.
It would also be neat for the songs list to have an indication as to what album each song originated from, who wrote/produced the song, etc.
Or, if it would be easier, you could help me identify the songs on AM for the AM albums. No matter how the information is obtained, I could both link to the songs from the album pages and vice versa.
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Bumping this so that it doesn't get lost in the shuffle.
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Just checking with everyone to see if this is still a go or not. I still do two a day but just wanted to know if this is happening or what exactly is going on?
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I haven't really had much time, though I hope to get some entries done tomorrow.
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
But I still feel if we are supposed to pick highlights, as we are dealing with a list based on critics, we should pick (when possible) the most acclaimed songs. There are a few albums where I'd rather pick personal favorites, but I think we should stay unbiased.Henrik wrote:I think I want to handle this differently, as mentioned in another thread:Nassim wrote:I sticked (with one tiny exception) to the AM songs list when it comes to picking the highlights, since I consider those are the songs critics would recommend, but looking as some choices by other people, I see it's not what everybody did ! Should we have a guideline for that too ?Henrik wrote:I agree with Daniel. I just got the idea that if I could get help to identify the album for each song on AM, and the AM id/link for each album that is on AM, then I could link to these albums from the song pages but also backtrack what songs that appear on AM for each AM album.Daniel wrote:I would be interested in seeing track listings for the albums, or even a list of the songs from the albums that are also in AM's Top 6000 songs.
It would also be neat for the songs list to have an indication as to what album each song originated from, who wrote/produced the song, etc.
Or, if it would be easier, you could help me identify the songs on AM for the AM albums. No matter how the information is obtained, I could both link to the songs from the album pages and vice versa.
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I haven't been really clear on what information I would like to present. I guess I haven't been sure myself. But here's a suggestion for the highlights from each album:
- All songs on AM. It would help me a lot if you could also provide the song IDs (the number in the links to the song pages)
- 1, 2 or 3 other highlights for albums with 2, 1 or 0 songs on AM.
Would you be OK with this?
- All songs on AM. It would help me a lot if you could also provide the song IDs (the number in the links to the song pages)
- 1, 2 or 3 other highlights for albums with 2, 1 or 0 songs on AM.
Would you be OK with this?
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I think this is a good idea.Henrik wrote:I haven't been really clear on what information I would like to present. I guess I haven't been sure myself. But here's a suggestion for the highlights from each album:
- All songs on AM. It would help me a lot if you could also provide the song IDs (the number in the links to the song pages)
- 1, 2 or 3 other highlights for albums with 2, 1 or 0 songs on AM.
Would you be OK with this?
This weekend is full for me again, but next weekend I have nothing planned so I hope to get a lot of work done on this.
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I finally did a couple of the albums. After each highlighted song title I put the Acclaimed Music song number in brackets. Is this done in the way you want it, Henrik?
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
That would be perfect for me. However, to not cause any confusion about whether it's the ID or the placement (for new people who want to help), perhaps it would be good to add the "S" prefix? For example, God Only Knows (S978).Rob wrote:I finally did a couple of the albums. After each highlighted song title I put the Acclaimed Music song number in brackets. Is this done in the way you want it, Henrik?
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Hold on, I think I answered too fast. It would be easier for me if instead column H could be used for the AM IDs, divided by commas. For Pet Sounds column H would then be
S978, S3175, S1684, S2280, S3173, S9137, S5343, S5344
S978, S3175, S1684, S2280, S3173, S9137, S5343, S5344
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Yes, I prefer this approach than the one I used before. It's far more comprehensible. I will fix it, probably during the weekend.Henrik wrote:Hold on, I think I answered too fast. It would be easier for me if instead column H could be used for the AM IDs, divided by commas. For Pet Sounds column H would then be
S978, S3175, S1684, S2280, S3173, S9137, S5343, S5344
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Also bumping this to remind folks about this project...
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Bumping this up to keep it on 1st page at least. I haven't been doing many updates in the past couple of weeks due to moving to another state so I've been packing and prepping lately but I plan on trying to do one a day the best I can.
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I'm trying to find the most perfect quote from a good source. Some of these albums are quite hard to do!
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Yes I'm having the same issue with some albums. Some of the reviews aren't very good and too short.babydoll wrote:I'm trying to find the most perfect quote from a good source. Some of these albums are quite hard to do!
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Same here. I did a couple last week though, but it is a surprisingly slow process. The problem with many reviews is that they don't describe the album overall, but just go from song to song. That isn't very useful for blurbs.
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Great job guys! I made this thread sticky so that hopefully more people will help with this.
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I could use a list of good sources to look for reviews.
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Here is a list that I have come up with, for everybody's reference:Sweepstakes Ron wrote:I could use a list of good sources to look for reviews.
Allmusic Reviews
Rolling Stone Reviews
Robert Christgau Reviews
Pitchfork Reviews
BBC Music Reviews
Guardian Reviews
Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums (Blurbs)
Time Magazine's 100 Greatest Albums (Blurbs)
Pitchfork Decade Lists (Blurbs)
NME Lists (Blurbs)
1001 Albums book (if anybody has a copy of it! I happen to...)
There are probably many other outlets too, of course, which people can recommend and add to this.
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
To start off with, I've added my name to the albums in the top 150 that haven't been claimed by anyone else yet. I'm not necessarily the world's biggest fan of all of those albums, but it's not difficult for me to grasp what it is that critics who rate those albums highly love about them.
I pledge to only find glowing reviews.
[imgsize 150x150]http://worldartsme.com/images/pledge-clipart-1.jpg[/imgsize]
I pledge to only find glowing reviews.
[imgsize 150x150]http://worldartsme.com/images/pledge-clipart-1.jpg[/imgsize]
...will keep us together.
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
So is the August 15th deadline absolutely final?
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
This is something I don't need to add to AM together with an updated all-time list, so from my view there's no hurry.babydoll wrote:So is the August 15th deadline absolutely final?
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I'm honestly trying to find some good ones, but, man, for some albums it is difficult to find. I am trying, but it's only so easy to do with work and personal issues. I'm trying! I swear! I swear!Henrik wrote:This is something I don't need to add to AM together with an updated all-time list, so from my view there's no hurry.babydoll wrote:So is the August 15th deadline absolutely final?
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Still doing my best to do as many as I can.
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
These blurbs seem to be somewhat forgotten, but I'm working on the album pages and had a look at this again. It would be a great addition to the site, but maybe I will add them later to not delay the site update. Anyway, the spreadsheet does not include links to the quotes as far as I could see. Wouldn't that be nice?
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Oh, right. Personal crisis made me forget this. Sorry, Henrik. I'll get to this. I do have to say that it is a bit difficult especially when an album isn't as widely written about as, say, The White Album or Pet Sounds.
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
I put this on hold somewhat, because of the reason I mentioned before (so many album reviews are just song by song descriptions). I might try to put some work into this when I return from holidays in August.
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Henrik, I have added 2 columns : one for the source and one for the link.Henrik wrote:These blurbs seem to be somewhat forgotten, but I'm working on the album pages and had a look at this again. It would be a great addition to the site, but maybe I will add them later to not delay the site update. Anyway, the spreadsheet does not include links to the quotes as far as I could see. Wouldn't that be nice?
I have filled it for every blurb already picked for the top 200 (and all of mine), I'll add the rest later. A bunch of quotes are coming from books, I haven't put a link in those cases (but I guess I could put a link to amazon).
Also added 3 blurbs, though we are still far from the 500.
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Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Maybe I'll try a few? How many are left? And are any of them from 2016?
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
There's a link. Just sign up for the ones you want to do. And none of them are from 2016.StevieFan13 wrote:Maybe I'll try a few? How many are left? And are any of them from 2016?
Re: Review Blurbs for Top 500 Albums
Here is the link https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharingbabydoll wrote:There's a link. Just sign up for the ones you want to do. And none of them are from 2016.StevieFan13 wrote:Maybe I'll try a few? How many are left? And are any of them from 2016?
Regarding the "highlights" column, if I remember well it is only necessary if the album has less than 3 songs in AM. The picks should be as much as possible the songs regarded as the highlights, not your personal favorites, but it sometimes is quite hard to define.
The "songs in AM" part should have the IDs of the songs ranked (or bubbling) in AM, you can either find it on the top 6000 songs excel file in AM front page (it's the column A which is hidden), or on the url of the page of the song. For instance the url of the Like a Rolling Stone page is http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/Current/S991.htm so the song ID is S991.