The Album Review Club - Week #147 - (page 1942) - Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan

[bennyboy]

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead.

Vastly overrated.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

The person picking the album definitely gets to review it in as much detail as they want. I was thinking that we'd (probably) all pick our favourite albums most of the time so a 5/5 was a given, which is why I thought it would be pointless scoring it yourself. But obviously you can pick an album to annoy everybody if you so wanted.

As somebody who's reviewed and voted on every album so far, you're definitely in the first batch of nominators! ..... assuming people are happy with the system.

Gotcha. I think I’d be looking for records I’d wish other people were fans of — great bands gone too soon, or underrated classics, though maybe not 5/5s necessarily. This will be fun! Thanks mate.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Another music voting thread!

Several people have commented that the randomizer in @BlueHammer85 's Top 1100 album review thread isn't doing a great job of selecting albums.
Some people have suggested that we'd be better selecting the albums ourselves.
I would argue that the randomizer is doing a perfect job - it's completely random after all - but I understand the sentiment.

However, it got me thinking: given that some of us spend a lot of time on the thread, wouldn't it be nice if we were reviewing and commenting on albums that meant something to us? Even better, we could get an insight into why an album means so much to the person who selected it.
I agree with @FogBlueInSanFran 's comment that this should NOT replace BlueHammer85 's excellent album thread, but should run alongside it.
Therefore I want to make continued contributions to that thread a qualifying requirement for nominating in the new thread.

With this in mind, I have come up with a list of ground rules, all of which are up for debate and modification as others see fit.

Ground rules

1. A list of nominators will be drawn up for the next phase (between 6 and 12 weeks, depending on the number of nominators available).
I will select the first list of nominators, and first nominator, based on contributions to BlueHammer's album review thread.
Members may wish to opt out of being a nominator, which is no problem - just let me know.
2. One member will select an album to review each week. They will be given one week's notice to prepare their nomination.
If a member can't participate for the selected week, we'll just re-jig the order as required.
3. A new album will appear on Tuesday - seems like a good time when posts on the original thread are running out of steam.
This day may vary, depending on holidays, but I'll try to keep it Tuesday-Monday.
4. The first task for the nominator is to select NEXT WEEK's NOMIMATOR (from the approved list) and then give their review of the album.
Maybe let us know what it means to them. Note that they will NOT cast a vote for obvious reasons.
5. Any member may vote or comment, regardless of nominator status. Voting will use the 1-5 scale (0 or less rounded up to 1).
6. Voting will continue until the following Monday when votes will be counted and scoreboard on page 1 updated.
Page 1 will also be kept up to date with the current and past nominators list.
7. Steps 2 to 6 will be repeated until the current list of nominators is empty.
8. Everybody on the current list of nominators can help decide the next list of nominators.
The exact process is tbd, but it won't be a heavyweight affair! However, regular contributions and scoring on BlueHammer85 's album review thread during the
current phase is a requirement.
9. Repeat steps 2 to 8 until we have a core list of regular contributors as nominators. At this point, members can get a 2nd album choice as we "reset" the list.
I think an ideal number would be 15-26 so that we all select 2-3 albums per year, but let's see how it goes.
10. If I suspect that the new thread is causing a decline in participation in BlueHammer85 's album review thread, I'll kill it (the new thread that is!)
The in-built participation rules will hopefully ensure that this is not the case.

Any thoughts?

Indeed. I’d say most of my favourite albums would be nowhere near a big all-time greats list. So would be good for me!

 

[RobMCFC]

Indeed. I’d say most of my favourite albums would be nowhere near a big all-time greats list. So would be good for me!

As things stand, regular participation in the Top 1100 albums thread is a must for anybody wishing to nominate, but as noted, everybody is welcome to comment and vote once we get started.

Also, just a general note to all - it really isn't that complicated - it's basically the same as the current thread. It's just that the albums will be nominated by regular contributors rather than randomly picked - which is something that people have been asking for.

 

[Saddleworth2]

The person picking the album definitely gets to review it in as much detail as they want. I was thinking that we'd (probably) all pick our favourite albums most of the time so a 5/5 was a given, which is why I thought it would be pointless scoring it yourself. But obviously you can pick an album to annoy everybody if you so wanted.

As somebody who's reviewed and voted on every album so far, you're definitely in the first batch of nominators! ..... assuming people are happy with the system.

So I like your idea of reviewing favourite albums. Don't like the proposal that only those that have reviewed extensively on @BlueHammer85 1000 thread can play.
But thats just one opinion :-)
Why not just open it up to anyone that wants to review and create a list and schedule?

 

[RobMCFC]

So I like your idea of reviewing favourite albums. Don't like the proposal that only those that have reviewed extensively on @BlueHammer85 1000 thread can play.
But thats just one opinion :-)
Why not just open it up to anyone that wants to review and create a list and schedule?

I can understand there being a few objections to that but one of the main points of this was to not let the existing thread get lost due to another new shiny thread. Despite it's random nature, there's enough of us who enjoy it.

The initial list of nominators (that I will put on here once everybody has had chance to throw in their two-penneth) is made up of those who have contributed significantly to the Top 1100 thread. I'm not saying that everybody has to comment or review every album in that thread, just that participation would be nice - for everybody's benefit.

Let's say what others think on the matter before setting anything in concrete.

 

[OB1]

Just pick people with good taste to nominate the albums: they need to be worth listening to!

 

[RobMCFC]

Just pick people with good taste to nominate the albums: they need to be worth listening to!

I'm confident we'll get a good mix of stuff worth listening to or else I wouldn't have proposed this. I'd be surprised if we got Def Leppard's 7th best album or a Carly Simon effort propped up by one hit single.

 

[PragueBlue]

Any restrictions on music genres?

 

[OB1]

I'm confident we'll get a good mix of stuff worth listening to or else I wouldn't have proposed this. I'd be surprised if we got Def Leppard's 7th best album or a Carly Simon effort propped up by one hit single.

Well, I trust that you will set the ball rolling with Lonesome Jubilee.