The Album Review Club - Week #45 (page 476) - From This Place

[RobMCFC]

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.

Blue Moon Forums - Album Review Club Scoreboard	Date	17/08/2022
Pos	Nominator	Week #	Album	Artist	Year	#Votes	Average
1	OB1	5	Physical Graffiti	Led Zeppelin	1975	19	7.47
2	southamptonblue	44	Beautiful Freak	Eels	1996	12	7.08
3	RobMCFC	1	The Lonesome Jubilee	John Cougar Mellencamp	1987	19	7.05
4	Saddleworth2	35	10cc	10cc	1973	16	6.88
5	FogBlueInSanFran	2	Let It Be	The Replacements	1984	14	6.86
6	BlueHammer85	3	The Masterplan	Oasis	1998	18	6.81
7	Mancitydoogle	14	Southeastern	Jason Isbell	2013	10	6.80
8	Bill Walker	24	Bare Wires	John Mayall's Bluesbreakers	1968	10	6.80
9	Saddleworth2	4	Before The Dawn	Kate Bush	2014	14	6.79
10	Marklr	8	Foxtrot	Genesis	1972	20	6.75
11	Onholiday(somemightsay)	7	Rage Against The Machine	Rage Against The Machine	1992	22	6.68
12	OB1	36	Moving Pictures	Rush	1981	23	6.65
13	mancity2012_eamo	15	Paradise in the Picturehouse	The Stunning	1990	11	6.64
14	bennyboy	40	Lost Songs of the Confederacy	James King and the Lonewolves	2014	12	6.58
15	mancity2012_eamo	27	Irish Tour '74	Rory Gallagher	1974	13	6.54
16	RobMCFC	16	Earth and Sun and Moon	Midnight Oil	1993	12	6.50
17	GoatersLeftShin	42	Hejira	Joni Mitchell	1976	15	6.40
18	KnaresboroughBlue	6	Má Vlast	Bedřich Smetana	1874-79	15	6.40
19	bennyboy	25	Fuzzy	Grant Lee Buffalo	1993	15	6.40
20	Bill Walker	9	Red	King Crimson	1974	17	6.40
21	FogBlueInSanFran	33	Candy-O	The Cars	1979	13	6.38
22	BimboBob	38	Sule Skerry	Erland Cooper	2019	9	6.33
23	southamptonblue	31	Dogs at Bay	Bad \\ Dreems	2015	14	6.29
24	bennyboy	12	Southern Rock Opera	Drive-By Truckers	2001	11	6.27
25	BimboBob	22	Songs of Faith and Devotion	Depeche Mode	1993	15	6.13
26	Mancitydoogle	41	Crazy on the Weekend	Sunhouse	1998	10	6.10
27	Saddleworth2	19	Jordan: The Comeback	Prefab Sprout	1990	12	6.08
28	FogBlueInSanFran	17	Welcome Interstate Managers	Fountains of Wayne	2003	14	6.07
29	RobMCFC	32	So Runs The World Away	Josh Ritter	2010	11	6.00
30	Coatigan	43	Puzzle	Biffy Clyro	2007	11	6.00
31	Mancitydoogle	26	New York	Lou Reed	1989	14	5.82
32	KnaresboroughBlue	37	Rusalka	Antonín Dvořák	1900	11	5.82
33	Journolud	13	Gypsy Blood	Doll By Doll	1979	14	5.79
34	Journolud	23	Aldous Harding	Aldous Harding	2014	12	5.75
35	BlueHammer85	18	A Century Ends	David Gray	1993	13	5.62
36	Coatigan	30	Given to the Wild	The Maccabees	2012	9	5.56
37	Journolud	39	The Magical Record of Blue Orchids	Blue Orchids	2019	10	5.40
38	BlueHammer85	34	Once (OST)	Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova	2006	14	5.36
39	GoatersLeftShin	11	Planetary Unfolding	Michael Stearns	1981	18	5.00
40	OB1	20	Destroyer	KISS	1976	16	5.00
41	denislawsbackheel	28	Death of a Ladies' Man	Leonard Cohen	1977	14	4.71
42	denislawsbackheel	10	The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter	The Incredible String Band	1968	15	4.52
43	KnaresboroughBlue	21	Voice	Eyeless In Gaza	1993	14	4.50
44	GoatersLeftShin	29	All Possible Futures	Miami Horror	2015	12	4.33

Ground rules

1. Let me know if you want to nominate an album. Don't say what the album is yet as we want a bit of mystery and anticipation.
2. A schedule of nominators will be maintained in this post so people know when their nomination is due to appear.
3. Each Tuesday, a nominator will give a review of their album and tell us why it means so much to them. You do not get to score on your own album
4. All other members score the album 1-10 (0 or less will be rounded up to 1) and comment/discuss at will.
5. Voting will continue until the following Monday when votes will be counted and scoreboard on page 1 updated.
6. Once all regular and new contributors have nominated, everybody can have a 2nd choice and we'll carry on until every album ever made has been reviewed. Or until people get bored.

Obviously I can't enforce this, but it would be nice if everybody who wants to nominate joins in reviewing and scoring other nominations.

Nominators List

Round #3

12th May - RobMCFC
19th May - FogBlueInSanFran
26th May - BlueHammer85
2nd Jun - Saddleworth2
9th Jun - OB1
*** 16th Jun - KnaresboroughBlue (Runs for 2 weeks)
30th Jun - BimboBob
7th Jul - journolud
14th Jul - bennyboy
21st Jul - Mancitydoogle
28th Jul - GoatersLeftShin
4th Aug - Coatigan
11th Aug - southamptonblue
18th Aug - Bill Walker


Back in round #4
- denislawsbackheel

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

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?

Sounds complicated.

 

[Saddleworth2]

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?

What you are saying I think, is that anyone that wants to nominate an album passes their name to you and you will produce a list/order for those album nominations. Anyone can vote or Bly those that have put their name forward?

 

[RobMCFC]

What you are saying I think, is that anyone that wants to nominate an album passes their name to you and you will produce a list/order for those album nominations. Anyone can vote or Bly those that have put their name forward?

The initial list of nominators will those who have contributed most to the existing Top 1100 thread. Nobody needs to pass their name to me.
The way to get on that nominators list is to keep scoring and contributing to that thread
Any Blue Moon member is free to vote and comment here, regardless of their participation on the other thread.

 

[Saddleworth2]

The initial list of nominators will those who have contributed most to the existing Top 1100 thread. Nobody needs to pass their name to me.
The way to get on that nominators list is to keep scoring and contributing to that thread
Any Blue Moon member is free to vote and comment here, regardless of their participation on the other thread.

ok. understand. I haven't contributed that much to the thread as I haven't had much interest in the albums randomly chosen. Not a great fan of the original Colin Larkin list tbf.

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead.

 

[RobMCFC]

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead.

Ha ha. Seems your name is not recognised on the "members" server. Who'd have thought it?

 

[Bill Walker]

Sounds complicated.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

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?

So the idea is for whomever is selected to pick a record and give their thoughts about why it was picked, but not to give it a review, yes? It doesn't necessarily have to be a record we love or hate or even one we've listened to, right?

I do think, assuming I get a slot, I'd pick records that aren't on Larkin's Top 1000 list so we get some variety and avoid repetition . . . who knows, we could be reviewing Nevermind in 2038!!! :)

 

[RobMCFC]

So the idea is for whomever is selected to pick a record and give their thoughts about why it was picked, but not to give it a review, yes? It doesn't necessarily have to be a record we love or hate or even one we've listened to, right?

I do think, assuming I get a slot, I'd pick records that aren't on Larkin's Top 1000 list so we get some variety and avoid repetition . . . who knows, we could be reviewing Nevermind in 2038!!! :)

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.