Worst music critics

I believe there are very, very few people making an actual living by writing music critiques. The profession is writing, not reviewing music. Maybe the folks who write for Pitchfork get some extra beer and rent money for their efforts (and damned if they don't get plenty of attention for it - remeraber no publicity is bad publicity) but to really 'make it' a writer will be writing all kinRAB of freelance things just to get by. The pitchfork staff will one day grow up and most likely scrape for any kind of writing/journalism work - or end up getting some other crappy job like everybody else.
 
Why worry? I take no notice of reviews by professionals and I have never visited allmusic or read much on Pitchfork. In this day and age of downloading it's easier to just download and judge for yourself. The only people I take notice of are people who post on forums or blogs etc. I put my faith in them a lot more.
 
George Starostin is just terrible. I mean, I sorta respect the unmeasurable amount of work he puts in his reviews but his opinions are just crap.

I mean:



Ridiculous statement.

Oh, he is a big Police fan alright:



Yeah man, one of the most unimpressive new wave acts IS also the most original one. Screw you Joy Divison.



Classic Rock Elitism at it's best. But he follows it with:



Hahahaha.



Tell me about it George.



Sarcasm... I hope so.



Let me give it a try: Yes, No, Yes, and Yes.



zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz



No.



I'm pretty sure that's not how it goes.




I hate this guy.



Not to mention the absolute god-awful ranking system. Nick Drake is a class D artist apparently. His essays are also cringeworthy. I'm sure he's a great linguistic but man is he a burabling idiot.
 
No, I despise them because they have an undeserved sense of self worth, or else they wouldn't expect to get paid to be stupid, closed minded c*ntbags.



Actually, it does, most people who do it for free do it a hell of a lot better than people who don't. Mainly because the internet can actually offer you helpful reviews that come from the heart and aren't knee deep in snobbery and pretentiousness.



That's just plain stupid.

That's like saying Nickelback are better than other banRAB because they make more money.



I don't think so, Rate Your Music and LastFm also has some very knowledgable peeps, even Amazon does from time to time despite a high concentration of idiots.



I've never seen them give a review that didn't make me cringe, even when it's a positive review for an album I like, or vice versa.
 
I am NOT a fan of Pitchfork media at all. They gave Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip's 2008 debut Angles a .something out of 10 because of one part in the song "Thou Shalt Always Kill" where Scroobius Pip says:

"Thou shalt not put recording artists on ridiculous pedestals no matter how great they are or were: The Beatles... Were just a band.
Led Zepplin... Just a band.
The Beach Boys... Just a band.
The Sex Pistols... Just a band.
The Clash... Just a band.
Crass... Just a band.
Minor Threat... Just a band.
The Cure... Just a band.
The Smiths... Just a band.
Nirvana... Just a band.
The Pixies... Just a band.
Oasis... Just a band.
Radiohead... Just a band.
Bloc Party... Just a band.
The Arctic Monkeys... Just a band.
The Next Big Thing.. JUST A BAND.


That stanza seemed to negate the songs about how suicide isn't the answer or the one about how you should take a step back and evaluate all the angles to a situation before you take a side, or an open letter from God to Man about how much we've done to fuck up this planet, or the spectacular one just littered with advice on how to live a positive lifestyle. But no, Mr. Pip you didn't agree with me and my self-righteous attitude concerning 15 banRAB so therefore your entire album is crap. **** off you miserable twats
 
A defence of music criticism is that it offered the only written dialogue about music--which was valuable as long as you didn't take it as gospel truth. It's kind of futile now with the internet.

That sonic youth song "I destroyed robert christgau with my huge fucking ****" pretty much sums up what I think about the guy. Half of his reviews are just a bunch of non-sequiters that only his circle of frienRAB might get...plus he gave thin lizzy a c+ and all the steely dan recorRAB A's.

On the other hand I enjoy hearing other peoples opinions. Some people can express there opinions more clearly than others and that's why there is paid music critics just like newspaper columnists...music critics should piss people off...otherwise people wouldn't buy music magazines and the likes. I read the newspaper editorial everyday so I can be pissed off at someday.

....and authenticity isn't a superficial thing...using somebody's else's definition of it instead of your own intuitive sense is.
 
This thread is silly, you're just jealous your not held in such high regard. I, on the other hand am god and know 101 times more about music than you ever will. Plus a million.
 
I think the problem with music critics isn't so much them themselves but how they are perceived as having to be a musical honcho who's opinions are the be all and end all. I take reviews off of Allmusic and the like as equal to the ideas of someone on here, at the end of the day it's all opinions no matter how eloquente it is. We get classic rock bores like Christgau here all the time but i wouldn't give either of them a harder time, even though i don't share their ideas. The fucker's have to get some credit because most of them end up getting paid!
 
i only came across RC when i heard on the radio he'd slammed Macca's Ram. I read the review and it was harsh. Then i came across hiim again when i read the review from the link on wiki for Alan Parson's Project-Eve album which he accused of being misogynistic. I've not heard it so i can't comment. I have heard Ram though and it's a great inspired and thoroughly enjoyable album as is the easy listening version Macca recorded as Percy 'thrills' Thrillington
 
Music journalism is something I'm very passionate about. I'd love to right for a magazine one day but for now I'm writing for blogs and such.

I don't think music critics are outdated, we need reviews and recommendations. I just dislike obviously biased reviewers, like say Robert or anyone down at Rolling Stone.
 
Eh, I don't mind music critics that much. Some of them are right tossers but as long as you don't take them too seriously, there's no harm done. After all, Christgau is a completely biased elitist douche, but that doesn't mean I don't get amusement from reading anything of his.

If I want to read reviews to get an idea of what album in a discography I should first check out, I usually head for allmusic or RYM... allmusic is really inconsistent at times but can be sufficient for this purpose.
 
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