The Report Card: How it Works

Music is multi-faceted, and with that being so, we have decided to implement a Report Card format when we review albums. Each album is broken down in to categories, and for each category, the reviewer gives the album a grade of either A, B, C, D, or F.
A-Excellent: Exceeding our expectations, giving us chills, making us happy
B-Good: Not bad by any means, but still a little bit of room left to completely polish it
C-Average: Bland, Unimpressive, About what we expect from the typical artist and nothing more
D-Poor: Below Average, Exhibits very few good qualities
F-Awful: Just plain wack in all senses of the word.

There will be four categories that we will consider when reviewing albums:
Production: This refers to firstly, the beats that back the track. Are they unique and skillfully executed? Are they effective? Most importantly, are they entertaining? Production also refers to the overall presentation of the album. Everything from the sound quality to the length of the songs to the order in which the tracks are presented.

Flow/Lyrics: Although Flowing and Writing are two separate things, they are in the same category because of how much they depend on each other. Flow refers to the technical aspect of rhyming; cadence, staying on beat, inflections, and the overall charisma in your delivery. Lyrics involve writing and rhyming. How effectively the artist writes and what moods and ideas he can create through words is taken to account. Rhyming skill refers to the masterful selection of words that create the best rhyming synergy. Note that scoring high in this section doesn't necessitate that the artist be super-profound, or use nine-syllable multisyllabic rhyme schemes. It just means that the artist uses words effectively, however he may choose to do that. We may often review albums of other genres, and in that case, singing ability may be factored into this grade.

Originality: The previous two categories are involved with this one. There's no reason for you to be called an artist if you aren't trying to be creative. Basically, scoring high in this category means that the artist is being an individual, not just a rehash of everything else that's out there, whether it be through his concepts, his lyrics, his style, his productions, or whatever.

Overall: This sums it up. Note first of all, that this is not by any means necessarily an "average" of the above three. But it is a reflection of how the above three things all fit together. It is quite possible for an artist to score one A in one category and still get an A overall, just because the artist performed so well in that aspect. Overall is just what it says; the overall feeling that the reviewer has for the album. Albums with an A or B overall, are albums we think are worthy of a purchase. C's we would advise you to check out for yourself before buying, and D's and F's, we feel aren't worth your time.

+ and -: Often we will add a plus or minus after a letter grade to add more depth to our Report Card system. What this does is further explain the quality of an album. For example, a B+ is an album that has a few fundamental flaws, but we still like it a whole lot. A B- on the other hand had a lot of good qualities, but the flaws are weighing it down more than they should. This system also makes for what we consider our most prestigious rating, the A+.

We expect our reviews to be in depth, so we've set it up so that if you're looking for just a quick synopsis of the album, you can scroll down past the bulk of the review and go straight to the Report Card.

We would like to remind you that the opinions presented in any review that you read are the opinons of THAT reviewer only, and not anyone else. We do, however, assure that our reviews will be thoughtful, thorough and intelligent.

A couple times a year, we will have an "Honor Roll", showing our top picks so far that year, to help you out if you're looking for a good current album to pick up.