Steerpykes musical musings (How To Write A Good Music Review)

Member Name: steerpyke

Product:	How To Write A Good Music Review
Date:	25/04/06 (606 review reads)
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I thought that it was about time that I put some of my thoughts down regarding the writing of one category of review. Those that know me will be aware that music is one of life's great passions and writing reviews on the subject one part of this. I have found that, like many things in life, music reviews are easy to do, but doing them well takes a lot of thought and effort, and for every good writer there are ten who seem to be missing the point of what is needed in the art of communicating musical ideas via the written page. It also seems that those ten all seem to be writing somewhat helpful Green Day reviews. I'm not writing this from some sort of self-established ivory tower, I am no more an expert than any other passionate musophile (my spellchecker says that's not a real word but then what would a machine know about music?). This is in no way meant to be a carved in stone guide or "how to…" article, as that would just be condescending, its just a few thoughts and ideas from the experience of someone who has been around here a little while. Feel free to disagree and comment to that affect but hopefully it will prove some help to some of you, maybe the newer members, and if nothing else will fill an hour or so before its time to watch Underworld and like any red blooded male, I'm a sucker for Kate Beckinsale in skin tight leather and eyeliner. Still enough of the male fantasies and strike up the band.

Firstly a word about what we are trying to achieve here. First a definition. By music reviews I am strictly referring to recorded music as in CD (that's albums, records, vinyl or even fab' and groovy waxings, to us oldies) and not instruments or videos, though some of what follows is not entirely irrelevant to those either. I will also be using the word band to cover the subject artist, but this is because I work primarily in contemporary band orientated music, the term band can be interchanged with what ever word is more appropriate in your own mind, be it singer, rapper, diva etc. Unlike many of the products that are reviewed here, music is more than a physical product. Washing machines, cars and Hi-Fi's all are pretty much purely practical devices, press a button, and get a response and so on. Music on the other hand exists on more than one level. Whilst as a product a CD can be referred to as facts and figures, names and titles, to me it exists more on a cerebral and emotional level than anywhere else. Music moves people, makes them feel happy, sad, energetic, mournful, silly, serious and every emotion in between. A helpful and honest review needs to convey this as much as, if not more so than, who played what instrument and how many awards the band or artist has won.

You should always make the general assumption that the reader knows little or nothing about the band and CD in question, even with artists as ubiquitous as Madonna, as established as Tom Jones and as over-hyped as Mariah Carey many people reading the review will be totally in the dark regarding the named person, that is after all why they are reading the review. Whether its Aunty Maud trying to find the right present for young Timmy or a serious music fan following up on a single that caught their ear on the radio, a review should be a comprehensive guide to all facets of the product at hand. Writing such lines as "I won't go into detail as there are lots of other reviews that cover that ground" automatically makes your review redundant in favour of someone else's work and also a total cop out.

So things to consider. The first decision is the title, this is not as frivolous as it seems. Like judging a book by a cover (we all do it) a title can catch a readers attention. Just listing the album title is okay at best but shows little imagination and I for one will assume that the review itself will continue in a similar unimaginative manner and therefore probably not read it. Similarly "My (insert name) Review", " My First Review" and "Great Band" all smack of a thirteen year olds schoolbook report. If you are a thirteen year old then that is still no excuse as in the real world there is no allowance for age, if a review is childish and uninformative people will lose no time in telling you. One trick that I found useful is to quote an interesting line from the lyrics or steal a quote from a professional review. You may have something suitable of your own creation, which obviously the best way to do it, short, snappy and easily quotable will sum up the very best title.

Right, so assuming that we have got their attention with a clever headline and we are going to assume that the reader knows nothing about the album its on to the review. Before we launch headlong into the tracks themselves, opening up with a bit of background is always a good idea. There are loads of angles of attack here. If this is an established band or act, a potted history is a useful start. Is there a connection with other bands; is this the first album, what is the bands style, attitude or political outlook? No need to go into too much detail as you will be able to work in loads of interesting stuff as you get stuck in, but a paragraph to set a background is always good. I've read so many reviews where the writer is so passionate and eager to write about their favourite band that they forget I may know nothing about them and even after reading the whole piece I still have no idea what they would sound like. So the scene is set, the reader has a general idea of the style, knows a bit about their history, previous albums and the fact that although they sing with American accents they are actually from Newport Pagnell. Ok now the fun bit, cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war…err sorry…. I mean time to get stuck in.

On to the big one, the subject that causes more arguments than anything else in the music reviewer's world, Track Listings. I see these as a necessary evil and there are two basic approaches. Many people like to see a track list but when it accounts for half of your review then it is clearly padding, a cut and paste cop out if ever there was one. If you wish to then list the tracks at the end of the review but in no way do it just to up the word count. Consider this to be additional information in the same way that you would list the lesser cast of a film or the various performance data of a computer. The approach that I prefer is to work the titles into the body of the text, describing the nature of each and using selected tracks to emphasis the various aspects of the band.

When it comes to describing the music you can really let your imagination fly. I always play the track I'm working on as I write, this allows me to funnel the feelings invoked by the music onto the written page. I always try to mix some pure description, what the instruments are actually doing and how they sound with some less tangible ideas such as mood, feeling and what they may be trying to say musically, how the instruments work together and even what other music comes to mind as a comparison. Mention the rhythms, the beat and if you know about these things time signatures, most people can tell a waltz time from a straight four to the bar timing. Things that you should avoid are the likes of "this is really catchy" and "this is my favourite" which are really meaningless as far as a reader is concerned. One thing I hate to read are reviews that start with "this is the best album ever" as again this is meaningless as well as amateurish and you will find that some people start any number of reviews with the same exclusive statement thus showing a lack of originality on their part. Also be careful of the language style that you use. Just because you are reviewing the latest bad-boy gangster rapper, doesn't mean that you need to adopt the language. "Well wicked break beats","shoe-gazing" or "bootylicious" may mean something to those in the know, but remember that you are writing for a wide audience and if anyone writes in "txt spk" I'll personally come round there and kick over your garden gnomes, let that be a warning.

Lyrics are often over looked and have a wealth of meaning that can be discussed. What should be avoided is just cut and pasting whole reams of words from the bands web site. A few lines that capture the essence of the work is good but this is another opportunity for the lazy writer to pad out the review. Whereas the words are easier to convey to the reader, the instrumentation is not so easy. You will develop a language of your own which at once describes the music but also does so in a suitably musical way. For example, music that gets louder and quieter is "building dynamic" or "reaching a crescendo before dying away", similarly quiet backing vocals are "wistful harmonic accompaniment" and surely when a song really kicks in its creating "a soaring soundscape of white noise".

As I said in the opening this is just my view on what I want to read in a review. It will not be everyone's cup of java, and many people probably see my own efforts as being overblown and verbose. The point I'm making here is that music is best described in fluid musical language and should cover a whole overview of the product. I don't want to know that rapper X has been shot four hundred and seventy nine times or that the band are "well cool", I want to know how the music will make me feel and what its trying to convey. So no more comments like "this is a nice song" or "this is the best band ever" I want your music to really talk to my head and my heart and not just be a series of statistics..So it's over to you.

Just as a foot note and reinforcing the idea that these are just one persons thoughts, do read the comments below as many emminent writers have also left their views on the matter. Consider it an interactive attachment to my review and please add your own ideas. Also both the associated forums have posted threads which cover this area recently, so have a look at those if you need any further pointers, a guide will be able to show you where they are located.

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