AMG is a great tool for discovering new artists and genres.

If you want to get into 80's hair-metal, AMG can't be beat as a resource. Obviously in the grand scope of things, nobody can justify giving anything by Motley Crue a 4.5/5, but within their own catalogue (and their entire genre for that matter), Dr. Feelgood deserves a high rating as it stands as a pinnacle of that particular genre.

This is great -- since taste in music is so subjective and definitive scores impossible to calculate, AMG is probably the best tool for discovering music.

That said, their system is inherently flawed in a couple of ways. We already determined that music is such a subjective thing, so deciding on what stands as an artist's best work is always open to discussion.

Also, as someone said, rating new releases in this context is impossible, so quite obviously the reviews are straight up personal opinion, which reduces their 5-star rating system to Pitchfork/TMT sludge.

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Originally posted by m.leland:

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I agree with dubs. On top of all that, AMG ratings are mainstream slanted.

Filmore…seriously. Do you wear a tinfoil hat? Change your route to work every morning? Sweep your room for bugs?

No, I just live in a tree with a great view of your bedroom. Mmmmmmm......

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Originally posted by Fitz:
Obviously in the grand scope of things, nobody can justify giving anything by Motley Crue a 4.5/5

Britney Spears' Britney got 4.5 stars.

Come on guys, stand up for what's right in music criticism. You might not like Pitchfork's system or TMT's system but at least their ratings range from 0=bad to 5/10.0=great. Yes, AMG is very useful, and their reviews are succinct, but the fact is, people rip Pfork all the time for being a pawn, apparently in the pockets of Ninja Tune or Astralwerks or something, while AMG gives high ratings to Britney and Motley Crue, doesn't even attempt to justify this, and everyone's reaction is "Wow they're great! Everything's cross-linked!"

AMG is definitely worse for reviews/ratings but their biographies and other info are superb (release dates, song clips). I use it all the time but I stopped taking their writing seriously since before they reformatted. Their role was always more of a catalogue anyway.

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Originally posted by Filmore Mescalito Holmes:

quote:

Originally posted by Fitz:
Obviously in the grand scope of things, nobody can justify giving anything by Motley Crue a 4.5/5

Britney Spears' Britney got 4.5 stars.

Read my post a bit more closely...

For a teen-pop album, Britney is as good as it gets. That's why it gets a 4.5.

Now, if AMG were rating albums in the context of all music, then Britney would most likely get trashed.

quote:

Originally posted by dubs:
Come on guys, stand up for what's right in music criticism. You might not like Pitchfork's system or TMT's system but at least their ratings range from 0=bad to 5/10.0=great. Yes, AMG is very useful, and their reviews are succinct, but the fact is, people rip Pfork all the time for being a pawn, apparently in the pockets of Ninja Tune or Astralwerks or something, while AMG gives high ratings to Britney and Motley Crue, doesn't even attempt to justify this, and everyone's reaction is "Wow they're great! Everything's cross-linked!"

It all depends how you use the site Dubs. If I wanted to find the best album released last month, I probably wouldn't go to AMG to get that info. But like Fitz said, if you're getting into a new style of music, let's say 70's punk for example, it's a pretty great resource. It's really not anything like P4K or TMT, so it's not really fair to compare it to those guys.

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Originally posted by Fitz:

quote:

Originally posted by Filmore Mescalito Holmes:

quote:

Originally posted by Fitz:
Obviously in the grand scope of things, nobody can justify giving anything by Motley Crue a 4.5/5

Britney Spears' Britney got 4.5 stars.

Read my post a bit more closely...
For a teen-pop album, Britney is as good as it gets. That's why it gets a 4.5.

No, it isn't. It was just the most popular.

quote:

Originally posted by Filmore Mescalito Holmes:

quote:

Originally posted by Fitz:
Read my post a bit more closely...
For a teen-pop album, Britney is as good as it gets. That's why it gets a 4.5.

No, it isn't. It was just the most popular.

Sounds like Filmore's more of a Justin Timberlake fan.

Seriously...Annie is as good as it gets. Blows Britney away.

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Originally posted by Daddyboy:
Seriously...Annie is as good as it gets. Blows Britney away.

I have to agree, though Goldfrapp is due some credit.

If Annie broke on MTV her indie cred would be shot and everyone would hate her.

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Originally posted by m.leland:
If Annie broke on MTV her indie cred would be shot and everyone would hate her.

Well, if she then started her own reality show and did a bunch of Pepsi ads, yeah. Just because you're on MTV doesn't mean you have to start sucking and designing your own clothing line.

Best bubblegum, top 40 pop music is being/has been performed by Kylie Minogue.

Everyone knows this.

Britney Spears and N Sync had killer songwriters/producers, though. Backstreet Boys had some good stuff. I actually, kind of unironically, enjoy the Spice Girls' music.

I find Annie to just be ok. "Heartbeat" is a dope song, though.

It is what it is, you know? You like what you like. Just because I really liked Glenn Kotche's newest solo percussion project ("Mobile") doesn't mean I can't like Ashlee Simpson's "Peices of Me" or "Boyfriend" for what each of them are: Kotche makes serious, artistic, composition music. Simpson performs vapid pop. Simpson's a figurehead whereas Kotche is the brains. Each are fine on their own merits as their own seperate sort of talents and performance.

I think many people in this thread loose sight of that. I don't think music is one big, amorphous blob. That's just me.

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Originally posted by Yay!:
Best bubblegum, top 40 pop music is being/has been performed by Kylie Minogue.
Everyone knows this.

She does have some great producers.

Back in the day I would buy the All Music Guide paper edition and would look for the strange essentials. I discovered so much great music this way. Albums by groups like the Soft Boys, the dB's, The Feelies, Moby Grape...

I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for All Music!

Kylie is so great. She reminds me of Debbie Harry if she had gone the solo pop star route.

I hope she makes a full recovery from her breast cancer real soon

Critically, AMG is the most extensive music resource - they rate the most albums - they have the broadest interface. Noone is going to agree with all the ratings, and crossreferencing is controversial, but in terms of rating albums in general, AMG is the most consistent source in my eyes. And while they do change their ratings, it is only because they are not afraid of admitting and changing mistakes. I also see their five star choices as unique, not too prevalent, and very wise.

Right on.

They even give out 4 1/2 star ratings pretty cautiously. This past Tuesday, they gave out four, which is ununsual:

Black Heart Procession - The Spell
Matmos - The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast
Paul Simon - Surprise
Jolie Holland - Springtime Can Kill You

Other 4 1/2s this year:
Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
Howe Gelb - 'Sno Angel Like You
Alejandro Escovedo - The Boxing Mirror
Mates of State - Bring it Back
Donald Fagen - Morph the Cat

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Yay!,

is there a way to search for all the 5 star albums. I would love to weed thru the list.

saltydog4791

P.S. first post for me.

I don't think there is, no. Is it ultra-geeky of me to obsess over what albums, per year, week and month get five or four and a half stars? When's the latest AMG gave a five star rating anyway?