How To Review An Album (And Not Sound Pretentious)

Reviewing an album is an art form, it takes a thorough understanding of music to be able to voice your own opinion enough to sway the decisions of people.

The main problem with album reviews are that they can be extremely pretentious, it becomes a poetic shitpile.

So how can one review an album without sounding pretentious?

It can be debated that reviewing music is absolutely worthless.

On one hand you have to ask yourself “why should I listen to others opinions?” – very true because how do you really rate something that is so emotional such as music?

On the other hand, a review of an album can help you avoid albums that are sub par and not truly worth your time; but it has to come from a voice you trust.

There are many ways to review albums. The critic could base their decision upon the technical aspect of the album. The criti could also rate the album based on the emotional impact. A balance of both, while reviewing, will give the reader the best opinion about an album.

There are a few album reviews right here on BeginnerDJ but they’re never intended to sway ones’ opinion. I love to review albums because it allows me to voice my opinion about the albums that move me, not to tell you what’s good and bad.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways you could review an album.

Technical Aspects

The technical review is one of the hardest to complete because in order to truly be able to determine the skill of the album, you’d need a thurough understanding of the instruments used.

For a technical review, you need to look at how the artist is using their instruments to make a sound. A song full of preset synths will sound quite obvious and amateur. Artists that can bend the sounds to their will shows technical prowless and a mastery over their sound.

Mixing plays another important aspect of technical reviews.

An album could have amazing instrumentals but if they were handed off and mixed improperly, they will suffer from a lack of dynamic range.

The main problem with technical reviews are that sometimes what sounds off key or messy can actually be quite unique and add an additional layer to the song.

A perfect example is the sound Kurt Cobain produced while playing the guitar; he would play off key at points but it added a truly unique sound to each of his songs.

Emotional Aspects

Sometimes an album, or genre, doesn’t necessarily need to be technical and mind blowing in terms of instruments. These albums, many indie, are best reviewed in a way that is able to convey the emotion behind the album.

Take, for instance, Marylin Manson – Antichrist Superstar; although it does have interesting instruments, the real energy comes out of the emotion that was put into the album.

The problem with reviewing an album based on the emotions is that each person has their own.

How can you rate how someone felt during the creation of the album? How do you place a number to a song which means more to the artist than anyone listening would ever know?

Personal Opinion About Reviews

I always like to open my reviews stating that it is my personal opinion. I don’t intend the review to sway the decision of the listener.

Telling them the song is horrid while they think otherwise shows just how off reviewing music can be.

I also find it detrimental to compare an album to older works. Artists continue to evolve and change their sound; an album created 10 years ago will have a different soul than one created today.

I think it’s very important that you do multiple reviews of an album.

Listening through an album the first time and then following it with a review will be completely different than one where you’ve listened to the album multiple times and allowed yourself to dig deeper.

Additionally, reviewing an album in certain mindsets can sway your decision.

If you are reviewing a cheerful album when you are depressed, you will probably give it a lower score because you are projecting.

Is there a point?

Throughout this post, I’ve talked about what sort of mindest goes into reviewing an album but that brings us to a point: why review music in the first place?

To answer bluntly, I say don’t.

I say this because people are going to listen to the album regardless of what you say so they can form their own decisions.

50 years ago reviews were important because people didn’t have much money to spend on album but in today’s society, with the help of the internet, people can quickly download an album and give it a listen.

In some way it’s just one big ego boost. People like to be known as someone with the “expert” opinion. They want to tell others what they think but feel it necessary to include a final number and say yay or nay.

I try to give BDJ readers my honest opinion about an album. I wait a few months for it to really impact me so I can say what it really means and how the sound emotionally impacts me.

The lesson for today: don’t let reviews sway your decision to listen to the music, just have fun.

Do you have any tips for reviewing an album?