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Just add an implicit "in my humble opinion" to every sentence I write.
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Activity Summary
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Reviews Written: 567
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Member Visits: 45,066
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Total Visits: 446,596
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About divad23
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I used to label myself as Epinions' resident Christian music guru. More and more, I'm realizing how silly it is to label music as "Christian" or "secular". Sure, there is music made by those who profess to be Christians which has lyrics written from a Christian worldview, and often the artist will have a certain agenda or reason for making their music, be it encouraging the church or reaching out to non-Christians. However, I think it would be more accurate for me to label most of what I write as reviews of "music that is of interest to Christians". I enjoy the challenge of navigating the maze of spiritual and pseudo-spiritual content in modern music. I'm not here to be a moral watchdog - we all have our different tastes and beliefs about what is appropriate to listen to - but hopefully I can shed some light on the good, the bad, and the downright cheesy, convince some Christians that not all "secular" music is evil, and convince some non-Christians that not all Christian bands are second-rate knockoffs of established mainstream acts.
I'm known for being a bit wordy. If verbose, track-by-track reviews aren't your style, then by all means, skip to the bottom, slap me an NH, and get on with your life. I personally favor the reviews that make me feel like I've listened to an album before I really have, so that's what I try to write.
My Web of Trust is sporadic at best. If I read your stuff and VH it frequently, then I've probably been meaning to add you and I've just forgotten. Maybe you'll have to entice me with that one over-the-top brilliant review you've had lurking inside for some time now! But I should make it clear that you don't have to like the same music I like to make my list. If you end up on my WOT, I'll probably sneak into your territory sooner or later. Consider it a homage.
I've come up with an admittedly unoriginal rating system for my album reviews. Basically, I judge each individual song or track and determine how much it was worth on a rough monetary scale, then I add those values up and see what the album was worth to me overall. If it's equal to or above the amount that I paid for it, then I'm a happy man. (Or, if it's something I haven't bought yet, I know what price to hold out for.) If your musical tastes differ from mine (and they most likely do), you may find this system to be less useful than the actual song descriptions and critiques. It's just a more consumer-based way of examining whether I got (or will get) my money's worth out of an album.
Here's how the scale works:
Standouts - excellently made songs that are clear favorites: $2
Songs that aren't quite the best they could be, but still incredibly strong: $1.50
Songs that I like but don't necessarily love: $1
Songs that are okay, that I get a little bit of enjoyment from: $.50
Songs that do nothing for me: $0
Songs that are incredibly awful, poorly composed, or otherwise irritating: -$.50
Songs that rank among the absolute worst I've ever heard: -$1
Here's a behemoth list of reviews I've been meaning to get around to writing (organized by the year of their release):
2009:
- Creed - Full Circle
- Deas Vail - Birds & Cages
- The Elms - The Great American Midrange
- Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
- Leeland - Love Is on the Move
- Metric - Fantasies
- Muse - The Resistance
- Relient K - Forget and Not Slow Down
- Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane
- Thrice - Beggars
- Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
2008:
- Barenaked Ladies - Snacktime!
- Capital Lights - This Is an Outrage!
- Jason Mraz - We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things
- Cindy Morgan - Beautiful Bird
- Andrew Peterson - Resurrection Letters, Volume II
2007:
- Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
- Feist - The Reminder
- The New Pornographers - Challengers
2005:
- The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
2004:
2001:
- Barenaked Ladies - Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits
- Cindy Morgan - Elementary
- Out of the Grey - 6.1
2000:
- Nickel Creek - Nickel Creek
1997:
- Out of the Grey - (see inside)
1996:
- Cindy Morgan - Listen
- No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
1995:
- Bjork - Post
- Out of the Grey - Gravity
1994:
- Dave Matthews Band - Under the Table and Dreaming
- Out of the Grey - Diamond Days
1993:
- Bjork - Debut
- Rich Mullins - A Liturgy, a Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band
- Out of the Grey - The Shape of Grace
1991:
- Charlie Peacock - Love Life
- Pearl Jam - Ten
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