Quote:
Originally Posted by Anteater
RYM are a solid starting point but definitely not ideal if your trying to dig deep for "hidden gems". The top 200 albums every year at any given time is just a glorified popularity contest. You'll still find lots of good albums, but ranking seems like more of a byproduct of marketing than anything else.
I have a good example of this. My number one album last year ( Designs In Rhythm by Ice Choir) was a phenomenal pop experience yet it was only ranked #617 for 2016. The album was released independently on Bandcamp and the guy behind the project doesn't have a massive PR machine.
The music is fantastic, but you'd likely never discover that album on RYM unless you got down to a very specific set of search criteria based on genre tags related to synth-pop and then started looking at rating, number of votes, etc.
The better your search criteria...the more likely you will find what you are looking for. |
That's the thing: I kind of don't really have, or want, a search criterion at all. I just wanted to set myself the task of listening to more albums from this year than I ever have, and decided to do them all, as per the Wiki list. It's a journey, an adventure. Talk to me in December I may be pissed off with it, but so far it's going fine. AND I'm finding some great albums along the way.
Note: check the OP of my thread in a sort of mini-concession to RYM.