Worst music critics

galt54 · 05-13-2024, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boo boo

I used to say Christgau was the absolute worst, that is until I found this guy.

Only Solitaire: George Starostin's Music Reviews

This guy is a linguistics researcher and apparently one of the brightest in his field. But yeah, being smart at one subject can't prevent you from being a total retard at another. As this guy's other hobby as a music critic clearly proves.

So let's see. He rates artist's whole careers on letter grades. And thus The Beatles, Stones, Dylan and The Who are the only A grade artists in rock music history. Black Sabbath, The Residents and Pretty Things are a D, and Syd Barrett is an E. And ABBA a C. What more needs to be said?

His reviews are even worse, I won't quote them, I let you find out for yourself if you're willing to endure the blinding stupidity.

BooBoo. I am surprised that you have such a negative opinion of Starostin as a music *reviewer*. I have found Starostin to be enormously helpful in regard to finding music I like. Starostin did not just praise or diss various artists. He *reviewed* their albums. He gave *reasons* for his evaluations of the artists. You may not agree with Starostin´s tastes, BooBoo - that seems to be the reason you diss him - but he explained why his tastes/evalutations were what they were.

I like the fact that Starostin, like me, perceives a distinct melody and strong hook as being the most important attribute of a good song.

I myself to not agree all the time with Starostin. I do not evaluate the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and the Who as highly as he does. I only agree with Starostin that The Beatles are wonderful. But the best thing about Starostin´s massive site is all the background information he provides about the artists he reviews. Wading through Starostin´s site was a learning experience for me. And I thank him for it.