Point Systems and Stars

by Raj on December 28, 2005

Is it just me or does it seem like this is the year of lists? I typically shy away from reviews that assign points to music on some sort of scale. A 10.0 review indicates a perfect record, but the system is baseless when it’s not open and up for debate nor does it have much merit when I can predict the outcome(re-releases on the Pitchfork scale always get their due). Even the ranking systems that assign 3.5 stars seems like such bullshit. I mean 7.2 on a 10 point scale and 3.5 stars out of 5 seems so fucking precise for something that has such imprecision.

I even get a little grumpy at the big name awards shows that offer up such spectaculars as “Artist Of The Year” or “Best New Rock Band.” Last time I checked, there was no such competition that pits artists against each other in a cage match stylee blowout. This isn’t the WWF. Sam Beam’s not duking it out in the streets with Sufjan Stevens for any such award.

After that tirade, I can fully justify posting a list of records that I enjoyed the most. That’s fair and doesn’t pit artists up against each other.

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