April 19, 2005

At RateYourMusic I have given the following 6 albums the highest possible rating - 5 stars:

Angie Aparo: The American
Counting Crows: August and Everything After
Kent: Verkligen
Manic Street Preachers: Everything Must Go
Tears For Fears: The Hurting
U2: Achtung Baby

My CD-collection contains 980 albums. A quick calculation therefore reveals that I (apparently) believe that only 0,61% of the albums I own are 5 star ones! Does this mean that I have bought a lot of very bad albums through the years or am I simply to "harsh" when rating them, because I have unrealistic expectations?
Of course I think that the answer to those questions is "no". I actually own several albums which I think of as very, very good, but to earn a 5 star rating an album must be "great" not just "good".

To be rated as "great" in my little domestic world of music an album must (at least) meet the following criteria:
- it must be working as a whole (you want to listen to it from A to Z)
- it must prove that it can stand the test of time (no albums released in 2004 or 2005, or older albums bought during the same period can be rated higher than 4 and a half star)
- absolutely no "filler" tracks can be allowed (e.g. some pointless instrumental/noise track going on for ages)
- finally (the real stupid criteria) it must have that little "something" which is impossible to define (just like when you fall in love), but is what continuously make you return to the album

Unfortunately several "good" albums contain one or two tracks I can't resist skipping or I simply forgot all about their existence for a longer period of time, thus leaving me with no other option than rating them less than 5 stars.

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