Click here, click there, new music everywhere. Music that I can listen to via crappy laptop- or cellphone-speakers. Or crappy earplugs, in the background while I'm focusing on getting updated on all kinds of social medias on my phone. Okay, I didn't like this song, I'm just gonna click on a new song and forget about that other song forever - just like the empty paper coffee cup that I just threw in the trash. And what's up with all these artists making ALBUMS? Why would I listen to the same artist for more than 15 minutes, when there's only one or two songs that I really like? Plus, I could put together a playlist with songs I like from a whole bunch of different bands and artists anyway. Maybe I should start making music myself? I mean, everyone can be a pop-star today, it's so easy. You don't have to "earn your right" to release music through a record company anymore, you can just upload or put out a streaming-link to your music on the web. I can spam the internet with my no-talent garbage just like thousands of others, and suddenly I'm a BIG STAR!!!

Alright, some heavy generalizing and exaggerations there, especially at the end. And I'm not THAT bitter. Times change, life changes, and music - the way it's made and listened to - also changes. And a lot of positive changes comes with that. But I AM nostalgic, though. I AM one of those weirdos who're still buying CDs and records, though. It just remains my preferred way of consuming music. I'm cool with streaming and mp3s - it's convenient, and it's free (whatever, there are worse things in this world than having to sit through those Spotify-commercials.) But it can never beat the feeling and experience of the REAL thing...the physical thing.

And the albums are still the MAIN thing, to me. The ability (or inability) to make good albums, is still the most important way to measure how much I like artists and bands.

So that's why I'm still occupied with this lifetime-project of rating and reviewing every single album (and occasional EP) in my collection of CDs and records, more than 10 years after first registering as a RYM-user. Logging in every now and then to write a review - and of course, more often logging in to read all the good stuff that all you other people write.



My Ratings:

5 out of 5 ----- A Masterpiece!

4.5 out of 5 ------ A exceptionally good album.

4 out of 5 ------ Impressively solid, with few or no big things to complain about.

3.5 out of 5 ------ Really nice, but has clear weaknesses.

3 out of 5 ------ A good album, nothing more.

2.5 out of 5 ------ Average...the bad outweighs the good, and the other way around.

2 out of 5 ------ A weak album.

1.5 out of 5 ------ Almost no positive things to say about this album.

1 out of 5 ------ Garbage! (I doubt that I'll ever give this rating to one of the albums that I own.)