It's kind of rare for me to rate bad albums, mostly because I sample songs before listening in its entirety. I'm not the kind of person who would sit through an album if I intuitively knew I wouldn't enjoy it.

With that said, I would not rate an album based off one or two songs that I did not enjoy.


I must add as a note of discretion - I am a die hard old school death metal fan, and while the genre still manages to sprout new bands pretty frequently, it really doesn't matter to me if an album is groundbreaking or innovative in any way. The main thing I look for in any album, is good songwriting.

The ability to build anticipation, contrast structures, construct great harmonies - all this without letting go of the core sound. In my opinion, if you can take the most overplayed genre and represent it in a way that makes it sound fresh, it is a true representation of great musicianship.

Besides that, my ratings will explain my taste.