former WXYC DJ and now a non-giving-up-school-guy in the social sciences.

ratings are fairly arbitrary--unless i have an accompanying review that says why it got that rating, in which case it's at least somewhat considered, it's otherwise just caprice or as close to "purely personal" as it gets. a lot of my four stars may just be that i dislike a few cuts, or don't find myself in the mood for it often. and of course, some of my five stars reflect lack of exposure--i'm not an expert on many genres so sometimes novelty factor may be important there.

that said, most of my rock, esp. metal, jazz and "contemporary classical/20th century classical" reviews and ratings are usually better informed than my other writings and ratings.