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Dubious selections for Unsung albums...
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Fitter Stoke
Fitter Stoke
2611 posts

Re: Dubious selections for Unsung albums...
Feb 13, 2011, 11:43
I don't really have a problem with dudes posting reviews on 'Unsung' for albums which are otherwise "sung" in commercial, critical - or both - terms. I'm often moved by the love and enthusiasm which pours from the keypads of what are, let's not forget, real music fans inspired not by print-run deadlines or record company freebies. As I've recently pointed out elsewhere in these pages, I get more from a week's worth of 'Unsung' and its attendant forum than a year's worth of the so-called professional music press, much of which really annoys me with both its obsession with fad and fashion and its often vicious negativity.

For my own part, I've posted reviews on 'Unsung' for records like Zeppelin's 'Presence', Tull's 'Benefit' and 'This Was', all of which sold bundles but which have never received anything like their critical due. That makes them suitably unsung in my book. Conversely, 'Forever Changes' might well be ever-present in those irritating "albums you must hear before you die" critical lists but commercially remains something of a cult LP. So if someone wants to string together a few lines saying why it means so much to them, where's the harm? I'd far sooner read a real music fan's individual take on a record, whether lauded or slagged, famous or obscure, than much of the inaccurate and cliche-ridden kack I've just been charged £5 for the privilege of reading. And I find I often get to listen to records in a different light after reading a fellow enthusiast's personal take on them, your own excellent review of 'Empires and Dance' for example.

Yes, 'Unsung' is at its most effective when its reviews highlight the truly obscure corners of the wonderful world of rock and roll. But let's not get too prescriptive about it, and let's instead relish, and be enlightened by, the totally individual opinions and tastes of what I truly believe to be the most thought-provoking and discerning music lovers anywhere. And all for free.
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Dubious selections for Unsung albums... (Jasonaparkes)
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