The Rating Scale: How I Rate Albums (and Why)

I started this blog as an outlet. I wanted a way to use my love for music and turn it into something tangible. This blog is meant to be a journal of sorts, helping me chronicle my current beliefs and thoughts regarding art, and see how they change and evolve over time. I am also interested in diving deep into the why, and examining what makes something great or not, and looking at why I look at some pieces of art positively, and others negatively. I strive to dig deeper than surface-level explorations and observations.

To critique and review music, many people use a numerical scale in order to express their opinions. I agree with this form of analyzing music, although I think that it’s important to look at what judging music on such a scale really means. For me, using numbers to rate music is simply a shorthand way of explaining how I feel about an album, whereas the review itself is the real focus. I also don’t  see numbers as part of a universal system of rating. For example, what I consider to be a 10 is based on the standards according to my scale, but may be an 8 on someone else’s scale, while we both have the same feelings towards the album. Before I rate an album, I listen to it front to back, for a MINIMUM of 4 times, but usually ends up being around 6, or 7. I try to listen enough times that I can grasp the core themes or concepts expressed through the music, and understand exactly the parts I may like or dislike.

I currently rate albums off of three different systems (I know, I know, but I love different lenses). I may extrapolate this to include other forms of art, but these systems were created with music in mind. My Enjoyment Rating is more of a raw number, it represents how I personally feel about an album. This is more of a “favorites” scale than a “best” one. Albums can get high scores due to nostalgia, explicit preferences, or pretty much anything else. I believe this scale best highlights the type of unfiltered passion I have for music.

My Critical Rating is NOT an “objective” score. It is the result of me trying to look at each piece of music through a consistent lens, looking at the same values, and judging them the same. I have chosen values that I believe are fairly universal, and play large roles in assessing the quality of a piece. I work to try to make this system have a level of internal accuracy. The values that make up this scale can be found later in this post.

The Arbitrary Number is more of an experimental system. I don’t really like hyper-specific ratings, and going to the decimal points for an album score. A rating at this level has felt too rigid to me, like it’s forcing art to be quantitative to the fullest extent. Using this scale is more of me trying to see things from another perspective, and seeing how placements would look on this type of system. A rating from (X number).0 to X.3 is considered low. A rating from X.4 to X.6 is considered medium. A rating from X.7 to X.9 is considered high.

The most important values in art to me are the ideas being communicated through the art and how it’s being communicated. A piece with a strong and clearly defined message, that is conveyed skillfully, will be seen favorably by me. I also look at intellectual or emotional connections made through the piece. Thought-provoking or stimulating works are also highly rated on this scale. Some of the most powerful and significant pieces of art are ones that result in the feeling of intense emotions, and ones that result in quiet contemplation. The vocal “woo-ahs” of Arcade Fire that have struck my very soul, is full of intent of creating a connection to the human heart. Its success results in something almost magical. We are not robots. Art should be moving in some capacity, and can be inspirational, passionate, heartbreaking, tragic, beautiful. When art can make you feel or think, there needs to be recognition of some level. The ability to create reactions, and the quality of reactions created is a big part of judgement for me. The last major component I look at in art is displaying technical skill in any given field. This can take different appearances across different mediums and genres, but it is something I think is too important not to examine closely.

I view art as love; a form of human expression. There is something so human about this type of creation that draws me in completely. Creating something or recreation, involves a level of plasticity that is such an innate quality in all of us. My love for art displays itself as a need to dive deeper and understand. I love looking at the roots, seeing the connections, how the small details form together and make a big picture. Hopefully, you are able to also see this type of intimacy in the space of which art exists through my eyes as you read my writing.

With Eternal Love,

Peach Fuzz