- This topic has 8 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I mentioned that I’m going to turn you all into music critics in the next few months, and rate every track of every Bruce record. They won’t come all at once, but over a longer period so you have time to give each one some thought.
As well as rating the tracks (a “star rating” out of 10) I was wondering on what criteria you judge a record? Not just Bruce’s, but anyone’s?
I can think of:
- compositions
- lyrics
- longevity
- even the cover and liner notes.
Do you have any suggestions to add to those?
The overall “statement” of the album. I know Bruce hates the phrase “concept or theme record” but it does have a certain unique sound to it that puts a twist on where the songs fit musically…..hard to explain, but that’s what I judge an album on…well partly.
Big Swing Face is vastly different then Harbor Lights.
Bruce turned the record into something completely different then ever before. You almost forgot Bruce was the same guy.
si_twining, post: 9093 wrote:I mentioned that I’m going to turn you all into music critics in the next few months, and rate every track of every Bruce record. They won’t come all at once, but over a longer period so you have time to give each one some thought.As well as rating the tracks (a “star rating” out of 10) I was wondering on what criteria you judge a record? Not just Bruce’s, but anyone’s?
I can think of:
- compositions
- lyrics
- longevity
- even the cover and liner notes.
Do you have any suggestions to add to those?
Basically everything you said Si along with:
- producton/sound/editing
- personel/collaborations (if somebody I don’t like such as Warren Haynes or John ‘fake Jerry’ Kadlecik then I won’t like it peroid)
- stands the test of time or will it get old fast
- flow of songs as the wrong song order can mess up an album (don’t start the album with a ballad or put too many ballads in a row)
I love if the artist took the time to put together a great album cover and wrote interesting liner notes.
Jimmy Buffett is great for writing wonderful liner notes or atleast writes a story with pictures…I loved when Bruce wrote liner notes especially in Harbor Lights…loves me that kind of stuff…oh and also if the artist actually makes a vinyl version available.
Pretty much all I can think of at the moment…carry onI’m wrestling with “statement”, “impact”, and how they differ – and how the overall track average score might reflect that.
I really like Production/editing etc – also personnel/collaborations. I’d file “Standing the test of time” under “Longevity”.
Thanks for these!
I think I have:
- compositions
- lyrics
- longevity
- even the cover and liner notes.
- production
- personnel
Any more, we can incorporate on the pages for the later records. We’ll start with “The Way It Is”… obviously!
Another question!
Aside from rating the above, and each track, I have these questions. Can anyone think of any more? I’d like this to be everyone’s survey!
When did you buy The Way It Is? 1986/soon after/in the following years/more recently/not long ago
In what format do you own The Way It Is? CD/vinyl/cassette/digital
I don’t want to many or people will be confronted with a big wall of text and just click away…
Not sure if this would be relevant, but maybe a question asking, “Have you heard “_____” performed live?”
Could be cool to get some data on how many people have heard a particular song live, and has Bruce played this song frequently live.
EDIT: Whoops! Just realized my question doesn’t really make sense when talking about an album. Well, I’ll keep thinking.
Thanks for the help, all… the first rating page is now up, for The Way It Is:
https://bruuuce.com/2014/01/12/way-back-to-the-way-it-is/
Over time, we’ll average every rating for every song, and present the results when every record has been scored.
- The forum ‘General chat’ is closed to new topics and replies.