Being above the age of 18

>being above the age of 18
>still caring about music reviews

>hey man you should check out this new restaurant that just opened up, it's basically a generic tex-mex type place but they have a few pretty interesting dishes on the menu, good quality overall
>WOW FUCK OFF I CAN DECIDE WHAT TO EAT BY MYSELF I DONT NEED YOUR OPINIONS

this is what you sound like btw

>being above the age of 18
>still caring about music

>having no way to gauge whether or not you're a true patrician™

whos the hot guy in pic?

There's a difference between overvaluing the opinions of a """"""""""""professional"""""""""""" and taking a recommendation for a friend

>independent thinking is bad

If you have to second guess yourself and compare your opinions to others, you'll never have the power of a true patrician anyway desu senpai.

A true patrician knows.

first response was meant for

>not knowing based shane o mac

>>independent thinking is bad
>Independent thinking is necessarily good

okay, let's say the friend in my situation is a local food critic, doesnt really change the analogy

Part of the reason I read reviews is because they bring albums/artists to my attention that I may never have heard of otherwise. And if their description of the music is something that appeals to my tastes, I'll check them out. What's wrong with that?

Once you realize you've probably listened to more music than every pitchfork writer combined (half the posters of Sup Forums roughly) the facade breaks down

I don't let reviews influence me but I like reading them for a different outlook

>Part of the reason I read reviews is because they bring albums/artists to my attention that I may never have heard of otherwise

This. I use reviews and stuff like the RYM charts as a discovery tool. If I see an album is getting praise, I'm more likely to check it out. If I like it, that's great.

I'm not going to claim to like something I didn't care for just because it got great reviews, though. A lot of people do that with music and movies as a substitute for having actual taste and knowledge.

HERE COMES THE MONEYYYY

RYM reviews =/= shitfork and other publications who's opinions have been grossly overvalued.

HERE WE GO

well im not a fan of pitchfork but for the sake of argument

what exactly is wrong with:

-going to pitchfork
-seeing a review for an album
-reading the review
-deciding to listen to the album based on the description of the album in aforementioned review
-deciding how you feel about the album after you finish listening to it (if your experience matched that of the reviewer, you would probably want to continue reading their reviews)

as long as you're not mindlessly parroting the opinions of a reviewer like some fantano/scaruffi fanboys unfortunately do, it seems harmless

I feel it, but a true patrish also takes in ither's viewpoints on why people like _____

>being a Smackcuck

Would you say the RYM is the most accurate in general for scores and discovery purposes? Genuinely curious. I feel like their algorithm has some flaws (average metal albums with like 30 ratings being overrated on their yearly charts, the fact that it seems like most albums are graded between 3.0-4.0 as opposed to a .5-5.0 grade) but I would tend to agree.

I know people think Scaruffi is a meme but he really does have the best/most accurate taste.

P4K, Fantano, RYM, etc. all have hugely inflated ratings, with 8.5s and 9s and even 10s being handed out a dozen times a year to albums that aren't unique or innovative in any way.

I mean I guess P4K and Fantano are good for "muh feels" twing twang indie rock, or flavor-of-the-month rap, and RYM can be a good starting point for lesser-known genres, but Scaruffi's site will lead you to find genuinely interesting and exciting music.

If Scaruffi gives something an 8 or higher, you KNOW it is worth checking out. Also his books (which you can read for free online) are very good for finding exactly what you want. Go to the decade you want, ctrl+f the genre combo you want. I discovered that psychedelic free jazz rock was a thing because of Scaruffi.

the only time I care about reviews is either

>"hmm, I think this album's pretty good, I wonder what other people think of it?"
or
>"hmm, I'm not sure if I should bother putting the time into listening to this, lemme check out one or two reviews"