No Rock And Roll Fun

SOME DAY, ALL MUSIC REVIEWS WILL BE BUILT THIS WAY: There's an interesting theme (with comments) running over on New York London Paris Munich right now about what people actually want from music criticism: A Consumer Association style report or something a bit more personal. Or a bit of both. Of course, as anyone who's ever reviewed anything in public will know, the over-riding desire of much of the readership for any review is for their opinions to be validated.

Actually, I find the idea of including some facts an allurting concept - I remember the day in 1979 when Smash Hit's Cliff White stopped giving details of the single format he was reviewing because he got tired of people complaining that he'd promised a 12" purple vinyl triangle-shaped disc and they could only find the 7" picture disc double pack; nowadays, I don't think any magazine bothers to list even the basics of the available formats (CD, Vinyl, Cassette).