Enthusiastic praise with harsh review ratings.
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| Sydney Opera House. "One of the world's greatest landmarks, a UNESCO world heritage site, and a finalist in the 'New 7 Wonders Of The World Contest'. 4/5" |
‘...one of my favourite records of all time. 4/5’
Giving 4 out of 5 to 'one of your favourite records of all time' just seems a bit stingy to me. I'm baffled by the number of reviewers who leave extremely praiseworthy comments, and yet for some reason they then award a less than generous rating, so in honour of this weird practice here's another round-up where I once again put the spotlight on positive reviews with unduly harsh ratings.
1) Liar by Cypher
First up is the hauntingly beautiful song 'Liar' by the brilliantly talented Australian singer/songwriter Cypher. You can listen to the song on the Triple J Unearthed website, but in the mean time, here are a few review quotes which demonstrate what I'm getting at:
"If you don't need your breath anymore this song will take it away for you. 4/5"
"Just beautiful! It's on repeat. 4/5"
"This song sends shivers down my spine. 4/5"
"I'm getting tingles! This song is beautiful! 4/5"
I would agree with all of the above comments as I absolutely love this song, but 4 out of 5?? It takes your breath away? It sends shivers down your spine? 4 out of 5? It's such a powerful song that it physically gives you tingles, and yet you only gave it four stars?? So just what sort of physical reaction does a song have to induce in order to earn five stars?
"When you play the Opera House, I want to be there, I'll be the one in the front row, swaying, eyes closed with a smile on my face. Like a crazy person. 4/5"
...and then presumably you'll also be the one giving this delirium-inducing performance a mere 4 out of 5 if your previous ratings are anything to go by.
"...something special. 4/5"
"...sends you to another place as you zone out and listen. 4/5"
"Wow this song is beautiful. Faith's voice is stunning. 4/5"
I mean, seriously ... come on people! Read what you've written. 'Something special'? 'Sends you to another place'? 4/5 ?!? Just how good does something have to be to merit five stars?
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| Some people are very hard to please. |
2) My Own Private by Rabbit Island
Next up is a creatively interesting tune, 'My Own Private' by Rabbit Island. It's an unusual track, so it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I liked it, as did many of the reviewers. However, this time the comments seem even more out of kilter with the rating:
"What a beautiful voice and a tender song. Gorgeous stuff. Great production too. Love! Love! 3/5"
'Gorgeous stuff'? 3 out of 5?? What sort of maths did they learn at school? Surely 3 out of 5 means average, and I'm pretty sure if you looked up 'gorgeous' in a thesaurus it wouldn't suggest 'average' as an alternative word. "Hey, I love your new hairstyle! It's average!" just doesn't quite have the same ring to it as, "Hey, I love your new hairstyle! It's gorgeous!"
3) The Breach by Dustin Tebbutt
Finally, here are a few review quotes of another beautiful tune (probably my favourite of the three), The Breach by Dustin Tebbutt, where once again the ratings just seem a little on the stingy side:
"Haunting and beautiful. Something really special. 4/5"
"A stunner. 4/5"
"Beautiful voice. What a tune! 4/5"
"...could not ask for a more perfect track. 4/5"
That last reviewer clearly hasn't grasped the meaning of the word 'perfect' if they feel that 'perfect' equates to a rating of 4 out of 5. I mean ... does that mean to get five stars a song would have to be better than perfect?
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| A dubious use of the word 'perfect.'. |
In all seriousness, top respect to the reviewers for taking the time to leave such praiseworthy reviews about something which they clearly enjoyed, but I just feel that when they obviously loved the songs so much a five out of five rating would have been more appropriate.
Anyway, just to reiterate, I like all three of the tunes mentioned in this blog post and they totally deserve all of the praiseworthy comments said about them. If you want to listen to the songs, then they're all available on the excellent Triple J Unearthed website. However, at the risk of stating the obvious, if one of the tunes 'takes your breath away' and 'sends tingles down your spine', then I would advise five stars as being the appropriate rating.
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Footnote: For the avoidance of any doubt, I would just like to clarify that in actual fact Sydney Opera House and the wheel are both clearly worthy of 5/5, not 4/5.
You can find more excellent stuff with bizarrely harsh ratings below:
Giving excellent stuff the credit it deserves (part 1)
Giving excellent stuff the credit it deserves (part 3)
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