People Magizine (has NO taste)

[Erika]

Did anyone else see in the August issue of People magizine on page ...40 I think. It's about Nickel Creek. They are saying how This Side is not their best side. Can you beleive it!!!???[grumpy]

[mandofocus]

When has People magazine EVER had taste?
-PJ- :cool:

[Erika]

You've got a point!

[matt the fiddler]

don't mind people mag- that article was written by some one who has apparently made some calls in the past.. taht would indicate they aren't on the level creek is....

anyways... on a better note- sara said she and sean were rolling on the floor laughing when they read that review......

matt

[mandofocus]

lmao!
That's funny!
Nickel Creek and us fans MUST be on a higher level than that guy at people mag.

-PJ- :cool:

[matt the fiddler]

just different goals in music...

[Erika]

Well, That guy obviously don't know how to set good goals in music! (we Nickel Creek fans do!)

[OkieLovinNC]

Practically every review I read in People magazine has been saying how bad the CD's are. Geez, if all they're gonna do is bash on how bad the CD is, why the heck do they even put it in the magazine?![shock]

[J. Marie Hall]

see, they have to make _money_ as a critic. :) to be proven a good one in the eyes of other critics, you have to see things that are nitpicky. or invent them?

also, it's sort of dangerous terrain for most critics. what i have found knowing the ones i do (in literature mostly) is that they're either really frustrated artists or people who tried and failed in the area where they've pursued such expertise.

you can know a lot _about_ something even if you can't produce it (innovatively). you can know the elements even if your poetry stinks. one of my old profs even admitted it to me. she absolutely LOVES poetry, but she can't write anything with the stuff of revelation in it. she has the forms etc. and understands how to do it. but nothing she does is anything more or less than a little copy orbiting some star.

i went into grad school (and graduated last year!-woo-hoo! and whew!) in hispanic literature and linguistics b/c i loved it. b/c i love language and literature. could never get enough. boy, wasn't i naive since what my education actually was is this critiquing business. it's very easy to fall into that mode of picking things apart too much. you're trained to look for _everything_ and find new things. it's how you keep your job. how you get published and compete intellectually.

anyway, whatever. i only teach now (i used to do both), and i make time to read and study some like i used to. and if i have questions, i just call up the old professors and friends for advice. but now _i_ choose what i want to read etc. it's a beautiful thing. and i make more time to actually _write_. now there's a concept :) to practice this art i have so long admired.


take care,
j. marie

[Punk_Rocker_07]

They said Kelly Osbournes CD sucked (I liked it, but hey I'm a freak) but they give major props to all those lame rap and r and b people, GOD GIVE ME A BREAK, who in their right mind would praise anyone for singing (well talking to a beat) about killing people or other inappropriate activities, their reviewers must have wasted their brains on bad music all these years

[teyes]

Way to be open minded there... I don't even listen to r&b and rap and I'm offended by that blanket statement.

What's popular and mainstream tends to bring out the worst of each genre, in terms of playing for shock value and the solely-for-entertainment card. Try the Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, Jurassic 5 for rap that isn't all about the bling bling.

Also, it's one critic's opinion. I doubt that takes away from your enjoyment of the album...

[AlesiaKaye]

Interesting post J. marie ...

Much of what you mentioned I have often suspected but never really had validated by one who has seen the business from the inside out - thanks for the enlightenment.

When/if I read a review (I rarely do) I always try to keep in mind several things ...
- The old ..eye of the beholder statement
- The slant of the publication the review will appear in

and

- The natural bias that comes with the reviewer - for example, I could see NC getting a bad review simply because some reviewer hears the term Bluegrass Roots and goes into the listen mode thinking I'm going to hate this cause I hate everything Bluegrass - even when they believe they are being open minded. They end up focusing on those elements they feel are negative based on their own personal tastes.

I think it always helps to remember that everyone, no matter how open minded and fair they try to be, has a bias of some sort or another - it's just part of life. All of our experiences lead us to become the type of person we are, the views we hold and is part of what makes us each so darn unique :)

Because of this I rarely, if ever, rely on reviews for anything - and if I do want to get an opinion I tend to either read several reviews and focus on the ones that give more of a what moved / didn't move me aspect vs a theoretical critique for that particular art form (I tend to believe there are not many rules in art - even literature to a large degree) or preferably get the opinion from friends who have similar tastes as myself.

Either way - I would never rely on a review from a hi-gloss tabloid like People (just my opinion) .. but I know that many do. Let's just hope all the reviews out there pique enough curiosity that real people will go out & seek the CD just to figure out why someone likes or dislikes it.

What's that old saying? All press is good press (?) ... at least it gets your name out there :)

~ Alesia