It’s official… your favorite artist is finally dropping one of the most anticipated albums of the year, and you’re freaking out. The day finally comes where it’s supposed to be released and you stay up until midnight to get a first listen. You manage to stay awake and listen all the way through. By the time you finish you want to listen again just to make sure your feelings are correct. By the end of the second listen through you look at the clock and an hour and 45 minutes have passed by already. But you know it’s worth it, because the album is amazing. Worth the wait and your new favorite album, ever. One thing tugs at you though. What are other people thinking about this album? Just then, you remember a certain music review website.

As many know, opinions about music can change, especially new music. Most of the time, I find myself enjoying songs I never thought I would a couple months earlier. One of the most important factors in writing a good music review, or any review in that case, is having solid and original opinions. When I go through an album for my first listen, I make sure to go back through again, just to confirm that the way I feel about it is correct. It doesn’t help that we will usually come into a listen with preconceived notions about the artist. They may have an infamous past, are known for bad music, or really good music. First impressions are very important, and those are always taken into consideration, but sometimes our ears deceive us, and we need a rerun to really get a feel for what’s good and not good about an album. An element that is equally important as solid opinion is originality. There are a lot of opinions everywhere, especially on the internet and social media. It’s vital that when reviewing, I don’t listen, or look at any other websites or videos that may be reviewing the album. Avoiding this will make the feelings raw, and untainted so what’s being said is for real, and not copied or mimicked.

After the listens have been completed, personally, I like to take time to think about what I listened to. Did it have a theme? How well was it produced? Did the artist show growth? How well do the vocals/samples sound? All of these and more are what I try to consider in order to form my true opinion. Then I’ll think back, what song did I enjoy the most and least and why? I really value this time after because while I may already have my opinions, I can strengthen them and begin to form my argument on why the album was so good or bad. There’ll be times where I want to jump right into review, because I’m so excited to get it out. Other times I’ll take a couple days, even a week to continue to listen to it, and find things I really like or dislike. When it comes time to write the review, I have to be focused. The time it takes me to write all depends on how confident I felt in how I felt about everything. I try not to take too much time to write them, because I feel then I begin to ramble and get caught up in too many ideas. However, I try my best to include as much as I can about the lyrical performance, the production, the overall sound, and the focus of the artist. Taking all these factors into consideration, I do my best to rate the album out of 10. How I rank is I start at 10. I look at the negatives of the album, songs I didn’t enjoy or lousy work, and subtract points. When I finish that, I look at the positives, and if they seem to fit the number that is left, my rating is complete. It sounds a bit complicated but it has always worked for me.

Combining all these things finds me at the end of the album review. The final thing I do is my recommendation, but luckily, it’s based on my rating, ranging anywhere from do not recommend, to highly recommend. At the end, I’ll have a completed review and one that is ready to post. After editing and proofreading, it’ll go up, and it’s onto the next one from there! Reviewing music is enjoyable, even though it may seem tedious at times. It gives me a chance to experience new sounds and feelings, and the best part is, I have the opportunity to share these!