The Editorials
Insight
Written by Jeff Krasky and Darren O'Neill
In this week's editorial learn more about the critics who make the web site happen. This article is in response to an interesting thread on the message board about the value people place on critics opinions. We hope that this article will give you a better idea of the people who write the reviews and articles found here and help you determine how close we are to your musical tastes.
Jeff Krasky (Senior Editor)
Long before I even thought of reviewing music and writing about the music industry I was an avid country music fan. When I think about the amount of money I have invested into my music collection and into my concert tickets, it almost makes me sick. I have always had a need for music for as long as I can remember. You'll rarely see me anywhere without music around me. If I'm in the car, you can bet I've got that CD player going (soon to be a 10-disc changer, which I'm excited about. No more swapping albums all the time while trying to drive.) If I'm at home there is rarely a moment where there isn't something playing on my overworked Aiwa home stereo system. My desire to provide critical analysis of the music industry stemmed from my addiction to music. I have a genuine interest in every aspect of the business and in hunting down new albums to listen to. Just ask Darren, we can spend hours talking about which albums the other person should go purchase.
It is because of this interest that I started Women Of Country. I wanted to provide other fans with a fans perspective of the music industry and of the music being released. I have never considered myself to be a professional music critic. I might write about the music on a weekly basis and constantly be exposed to it, but I have never wanted to loose sight of the fact that I am in the truest sense a fan of music.
This has an effect on my review and editorial style. When I'm preparing to write about an album I listen to that particular piece of music at least 2-3 times. The first time the album goes into my stereo I listen for nothing but enjoyment. That is the most important aspect of an album. Is it enjoyable? I don't care if the album is flawlessly produced and brilliantly played if it's a drag to listen to. The second listen is normally done with closed ear headphones. I've found this really helps bring out the subtle production values and I do take this into account. It's an component that deserves recognition, but I don't rate it nearly as highly as I do the first criterion. The other listens are to become more familiar with the album and to see if the album has lasting appeal. I always have felt ripped off when I've put money out for an album that I initially enjoyed but after just a few listens grew sick of. Lasting appeal is an important issue.
Once I am comfortable that I know the album enough to write about I will sit down and open up Word. I try very hard to write with the “fan“ part of my brain and not the critical part. I hope that I accomplish this goal most of the time. I feel it makes the review more creditable that way.
My musical tastes are widespread across a number of genres. I listen mainly to country, rock and pop with occasionally sprinklings of other musical styles (one of my current favorites is the Celtic fiddle music of Natalie MacMaster). I have always favored music recorded by female artists. Some of my favorites from other genres include Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, Trish Murphy, Beth Hart and Sarah McLachlan.
I listen to so much music that it's hard to select favorite artists. It's more like I have favorite albums for a time and the artists who seem to have albums that land on my favorites list more frequently than others are really doing their job.
I just can't seem to get enough music! Any of you who have album recommendations, I'd love to hear them. See you around the site!
Darren O'Neill (Editor)
Well I have to admit, when Jeff asked me about writing a little bit about our music tastes and reviewing styles, I thought it was a pretty good idea. After all, if you’re going to listen to what we have to say in our reviews, you deserve some kind of an idea of the mind behind the opinions!
Much like Jeff, I am a self-proclaimed music addict. We’re talking over 1400 CD’s in the collection, and a constant feeling that is still not enough! I think CDNOW is naming a wing for Jeff and myself to commemorate all the money we’ve spent with them over the past year!
Allow me if you will a small detour here, as I’d like to explain to all of you exactly how Mr. Krasky and myself teamed up on this Women of Country site. It’s kind of a funny story really, and I think it might just amuse you as to the fates of the music gods. Pull up a chair and let me tell you how it all began…
A little over five years ago, I started the website which has now grown into Martina McBride’s official website. (Insert free plug here – http://www.martinamcbride.com if you haven’t been there, go now… well, after you’ve finished reading this!) Anyway, being a computer geek as well as a music geek, I was fooling around with a search engine, and I don’t even remember exactly what I searched for, it could have been my own name (am I vain or what?) and I came across a Reba page in it’s infancy. Well, the layout looked a lot like the Martina page at the time, so I viewed the source code, and there was my name still inserted in the code… I guess they’d forgotten to remove that part! Well, I sent what was probably a nasty little e-mail over to the webmasters, one of which was our music pal Jeff Krasky. I did get a response of some sort from Jeff, then forgot about the whole situation as quickly as it arose.
Jump forward from that day with me to about four years later, I am selling some CD’s over eBay. No free plug for them, they make enough money already, and if you’re smart you can figure out their URL on your own! Well, I had an out of print Kelly Willis disc that I was selling, and who happens to be the high bidder? You guessed it, Jeff Krasky! Well, through this transaction, we added each other to our ICQ lists. I personally think Jeff was afraid I was going take his money and run, and he would never get the coveted Kelly disc… so he wanted to keep an eye on me until it arrived!
So every once and a while after that we’d chat about one thing or another, and we both realized that we were both certified music maniacs. The thing that really drew me to work with Jeff on the site was the fact that he can see BEYOND the country music genre. That was very important to me. I’m sorry for all of you reading this who refuse to give any other kind of music a chance, there are a lot of things you are missing.
When reading my editorials and reviews, be warned that my music tastes are in fact all over the place, and I’m sure that effects the way that I review discs. To give you an idea about all those CD’s I have, I own the complete collections of such diverse artists as Frank Sinatra, Ted Nugent, Bruce Springsteen, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Martina McBride, The Beatles and a whole lot more. My listening patterns are unpredictable at best. All I know is that I will never mix genres in the 6-disc changer! So, I never submit myself to say George Strait, Ted Nugent and Frank Sinatra all at the same time!
So, how do I review a CD? That’s a good question. There are a lot of things that can make or break a CD for me. The main thing I’m looking for is a connection with the artist. If they’re singing about heartbreak, I want to believe that they went through it. If they’re singing about losing everything, I want to believe that they actually went through it. It’s the emotions of a disc that make it stand out to me. Production values are important, but you have to have a good foundation built before you can decorate the house, you know what I mean?
I’ve been writing songs and playing guitar for over 12 years, and that effects my perceptions too. I know I’m no professional at either of these things, but I think I know what makes a good song and what doesn’t. There is nothing in the world that annoys me more than a CD filled with bland songs. Especially if I get the feeling that the artist has the ability to belt out top-notch stuff. The problem comes down to the fact that there seem to be a small number of really good writers out there, and way too many artists looking to record their songs. That’s one of the reasons that I usually give extra points to any country artist that writes their own songs. It’s a dying breed, but those artists are usually among my favorites, mainly because they have lived the songs that they are singing, and that comes through in the music. Everyone owes it to himself or herself to check out artists like Kevin Welch, Jerry Jeff Walker, Bruce Robison and Monte Warden. You may not hear them on the radio, but they are great songwriters.
If there is one thing I don’t like to do when reviewing a disc is totally bash the disc or the artist. So, if I really hate a disc, I’ll always go back and try to find something I liked about the disc. Usually I can find something to say that’s good about the disc (more than “thank God it’s over”). I believe that out of all the discs that I’ve ever reviewed anywhere, there was only one Lorrie Morgan disc I totally couldn’t stand from the first note to the last note! So, bottom line, if I totally trash a disc, it’s probably worthy of getting trashed.
I try to keep an open mind about music, so you won’t find me taking points away from a disc for being too pop. Case in point, the latest Faith Hill disc is a great disc, but it isn’t country. Does that make the disc less enjoyable for me? Nope, It sure doesn’t. Artists’ expanding their horizons is a natural thing for me, whether it’s Faith, or Martina or Garth as Chris Gaines. At least CMT seems to be with me on this, as I’ve seen videos for Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow and Big Bad VooDoo Daddy on their Rockin’ Country shows.
So the overall review of a disc is really a combination of things. Here are the main questions I ask myself when writing a review. Did I enjoy listening to the CD? Were a majority of the songs good, or was there too much filler? Was the disc long enough to warrant my money? How often will I play this CD? To get the top star rating with me, all of these criteria have to be met.
And, as a side note, I feel it is my civic duty to mention the last criteria that Mr. Krasky and I have talked about privately for a long time now… I know you may not see this on the Billboard charts, or on the Radio and Records charts, but to us there is definitely a “babe factor” involved in our overall impression of the artists that we cover (Ed. Note: I have no idea what you’re talking about). If we see the cover of the disc and see a woman that can be on the cover of a fashion magazine, like Faith Hill, she’s got points racked up in our mental review scoreboard long before the disc actually gets into the CD player.
Sure, you can chalk it up to the “men are pigs” factor if you’d like, but I’m just being honest here! And, while you won’t find the babe factor on any official music chart, I am sure that Nashville knows it exists. In the age where videos sell product, you won’t see many below average looking singers from either gender. And I don’t think anyone can argue that artist like Shania, Faith, Chely and Martina don’t owe at least part of their success to their good looks. The same can be said for a lot of the men out there. Although, I can’t explain Garth’s success this way, but hey, every rule has to have an exception! (Hey Garth, if you read this (there goes my vanity again, like Garth would be reading this!) I’m just going by your own assessment that you’re just a pudgy kid from Oklahoma! And, if you are reading this Garth, drop me an e-mail!)
Well, Women of Country readers, I hope this gives you a little look into the insanity that is behind the reviews that you’ve been reading. I look forward to being able to share my music opinions with you for a long time to come. I don’t expect you to agree with everything that I write, and always encourage feedback from you. If there are any new artists out there that we’ve missed, be sure to let us know who they are!
Share your thoughts on to the message board!