Upon further review Robert Christgau reviews suck

thunderDAN

I guess you have to respect everyones opinion, but I was looking at some of Robert Christgau aka 'The Dean of Rock Critics' reviews and here is what he gave some well known albums

Pearl Jam-Ten B-

Radiohead OK Computer B-

Radiohead The Bends C

Pearl Jam No Code * (apparently he went away from letter grades for this)

Pearl Jam VS. a symbol of a bomb (don't know if this is good or bad)

Coldplay X&Y B (better than Ten and OK Computer)

Nirvana Nevermind & In Utero A (both better than Ten and OK)

Bruce Springsteen Born in the USA A+ (now it has gone too far an A+ for an album with I'm on Fire and Working on the Highway on it!? )

Good Charlotte-The Chronicles of Life and Death C+ (better than The Bends and slightly worse than Ten)

Good Charlotte- The Young and the Hopeless *** (back to stars, 3x better than No Code)

Guns & Roses- Use Your Illusion I * (see above to see the scale)

Guns & Roses- Use Your Illusion II- a pair of scissors (who knows what that means- if it is insulting it should be used for Good Charlotte and if it's a complement why scissors?)

Guns & Roses - Appetite for Destruction- B- (seriously)



So apparently this guy was made famous by giving A's and A+'s to every Beatles and Rolling Stones album and that made him The Dean of Rock, but upon further review this guy sucks ass.

Matt Lukin

"Let's face facts here - what Robert Christgau does is basically write about his mail... If you are a young, talented person who has something to offer the world, I'm sure that a gig as a rock writer can be great fun for a little while, but please, please, eventually go out into the world and write about real stuff. Don't channel your gifts into a life spent writing about your mail."

-Mike Doughty

Jeremy1012

Christgau is a good writer but his music tastes suck and his reviews are, in terms of content, a bag of wank.

Check out what Thurston Moore was going to call Kill Yr Idols for details.

Evacuation Rules

Lou Reed does a hilarious rant about Christgau on his "Take No Prisoners" album. Dennis from The Frogs turned me on to that record. It's very funny.

Ledbetterman10

thunderDAN wrote:

So apparently this guy was made famous by giving A's and A+'s to every Beatles and Rolling Stones album and that made him The Dean of Rock, but upon further review this guy sucks ass.

forget the grades, it's what he writes which really sucks ass. no knowledge of music at all. he'd be better off on vh1's 'best week ever'

The Douche of American Rock Critics

MattyJoe

He seems like a poser.

adam42381

The symbol of a bomb means an album was a dud, or a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought. At the upper level it may merely be overrated, disappointing, or dull. Down below it may be contemptible. So he's basically saying that Vs. sucked.

http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-cg90/grades-90s.php

For the record, here's his review of NSync's Greatest Hits:

http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cdrev/nsync-ble.php

thunderDAN

adam42381 wrote:

The symbol of a bomb means an album was a dud, or a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought. At the upper level it may merely be overrated, disappointing, or dull. Down below it may be contemptible. So he's basically saying that Vs. sucked.

http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-cg90/grades-90s.php

For the record, here's his review of NSync's Greatest Hits:

http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cdrev/nsync-ble.php

hahahaha, VS. a dud?

I know it's easy to look back on a record released 10-15 years ago and see that it was actually an awesome album, but if you are a critic and you want any credibility you have to notice the diamond in the rough atleast a little bit when you first hear it. You can't call a album that is one of the top alternative albums of all time a dud and then give a B- to arguably the most influential alternative rock album ever (Ok Computer). It's funny because if you had such a high failure rate in any other occupation you wouldn't have a job (except maybe baseball where failing 7/10 times will get you in the Hall of Fame). Looks like the bomb he gave VS. blew up in his face

Ledbetterman10

even when he gives good ratings, his reviews suck. here's his review of Sgt. Pepper's"

"A dozen good songs and true. Perhaps they're too precisely performed, but I'm not going to complain. A"


how insightful. that's the entire review

thunderDAN

Ledbetterman10 wrote:

even when he gives good ratings, his reviews suck. here's his review of Sgt. Pepper's"

"A dozen good songs and true. Perhaps they're too precisely performed, but I'm not going to complain. A"


how insightful. that's the entire review

maybe he is trying to be vogue with his briefness

Ledbetterman10

thunderDAN wrote:

maybe he is trying to be vogue with his briefness

the only one who should be voguing around here is Madonna. God I hate robert christgau

Igottago

The guy's website is ugly as fuck. Music critic is not even a real job.

Brainofdz

thunderDAN wrote:

Bruce Springsteen Born in the USA A+ (now it has gone too far an A+ for an album with I'm on Fire and Working on the Highway on it!? )

I love I'm on Fire, I often put it first on mix cd's and it sets the tone in a way similiar to Sometimes by PJ. I'm surprised you singled that one out as an example of bad song.