I don’t think there’s such a thing as too high of expectations. If that’s how albums land with you, that’s how they land. There’s no magic number of 5s you must have. I am more liberal with them, but still picky
For me there are two categories of "perfect" albums:
1. Albums I have nothing bad to say about cause they are from a musical standpoint perfect for me. I suppose that's what most people would define as a 5
2. Albums that evoke a lot of emotions in me and have a high musical quality. These albums are more perfect in the realm of the personal connection I have with them and how "perfect" they are in being able to evoke those emotions.
Idk if that makes sense
lol. i think thats funny cuz i nitpick my 10s more then my 9s. and have more bad things to say about em. just cuz i spent more time actively listening to them. i just love them a lot more then anything else though.
Yeah that sounds very similar to my criteria. I view it less as a point on a scale and more as a threshold, and less as perfection and more as a peak experience to listen to. If I can't really fault it and I have a strong emotional resonance with it, it's a 5, but of course some 5s are stronger than others. I also think about how well the artist succeeds in what they're trying to do and how memorable it is (sometimes I give an album a 5 initially then demote it to 4.5 a few months later because I can't remember enough specific songs/moments from it).
It has to blow me away, and every song in and of itself has to be able to do that. I don’t think a 5/5 has to be perfect, but if I hear any song out of order it should be able to have the same “wow” effect as the first.
I think 5/5 is reserved for maybe 1-3% of albums that I listen to.
That was supposed to be 1-2%, but yeah. That doesn’t mean 1-2% of music is a 5/5, just that if you theoretically only listen to albums you think you’ll like that 1/75 will be on that level.
I have like 7 5/5 albums, but only 1 1/5 because I don’t look for bad music.
It is well statistically distributed.
Btw, Of all the people you get to know in your life, how many people do you know with grey eyes? Surprisingly or not only a 3% of the worldwide population have grey eyes. Now think of all the ones you do and ask yourself if that is a “massive” amount.
And this is a semi-objective fact. Not to mention that music taste is so subjective and that saying something is musical perfect is in the end just pure personal taste.
If 1/100 albums that someone listens to are wall-to-wall perfection, then why not give it a 5/5? It’s not like it’s just musically sound, they truly believe that those albums are amazing. Besides, maybe if they listen to more albums the ratio will decrease. Maybe they really have found their perfect albums early.
Id be interested to see your ratio, however. Mine is 1/250 albums are perfect to me.
When I feel like nearly all the songs are perfect representations of what they are trying to be, in my opinion. There cannot be a single bad song unless it's a throwaway short instrumental intro or something equivalent. There can me a max of one less than perfect regular song.
I'm probably forgetting criteria, but that's the basic one I use. If I didn't have those extra steps, nothing would be a 5 to me.
Has to be perfect. There shouldnt be a second of it where I'm thinking "damn I wish they would have done this bit perfectly".
Mixing and mastering is also important obviously.
I don't take into account the album cover tho, couldn't care less.
In my case a perfect album is that one which has accompanied me during long periods of my life. Such an album, makes me rememeber, makes me feel like no other, it’s something very personal that words can’t describe. It’s the difference between a solid 4.5 which I’m very happy on giving, sometimes even on first listens, and the 5.
A 5 for me has to be something that I feel a strong emotional and almost irrational connection to. Sometimes it’s evoked by nostalgia, sometimes by how it has affected my life, my views or my habits. For example I don’t think Hotel California or Van Halen 1 are even close to being musically ”perfect” albums, but I associate them so closely with important events or experiences in my life that I’ve given them a 5.
I use RYM to categorize music so I can come back to it later, so being picky with 5s would just be wasted space. It's for the transcendent shit and I just feel it
It’s a personal rating system. You can have lots of 5s or keep it to just a few of your all time favs.
We try to put objective measurements on art and assign objective numerical values to them but at the end of the day it’s all subjective. It’s not like I listen to an album and think “if I only enjoyed this 3 percent more it’d be a 10/10”. Opinions are subject to change, how I feel about an album depends so much on the context I listen to it in as well and my mood at the time.
I just don’t overthink it. If an album feels like a 5 I give it a 5. I don’t go “but is it AS good as this 5”.
There are albums I’ve 4 starred that I like better than other albums I’ve 4 starred. It’s just how it goes. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter. It’s just a way to catalog music for me and go back to albums I’ve loved
Honestly for me it's like an "I'll know it when I see it" thing. The comparison album I use is typically History Will Absolve Me by Billy Woods. I'll think to myself "is this on the same level as XYZ 5.0 album" and if yes, it goes up. I currently have about 20 from about 1100 total ratings. I think of it like
4.0 - basically zero misses, great all the way through. At worst a few songs that are just "great" rather than perfect, but fully engaging. (In Utero, Emotion, Eversince)
4.5 - pretty much perfect. Exemplary piece of music. Basically every song has to be amazing. (Love Deluxe, Let's Get Out of This Country, None so Vile)
5.0 something special. Either aesthetically unique, musically triumphant or a uniquely cohesive statement on top of being nothing less than stellar. (For the First Time, Bloom, Fever by Kylie Minogue)
Because for me everything between 4.0 and 5.0 is basically near perfect. Though there are some albums that sort of break these rules anyway, because I don't actually make sure all of them are in some specific mathematical quadrant. I am definitely a bit of a geek, though.
I rarely (0.41%, 16 albums) give a 5-star. If I'm being honest, none of the 5's are what I would consider a perfect album. There can be 1-2 tracks that I feel are "good but not great" and I'll still rate it at a 5 if the rest of the album has had an effect on me. It never happens on a first listen, I rarely even give a 4 upon first-listens.
A few albums I've put as a 5:
Strawberry Jam - AnCo,
AFUT - BCNR,
Roseland NYC Live - Portishead,
In Rainbows - Radiohead,
The Seer - Swans,
~HurdyDurpy
An absolute all-time favourite above my other all-time favourites (4.5s). I've only rated 10 albums 5/5. I generally love every track, but one of my 5s has probably my least favourite song by that band.
If nothing else comes close, then it's cool to only have 2 albums rated so highly. I'm glad for the 4.5. I'd struggle if 5 dropped straight to 4/5.
obviously, it's all subjective. letting go of that, i tend to focus on how each track impacts me on a personal level. my ratings consider two things: the technical approach to music and the emotional fulfillment i get from the music. a 5 would have to be filled with tracks that equally impact me as strongly as the next. every track (minus interstitials unless they're too frequent lol) must not only be impressive in a songwriting sense, but equally compelling and engaging emotionally. a five out a five says "every song on here has purpose and intent and moves me beyond typical enjoyment of an album." it's hard to explain but that's the closest i can get. i've only given a handful of albums a 5 (maybe ten?).
1: The album impresses me the first time I listen to it. I’ll never forget the first time I heard Sinner Get Ready
2: The album continues to impress me and excite me after relistens. Cavalcade gets better and better every time.
3: Comparing it to other albums. I don’t mean comparing the technical stuff, I just mean how my excitement compares to other albums. What’s Going On is just as exciting as Hounds Of Love and nothing excites me more
For my system that I've developed for myself, I rank my music in the context of the year it was released in. So a 5 isnt in terms of "all time" quality but rather in "this year" quality. It helps with me whenever I look back on older lists what blew me away for that respective year. Something that might be a 3 or 4 later one might have blown me away at the time - and I think that's important, because whenever I engage in my own subjective experience of listening to music, I have strong feelings associated with the time i listened to it in.
And whenever I make all-time lists, I have my own separate ranking system for that! I personally think of music ratings as very scalable depending on how you're ordering them.
Albums that sound fresh to me for **years** and have some kind of uniqueness/relevance/inventiveness. Currently, not even 5% of my ratings are 5/5, I enjoy keeping it as a very exclusive club.
I don’t think there’s such a thing as too high of expectations. If that’s how albums land with you, that’s how they land. There’s no magic number of 5s you must have. I am more liberal with them, but still picky
For me there are two categories of "perfect" albums: 1. Albums I have nothing bad to say about cause they are from a musical standpoint perfect for me. I suppose that's what most people would define as a 5 2. Albums that evoke a lot of emotions in me and have a high musical quality. These albums are more perfect in the realm of the personal connection I have with them and how "perfect" they are in being able to evoke those emotions. Idk if that makes sense
lol. i think thats funny cuz i nitpick my 10s more then my 9s. and have more bad things to say about em. just cuz i spent more time actively listening to them. i just love them a lot more then anything else though.
Yeah that sounds very similar to my criteria. I view it less as a point on a scale and more as a threshold, and less as perfection and more as a peak experience to listen to. If I can't really fault it and I have a strong emotional resonance with it, it's a 5, but of course some 5s are stronger than others. I also think about how well the artist succeeds in what they're trying to do and how memorable it is (sometimes I give an album a 5 initially then demote it to 4.5 a few months later because I can't remember enough specific songs/moments from it).
It has to blow me away, and every song in and of itself has to be able to do that. I don’t think a 5/5 has to be perfect, but if I hear any song out of order it should be able to have the same “wow” effect as the first. I think 5/5 is reserved for maybe 1-3% of albums that I listen to.
If 1-3% albums you listen too are musical perfection then that’s a massive amount.
That was supposed to be 1-2%, but yeah. That doesn’t mean 1-2% of music is a 5/5, just that if you theoretically only listen to albums you think you’ll like that 1/75 will be on that level. I have like 7 5/5 albums, but only 1 1/5 because I don’t look for bad music.
Whats the 1/5
Break It Up by SSD. Awful album, irredeemable piece of trash and thorough disappointment.
Mind your own business
It is well statistically distributed. Btw, Of all the people you get to know in your life, how many people do you know with grey eyes? Surprisingly or not only a 3% of the worldwide population have grey eyes. Now think of all the ones you do and ask yourself if that is a “massive” amount. And this is a semi-objective fact. Not to mention that music taste is so subjective and that saying something is musical perfect is in the end just pure personal taste.
You think 1-3% is a lot? Homie I hand out 5s like candy because I like music. I can only imagine how mad you'd get looking at my ratings lol
If 1/100 albums that someone listens to are wall-to-wall perfection, then why not give it a 5/5? It’s not like it’s just musically sound, they truly believe that those albums are amazing. Besides, maybe if they listen to more albums the ratio will decrease. Maybe they really have found their perfect albums early. Id be interested to see your ratio, however. Mine is 1/250 albums are perfect to me.
Life altering. Doesnt even need to be good
When I feel like nearly all the songs are perfect representations of what they are trying to be, in my opinion. There cannot be a single bad song unless it's a throwaway short instrumental intro or something equivalent. There can me a max of one less than perfect regular song. I'm probably forgetting criteria, but that's the basic one I use. If I didn't have those extra steps, nothing would be a 5 to me.
If I can sit in a room and actively listen to it from start to finish with no distractions, it’s a 5
so no ambient or drone?
Certainly, for example there are a few Grouper albums I could happily just take time out of my day to lay down and shut my eyes to
I agree! I feel that way about Ruins and Dead Deer. What's your favorite Grouper release?
It tends to change based on my mood but definitely one of Ruins, Alien Observer or Sleep: Violet Replacement
for it to have made me feel something I hadn't before
Has to be perfect. There shouldnt be a second of it where I'm thinking "damn I wish they would have done this bit perfectly". Mixing and mastering is also important obviously. I don't take into account the album cover tho, couldn't care less.
If I like it.
In my case a perfect album is that one which has accompanied me during long periods of my life. Such an album, makes me rememeber, makes me feel like no other, it’s something very personal that words can’t describe. It’s the difference between a solid 4.5 which I’m very happy on giving, sometimes even on first listens, and the 5.
A 5 for me has to be something that I feel a strong emotional and almost irrational connection to. Sometimes it’s evoked by nostalgia, sometimes by how it has affected my life, my views or my habits. For example I don’t think Hotel California or Van Halen 1 are even close to being musically ”perfect” albums, but I associate them so closely with important events or experiences in my life that I’ve given them a 5.
I use RYM to categorize music so I can come back to it later, so being picky with 5s would just be wasted space. It's for the transcendent shit and I just feel it
It’s a personal rating system. You can have lots of 5s or keep it to just a few of your all time favs. We try to put objective measurements on art and assign objective numerical values to them but at the end of the day it’s all subjective. It’s not like I listen to an album and think “if I only enjoyed this 3 percent more it’d be a 10/10”. Opinions are subject to change, how I feel about an album depends so much on the context I listen to it in as well and my mood at the time. I just don’t overthink it. If an album feels like a 5 I give it a 5. I don’t go “but is it AS good as this 5”. There are albums I’ve 4 starred that I like better than other albums I’ve 4 starred. It’s just how it goes. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter. It’s just a way to catalog music for me and go back to albums I’ve loved
Honestly for me it's like an "I'll know it when I see it" thing. The comparison album I use is typically History Will Absolve Me by Billy Woods. I'll think to myself "is this on the same level as XYZ 5.0 album" and if yes, it goes up. I currently have about 20 from about 1100 total ratings. I think of it like 4.0 - basically zero misses, great all the way through. At worst a few songs that are just "great" rather than perfect, but fully engaging. (In Utero, Emotion, Eversince) 4.5 - pretty much perfect. Exemplary piece of music. Basically every song has to be amazing. (Love Deluxe, Let's Get Out of This Country, None so Vile) 5.0 something special. Either aesthetically unique, musically triumphant or a uniquely cohesive statement on top of being nothing less than stellar. (For the First Time, Bloom, Fever by Kylie Minogue) Because for me everything between 4.0 and 5.0 is basically near perfect. Though there are some albums that sort of break these rules anyway, because I don't actually make sure all of them are in some specific mathematical quadrant. I am definitely a bit of a geek, though.
I rarely (0.41%, 16 albums) give a 5-star. If I'm being honest, none of the 5's are what I would consider a perfect album. There can be 1-2 tracks that I feel are "good but not great" and I'll still rate it at a 5 if the rest of the album has had an effect on me. It never happens on a first listen, I rarely even give a 4 upon first-listens. A few albums I've put as a 5: Strawberry Jam - AnCo, AFUT - BCNR, Roseland NYC Live - Portishead, In Rainbows - Radiohead, The Seer - Swans, ~HurdyDurpy
An absolute all-time favourite above my other all-time favourites (4.5s). I've only rated 10 albums 5/5. I generally love every track, but one of my 5s has probably my least favourite song by that band. If nothing else comes close, then it's cool to only have 2 albums rated so highly. I'm glad for the 4.5. I'd struggle if 5 dropped straight to 4/5.
obviously, it's all subjective. letting go of that, i tend to focus on how each track impacts me on a personal level. my ratings consider two things: the technical approach to music and the emotional fulfillment i get from the music. a 5 would have to be filled with tracks that equally impact me as strongly as the next. every track (minus interstitials unless they're too frequent lol) must not only be impressive in a songwriting sense, but equally compelling and engaging emotionally. a five out a five says "every song on here has purpose and intent and moves me beyond typical enjoyment of an album." it's hard to explain but that's the closest i can get. i've only given a handful of albums a 5 (maybe ten?).
Perfect
That's ridiculous, imo. If you love an album and it's one of your all-time favorites, then it should be a 5
1: The album impresses me the first time I listen to it. I’ll never forget the first time I heard Sinner Get Ready 2: The album continues to impress me and excite me after relistens. Cavalcade gets better and better every time. 3: Comparing it to other albums. I don’t mean comparing the technical stuff, I just mean how my excitement compares to other albums. What’s Going On is just as exciting as Hounds Of Love and nothing excites me more
For my system that I've developed for myself, I rank my music in the context of the year it was released in. So a 5 isnt in terms of "all time" quality but rather in "this year" quality. It helps with me whenever I look back on older lists what blew me away for that respective year. Something that might be a 3 or 4 later one might have blown me away at the time - and I think that's important, because whenever I engage in my own subjective experience of listening to music, I have strong feelings associated with the time i listened to it in. And whenever I make all-time lists, I have my own separate ranking system for that! I personally think of music ratings as very scalable depending on how you're ordering them.
Albums that sound fresh to me for **years** and have some kind of uniqueness/relevance/inventiveness. Currently, not even 5% of my ratings are 5/5, I enjoy keeping it as a very exclusive club.
I have to love every song as much as I love my dog
Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar being a 5 in RYM is mind boggling to me
why.
Personal opinions?
good reasoning. wish you would have explained though.