Metal Reviews

This seems to be the nicest thread on the forum.

Seriously, don't let worries about language put you off trying, at least. After all, English isn't my first language...



Ok, that's a lie, it is. But you all seem able to converse in the language, and describe albums, and that's all that's being asked for really, putting it together in a way that's readable and informative.

And here's where I bring up the open formula again. Why should one be part of the team to submit a review? Like many other forumites, I'd be pleased to lay a hand whenever I can or have some album I have my say about but I don't want to be "part of the team" because my time is rare, my taste is broad and my english makes it more time consumming to write. I'm sure others, with the same or other reasons, feel the same kind of reservation towards joining...
Well, what do you think, Zad?

Chiefly because it's a massive shift in how things work that wouldn't fit in with the existing site infrastructure. I can see the appeal to what you suggest, and making metalreviews.com into a site where people can submit metal reviews has a nice logic to it, but the way Chris has it set up is different to that, I'm afraid.

Jesus Christ, stop fishing for compliments. Bruce, your English is excellent, I teach English and mine is nowhere near as good as yours.

I'm not fishing for compliments since I systematically disregard them. Your English is better than mine.
See?

Besides, as Stefan mentioned above, it takes me 3 or 4 times the time it takes a native speaker to write a poorly worded post. So, an actual review...

I do like Stefan's idea. Would be awesome if some of us could write a review from time to time, 1 or 2 per month. This site would be indeed a lot richer in content.

We've had this talk a few years back and the bosses didn't seem to bite in. And it looks like it's not going to work this time either... Too bad.

I understand, but they should permit us to do reviews in the forums, like a Fan reviews section. The reviews would be unprofessional and badly written, so I think they would not be a serious thread for the team of official reviewers of the site. A bit of competition is always healthy, though.

Which means second class reviews.
Nah, I'm not buying into this.
I'll remain a lone reviewer on his beloved blog.

If for some reason user-submitted reviews would become allowed then I'd prefer them to be proofread by one of the official reviewers and then posted by them among the others that are posted every monday. (Which is an idea I could support.) But I don't really see the point in establishing an entirely separate part of the forum for the sake of those few that desparately want to write a review for one of their favourite albums, especiallly if it's going to be badly written. That's just my opinion ofcourse.

Agreed.
That's exaxtly what I suggested to Chris back in the days.

I'm not desperate, but I see your point. It's a very good idea that the fanreviews go through a filter and then posted in the main site. That would be really cool.

Well if there are 6 of you who want to review twice a month, we can start discussing, who knows maybe some of you may get the writing bug and become more regular on your own. But the recruiting drive is mostly to find new core members (and I will focus on strengthening the core team first). Hence my warning about motivation and yield. Too many people thinking they wouldn't write more than 1-2 per months ended up writing 10 reviews or so and disappearing or writing so rarely we barely know them or feel like they really are members of the team.

So yes, we mostly look for people able to reviews 1-2 reviews a week first and foremost, but if there are enough people that can guarantee 2 per months, I might consider it once we're done finding a few reviewers interested in reviewing weekly.

As for English, many of you are completely scared for nothing. My english is nowhere near as good as many of the forumites, and it doesn't stop me from writing. What we want to avoid is awful spelling (but an error here and there is not the end of the world, and there are checkers in case you need). My first couple of years my reviews were so basic it first makes me laugh and then hurts when I read them nowadays.

What's more important in my opinion is to manage to convey what the music is, why you like or dislike it. No need to be have a PHD or be a master in English people.

The backbone of the site has been created in 2001, and very little changed since then. We are working on two new versions since March. One will be a bridge version fully integrated with the CMS (no more double scrolling bars) and a brand new version with more features (in which we can consider letting people enter reviews without having to be a team member, I will think about implementing this). The new version should be ready around 2013 (the improved one by the end of the year we hope).

Just my 2 cents
Chris

What I meant is that the system as it is now doesn't allow us to make the user reviews a reality. I will try to have this implemented (with moderation) in the future.

Looking forward the new version

For a seasoned writer, writing two reviews a week is a 4h job. It's not that bad. The reviews are simple to enter, the interface is simple enough and only requires some basic html knowledge (basically you only need to know 4 tags, after a few reviews you can even write the html as second nature or simply use a WYSIWIG html program and copy paste the code. It's not complicated, you won't be losing hours entering them.

For those who wonder how much time it is required... of course there is also the listening time, but people wanting to write reviews are people listening to music, so you only tell your opinion on what you would have listened to anyway... and I suppose most metalheads listen to metal on their way to work, in bus, car or whatnot anyway.

Just my 2 cents,
Chris

Chris, what about that news editing job? I'd be more than willing to do that if I fit the requirements. I know it's not exactly reviewing but at least then that section of the forum becomes a bit more lively as well.

Not to mention that I don't mind shorter reviews too... some lengthy reviews are better, but sometimes it's not needed to reinvent the wheel and have to write an essay either. We don't want the three lines review that started this site (that was my brother's philosophy at first) but we noticed writing more fleshed out articles where actually preferred. I myself am trying to shorten my reviews over time (hope it shows).

Sometimes less is more. Meaning that a brief and concise review with few words can be as useful as lengthy and literal one. I often skip some reviews when they are too lengthy (not especially ours, in general).

Just for your information, only one person applied so far. But you guys spent many messages on forums discussing it ... you could probably have written a review for the same time involved posting here. Something to think about.

Also there is the camaraderie that I like the most about being a member of a team (and a motivation as why I still do it). The more we communicate, the more we know one another. The core team members knows what I'm talking about. I have made friends on the team, people I know I can count on and I hope I can meet and have a drink with (but not being in same countries / continents isn't helping ).

There also are unseen advantages to be a member of such team. You get access to a lot of promo albums, but also you can interview and talk directly with band members when you go at concerts (my first in person interview was with Tobias Sammet, a fucking dream come true and a moment I will never forget, that same day Andreas "Henner" Allendorfer, Squealer's ex singer who passed away a few years back (RIP) dedicated a song to the site on stage, another great souvenir you're not gonna forget any time soon believe me. I've also had Udo Dirkschneider perform midnight mover and winking at me cause I told him it's my favorite song a few minutes before during an interview, I still have the pics of that day), and most of the time it's not an issue to get access to free live shows if you're willing to interview a band. You also can access the press backstage of mythical festival like Wacken and the such (we ALWAYS get access to such festivals when we request it). For a metalheads these are nice rewards imho. In Wacken 2001 (if memory serves) I hanged with the entire Manticora band at their tents, we drank, we laughed, one of the members told me I butchered his first name on the booklet (LOL) and we discussed taste and X-Japan albums.

Just so you know that writing reviews here doesn't just mean being a name on a page, it will reward the life of a metalhead if one wants it to. It's also fun to have total strangers come to you and ask you who you are in the team if you wear a MR t-shirt. It happened in Wacken and even here in Switzerland, people asking me who I was from the site as it was an avid reader, then drinking a beer at the bar and discussing our respective taste.

I also have signed t-shirts, CDs, photos and whatnot with many of my metal heroes. While I do not write reviews for these reasons, these are really nice souvenirs to hold on to. Ben from Heavenly signed my metalreviews.com t-shirt with a thank you under it (as he had read my album of the year review of the album at the time). Everytime I wear it I remember talking with him (he had performed in Lyon, less than 48 hours after having vocal chords surgery, something the doc had told him not to do for weeks, but he didn't want to cancel the show and disappoint the fans, RESPECT ! That day we saw Rhapsody, Heavenly and Edguy ! That night rocked HARD and I have a nice memento to remember it).

Just my 2 cents,
Chris

If you want the position, I just ask that you follow the procedure, send the email to contact at metalreviews dot com and introduce yourself a little, so I can discuss it with the rest of the team.

Ideally I would like someone willing to post news on a daily basis. If you want to do so, I'm all for it. I will need to train you (though it's quite simple).

Also, I don't mind if the news editor wants to write a review here and there too , without having to respect schedule review wise. Same if you want to make an interview. I do look for someone to be in charge of that section though. If you think you want the position, then by all means, apply for it.

Oh what the hell, I'll apply by the end of the week. It's not like I'm doing anything of my Sunday mornings anyway, ha. I'll write my reviews tomorrow.