I can imagine my more cynical readers asking themselves, “Why is it that everything reviewed on this site is an ‘Essential Recording?’
Well, it only seems that way because I am starting out by reviewing my very favorite recordings. It seems much more useful to tell you what is great than what is mediocre or bad.
Actually, I do have another rating that I will be using fairly often, “Highly Recommended Recording.” I will probably use a third, which will be “Recommended Recording.”
Now, sometimes I WILL mention recordings that I think fall short, sometimes in the body of reviews, but more often in my musician profiles. Now, why would I do that? I’ll give you an example.
If you only heard Jan Hammer from his work with John McLaughlin, Elvin Jones, and Jeff Beck, plus his first two solo releases, you might think Jan was such a genius that everything he touched must be a masterpiece. You might run out and buy Black Sheep and Oh, Yeah? And you would be chagrined that you had blown your hard-earned entertainment dollars on limp-wristed pop/soul/rock crap. I want to save you that kind of pain.
Another thing you might like to know is that I tend to like music that elicits an intense emotional response in me. There is plenty of music that is quite good that doesn’t meet this criteria. When I recommend something to you, I want you to be thrilled, either by the perfection of the music, or by a sense of discovery, or both.
