Remember when the first three chords told you what artist you were listening too? That time when you could almost guess an artist's label just by how they sounded? Those days are long gone, you say. But are they?

Unless an artist rose to stardom in the last century, chances are you cannot determine whom the artist is unless you already know the song. Everybody sound pretty much the same thanks to DRC, quantization, Auto-Tune pitch corrections and other snazzy toys. At times it's even...

hibgal

I try not to read music reviews. For several reasons.

First, the review is generally about some obscure band I have never heard mentioned before. Second, if I recognize the band name, nine times out of ten they are playing some genre of music that does not appeal to me. Thirdly, in the rare event of it being about a band I do know and, even more unlikely, enjoy, then the review is sure to be tremendously negative. Why is that?

Do music critics have something against...

hibgal