Writing a Record Review

Wyvern998

I don't know if this belongs in H/A or here, but it has to do with writing, so I figured this would be the place.

Anyway, I've been tasked with writing a record review for my university's weekly paper. The problem is that, even though I've been able to, in the past, express my thoughts regarding certain records verbally to my friends and such, I'm having trouble getting them on paper and making them not suck. Probably because I've never written a review before.

The album in question is Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew - Spirit If..., further complicating matters because this is a pretty complex album. Obviously, since this is a newspaper review, I'm not going to be using lots of musical vocabulary, etc. But what do I say beyond, "I really like the album?"

tl;dr

Never written and album review before. Don't know what to put down. Any help appreciated.

Grid System

I've never written a record review and I've read only very few. That said, I'd suggest that you first introduce the band briefly, tell the readers how many albums they've released previously, and describe in a sentence or two how the band's sound has evolved, if it all. Maybe compare them to another group within the same genre. After that, pick out a couple of strengths and - if applicable - weaknesses overall, using specific tracks as examples. Close it with a recommendation (pick up or avoid).

Assuming you're just writing a short review like the ones I'm used to seeing in newspapers, that will be more than adequate.

Zsetrek

Most record reviews I've read tend to lead into the meat of the article with an anecdote, aside, or metonymic device. Start small, and then expand outwards - what analogy can you use to describe the feel of the album? How does it fit into the genre/scene/etc.

Avoid cliches like "long awaited", or "grower" - try and be imaginative.

Don't do a list of all the tracks - try and find the album's central themes, and describe how threads of tracks relate to them. For example: "Unlike Radiohead's previous albums, Kid A is relatively stark, and tracks like the instrumental "Treefingers" and "In Limbo" - in which Thom Yorke wails "I'm lost at sea" - feel oppressively bleak compared to the impassioned disillusionment of "OK Computer"."

Then close off by making conclusions - was the band successful in their goals? Is the album coherent? Impressive? Banal? etc

shutz

I remember reading somewhere that a trick a lot of reviewers use when they're not sure how to review something is to provide a lot of factual data about what they're reviewing, so that the opinion part (the part they're having trouble with) can be shorter, and consequently, easier to write.

But since you seem to actually have an opinion about what you're reviewing, but are having trouble with structuring your thoughts, try this: write down words, phrases and statements that communicate your feelings and opinions about the CD. Don't worry about structure at this point, just try to write down everything that comes to mind, one idea at a time.

When it becomes harder to come up with anything you haven't already addressed, re-read your list, and start grouping the things that seem to be related, according to whatever criteria you want. That might help you find the underlying idea and will help you structure your thoughts. You could even keep a copy of the orignal file with all the random ideas and try a different way to structure the ideas.

Once you've done this enough times, you should have an idea of which structure is the most fertile for writing your review. Now go back to each idea, as grouped in that "best" structure you just figured out, and mark each item. You need to figure out which items absolutely must be mentioned, which ones are pretty interesting but not essential, and which ones are less important.

Now you're ready to start writing the review. At the start, provide enough factual information so that your review will be credible (starting with an amusing anecdote also helps to make the review more interesting to read, but only if you can tie it in with the ideas you're going to communicate in the main part of the review). Then, using the structure you came up with, gradually expose each major idea, using the other ideas to support or reinforce your points.

End with your most powerful point, and if that is not also the main idea you want to communicate about the album, make sure you reiterate that main idea. Then close with something that brings the reader back to your opening anecdote, if you used one; ideally, that closing statement will make it clear why you felt the need to mention that anecdote in the first place.

Or, and this especially applies if you're only supposed to write a really short review (like, less than 200 words or so) you could just wing it while listening to the CD.

I mean, what do I know? I'm not a reviewer, and I pulled everything I just wrote out of my ass as I was typing it, with no prior thought.