Reviews

Album reviews on Indie Is Not A Genre

Which are the hottest new records?

Every week, new albums and records from a variety of genres are released. Every Friday is now international release day. We at Indie Is Not A Genre are excited about new indie, pop and rock albums by well established bands as well as newcomers and buzz bands and review their albums for you. Every so often, a previously unknown artist ends up delivering the hottest record of the year. Recent albums by pop & rock acts such as The 1975, The Sherlocks and Alt-J have dominated the UK charts in recent years and rightfully sit among the greatest in their field. We’ve been around to witness these indie bands become success stories and will continue to do so in the future!

Our album review rating system

When we started reviewing records and gis some sort of rating criteria had to be established. Many websites and magazines use a scale from 1-10 which we opted against because it simply has too many options. So we settled for a 1-5 scale believing that this proves as a better guideline to our readers whether or not they should buy an album or a concert ticket for that matter.

Album review criteria

  • 1/5 This would be an abysmal album that should never have left the studio in the first place. Avoid, avoid, avoid! Luckily, we never had to pass such a poor verdict.
  • 2/5 This is a poor album that is really just for the die-hard fans. Whatever redeeming qualities are there still aren’t worth the buy. An album that has only two good songs on it or one that is overall below average would be a fine example for this verdict.
  • 3/5 This is our rating for an average or just above average record. A 3/5 is a solid album that has no particular standout qualities nor misfires.
  • 4/5  This is probably our most frequent verdict. This is an above average quality record that brings something new to the table, that has something to make it stand out from others and is thoroughly written, recorded, and produced. Despite all its merits, it has some weaknesses that cannot be overlooked and leave room for more.
  • 5/5 This is an outstanding album that you should listen too even if you’re not a fan of its particular genre. This one stands out from others, provides new ideas and is a potential game-changer. There is just nothing there we can complain about. Albums in this category will make our albums of the year (and possibly all time favourites) shortlist.
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