Music Critique Quotes

'Purple Rain,' the album, is a great guitar record.

It's a classic album. If it ain't better than 'The Truth,' it's right there with it. I wouldn't say it if I ain't think so, 'cause 'The Truth' was my baby. That's the pure album.

I get a lot of demos sent my way, and I listen to them, and sometimes they just have something very special.

When I think about putting together an album, the process of listening to hundreds of songs each time and picking out the best 10 or so that will go on the record, it really sinks in as to just how many songs I've listened to all these years.

A lot of people liked 'Amala,' and that's great. However, I don't think it was a finished album.

I love finding songs, going through them, tearing them apart, and seeing if I can find anything wrong with them.

I think that band [Glenn Miller] was the beginning of the end. It was a mechanized version of what they called jazz music. I still can't stand to listen to it.

I remember that the bass was turned up slightly more on the mix from last week, and I thought that was good - or whatever. Like, there were some little things in there that he said that he came to, like, really enjoy my opinion or at least, like, my little comments on the songs. So I was kind of destined to probably be a studio rat.

Rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, in order to provide articles for people who can't read.

The Rhapsody is not a composition at all. It's a string of separate paragraphs stuck together - with a thin paste of flour and water... I don't think there has been such an inspired melodist on this earth since Tchaikovsky... but if you want to speak of a composer, that's another matter.

The first time I heard Johnny play at the Fillmore East, I wasn't really impressed. He had come on the scene with everybody telling me how great he was, and I didn't hear it.

For me, honest critique is not all about your feelings and your ear. Honest critique is sitting down with an album that you may not put on in your spare time, and really digging into that album, so you can talk about the beat selection.

I don't really think reviewing music is something you're going to get famous doing overnight.

I only listen to my music. I'm just analyzing it. Critical. Seeing what I like what I don't like. Say what I should have said. What I could say next time, what I should have said, things like that.

I think 'Invisible' is a great song, but I don't know how accessible it is.

I think a lot of that album ["Tonight" ] is still very good . . . the songs, but I think I was indifferent to the arrangements.

Song: Heloise and Abelard by Elizabeth Devlin. Beyond the a propros subject matter, this lady can really play the Autoharp. This song sounds like something you'd find on a gramophone record.

I survived a number of garage bands during my teens and early twenties, both as drummer and guitarist. It's nigh impossible for me to listen to music without parsing it.

I think the world likes to pick apart different songs and play doctor with songs sometimes and make them into this big controversial thing.

In 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac,' Mr. Yorke's lyrics were often unfathomable, moaned and mumbled and forced beneath the surface of the music. In 'Hail to the Thief,' most but not all of the words can be decoded after a few listens.

I really didn't like 'Done With Mirrors.' I really didn't like 'Just Push Play.' Then there are other records I really think were good for their time, like 'Toys and Rocks.'

I think Bridge Over Troubled Water was a very good song. Artie sang it beautifully. The Boxer was a really nice record. But I don't think I've written any great songs.

'Vinyl' is a good look at the music industry. The script was honest.

I was in the back of the book [in the The Reporter] doing music.

'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,' if you go through the lyrics, is such a haunting melody, and the words are, for a pop song, pretty deep and dark.