YMMV / George Starostin

• Critical Dissonance: A fair amount of it—sometimes due to Hype Backlash, sometimes not.
  • Of the artists he's reviewed on his blog from 2009-17, he has published separate appendices (A-B and C) that have brief summaries/opinions on each artist, as well as their album reviews. These summaries are affixed a smiley (for recommended bands), blank circles ("some promising stuff", "take 'em or leave 'em"), or anti-smileys (quoth Starostin: "artists who are only here because of public notoriety and (perhaps) limited historical significance, but they can also be great fodder to make fun of.") Some of the more critically-acclaimed artists he gave anti-smileys to include: Alanis Morissette, Ani DiFranco, Boris, Bon Iver, and Bright Eyes.
• Funny Moments: From the review of ''With the Beatles:''
  "...a major improvement over the first one (not that the first one was bad, not that the Beatles ever had a bad album, not that I deliberately wanna keep on apologizing, not that there aren't lots of people out there wanting to interpret this phrase as a condemnation of Please Please Me, not that all the "not thats" will ever help, goddammit).
  • From his review of ''Happy Trails:''
  "In fact, 'Who Do You Love' starts out rather impressively, with good drumwork and moody vocals. Later on, though, it starts branching out - first into a lengthy guitar solo ('When You Love'), next, into a bunch of noisemaking with audience participation as the 'main point' ('Where You Love'), then into another guitar solo ('How You Love'), then into a bass solo ('Which Do You Love'), and finally reverts back to the original. All the expressions in parentheses are actually 'song sub-titles' thought of by the band members. (Further suggestions: 'Why You Love', 'Inasmuch As What You Love', 'Wherefore Whenever Whichever You Love', and 'What The F*** Makes You Think You're So Clever And Funny?')"
• Growing the Beard: George has definitely improved in his reviewing with age. His newer reviews on his Only Solitaire blog, while still long, are as long as they need to be without excess padding - sometimes he only has two paragraphs to write about an album. He doesn't write about every song on an album or focus too much on hooks, and is more in tune with how albums work as a cohesive whole. He's managed to overcome much of his bias towards new music, instead approaching it with an open mind. And George has ditched the old rating system.
• He Also Did: He's undoubtedly far more recognized outside of Russia for his music criticism than for his profession as a linguist.
• Strawman Has a Point: Has stated at least twice that there is a grain of truth in every viewpoint, even the ones that attack his favorite bands.
• Vindicated by History: Warmed up greatly to The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here (1975) in his 100 Important Albums review series and admitted that he had originally given them a lower score out of Hype Backlash.

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