THE RETROSPECTREVIEW GEM RATING SYSTEM
It’s easy to forget in today’s climate of hot takes and fast turnaround, but art takes time to reach its fullest potential. In fact, the passage of time is necessary to fully appreciate any given work of music, when its free of the context surrounding it.
In RetroSpectreview, we cover music that’s been around for at least five years and weigh how they’ve achieved a particular level of greatness. Each album covered on RetroSpectreview we consider to be “great” music, but similarly to everything else, music becomes “great” for several different reasons, which is why the RetroSpectreview system is loosely based on the parameters of the standard Color Rating System.
Instead of receiving a color, albums reviewed in retrospect will receive a gem that represents an argument as to how the music has held up over time. Here’s the breakdown.
Like the color RED, RUBY indicates an album that succeeds primarily on its aesthetic properties. Albums that earn a RUBY are:
-Universally lauded for their novel/creative aesthetic choices
-Still hold up aesthetically today
Like the color GREEN, EMERALD indicates an album that succeeds primarily on its propensity for creativity or originality. Albums that earn an EMERALD:
-Helped start a unique genre
-Represented a change in cultural context
-Signified a turning point/zenith for the artist
Like the color BLUE, SAPPHIRE indicates an album that succeeds primarily on its intellectual qualities, or its capacity for critical thought. Albums that earn a SAPPHIRE are:
-Known or likely to expand an understanding about yourself or the world
-Lyrically unimpeachable
Additionally, there are times when a great work of music achieves more than one of these qualities. In this case, just like with the Color Rating System, the colors of the gems combine to form a single gem.
Albums that bear RUBY and EMERALD statuses earn a CITRINE.
Albums that bear EMERALD and SAPPHIRE statuses earn an AQUAMARINE.
Albums that bear RUBY and SAPPHIRE statuses earn an AMETHYST.
Finally, albums that remarkably carry all three criteria earn a DIAMOND.
Each of these ratings signify an arguable “greatness” achieved over time. This may be another convoluted system, we know, but we feel it’s important to convey how even “classic” albums may not appeal to everybody. There’s many different kinds of avenues to “greatness” that need to be represented in some form or enough, and hopefully this system will help illuminate those differences.