Second-Guess the Critic SCOREBOARD

[murlough23]

Scores for Round 10:

bdg: (10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 5 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 5 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/6 = 7.5
beautifulmess: (10 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 5 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 5 for murlough + 5 for worldofcm)/7 = 7.1
bloop: (5 for bdg + 5 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 10 for Josh + 10 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/6 = 8.3
Brenden: (10 for bdg + 5 for bloop + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 5 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/6 = 7.5
cbluejays: (5 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 5 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 10 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/7 = 7.9
Danny: (5 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 10 for Josh + 5 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/6 = 8.3
dgp: (10 for bdg + 5 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 5 for Danny + 10 for Josh + 5 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/7 = 7.9
eatahouse: (10 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 5 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 5 for murlough + 5 for worldofcm)/7 = 7.1
Josh: (5 for bdg + 5 for bloop + 5 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/6 = 6.7
murlough: (2 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 5 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 10 for Josh + 5 for worldofcm)/6 = 7
NinjaRob: (10 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 5 for murlough + 5 for worldofcm)/7 = 7.9
schil: (10 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 5 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 5 for murlough + 5 for worldofcm)/7 = 7.1
Waltrane: (10 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 5 for Brenden + 5 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 5 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/7 = 7.1
Wanderer: (5 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 2 for Josh + 10 for murlough + 5 for worldofcm)/7 = 7.4
Wildcat: (10 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 5 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 5 for murlough + 5 for worldofcm)/7 = 7.1
worldofcm: (10 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 10 for murlough)/6 = 9.2

Current Standings:
(#. Player - R1 - R2 - R3 - R4 - R5 - R6 - R7 - R8 - R9 - R10 - Total)
1. worldofcm - 7 - 8 - 6.7 - 7.5 - 6.7 - 7 - 8.3 - 6.7 - 7 - 9.2 - 74.1
2. dgp - 4.8 - 7.8 - 8.6 - 7.1 - 7.9 - 7.1 - 7.4 - 8.6 - 6 - 7.9 - 73.2
3. Josh - 7.5 - 4.8 - 8.3 - 8.3 - 8.3 - 8.3 - 7.8 - 7.5 - 5.3 - 6.7 - 72.8
4. murlough - 7.5 - 6.4 - 7.5 - 8.3 - 7.5 - 5.8 - 7.5 - 6.2 - 7.5 - 7 - 71.2
5. Danny - 5.5 - 7 - 6.2 - 7.5 - 7.8 - 9.2 - 6.7 - 7.4 - 4.8 - 8.3 - 70.4
6. beautifulmess - 6.4 - 7 - 7.9 - 7.9 - 6.4 - 7.1 - 6.7 - 7.4 - 6 - 7.1 - 69.9
7. cbluejays - 6.4 - 7.5 - 8.6 - 7.9 - 5.3 - 8.1 - 5.3 - 4.9 - 7 - 7.9 - 68.9
8. bloop - 5 - 7.4 - 8.3 - 7.5 - 7 - 6.7 - 6.2 - 7 - 5.3 - 8.3 - 68.7
9. bdg - 7.5 - 5.4 - 6.2 - 6.7 - 6.2 - 6.2 - 7 - 6.7 - 7.5 - 7.5 - 66.9
10. eatahouse - 3.8 - 6.7 - 5.6 - 7.4 - 6.7 - 6.7 - 6 - 7.4 - 6.3 - 7.1 - 63.4
11. schil - 0 - 6.2 - 6.4 - 5.7 - 7.4 - 6.7 - 7.8 - 7.4 - 6.3 - 7.1 - 61
12. Brenden - 6.4 - 4.8 - 4.5 - 5.8 - 7 - 7.5 - 5.8 - 5.8 - 4.8 - 7.5 - 58.9
13. Wildcat - 6.4 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 6.4 - 6.7 - 6 - 7.9 - 5.3 - 7.1 - 45.8
14. Waltrane - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 6.3 - 5 - 6.4 - 7.1 - 24.8
15. Wanderer - 5.8 - 7.5 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 7.4 - 20.7
16. NinjaRob - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 5.7 - 4.9 - 7.9 - 18.5
17. Silvah - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 6 - 0 - 6

[murlough23]

Scores for Round 11:

bdg: (10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 5 for Danny + 10 for Josh + 10 for murlough  + 10 for worldofcm)/6 = 9.2
beautifulmess: (10 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 10 for Josh + 5 for murlough + 2 for worldofcm)/7 = 8.1
bloop: (5 for bdg + 5 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 10 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/6 = 7.5
Brenden: (5 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 10 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/6 = 8.3
cbluejays: (5 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 5 for Brenden + 5 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 10 for murlough + 5 for worldofcm)/7 = 6.4
Danny: (5 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 5 for Josh + 10 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/6 = 8.3
dgp: (10 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 10 for murlough + 5 for worldofcm)/7 = 8.6
eatahouse: (5 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 10 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/7 =  8.6
Josh: (10 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 10 for murlough + 5 for worldofcm)/6 = 9.2
murlough: (5 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 10 for Josh + 5 for worldofcm)/6 = 8.3
schil: (5 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 10 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/7 = 8.6
Silvah: (5 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 10 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/7 = 8.6
Waltrane: (10 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 5 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for murlough + 5 for Josh + 2 for worldofcm)/7 = 6.7
Wildcat: (5 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 10 for murlough + 10 for worldofcm)/7 = 8.6
worldofcm: (10 for bdg + 10 for bloop + 10 for Brenden + 10 for Danny + 5 for Josh + 10 for murlough)/6 = 9.2

Current Standings:
(#. Player - R1 - R2 - R3 - R4 - R5 - R6 - R7 - R8 - R9 - R10 - R11 - Total)
1. worldofcm - 7 - 8 - 6.7 - 7.5 - 6.7 - 7 - 8.3 - 6.7 - 7 - 9.2 - 9.2 - 83.3
2. Josh - 7.5 - 4.8 - 8.3 - 8.3 - 8.3 - 8.3 - 7.8 - 7.5 - 5.3 - 6.7 - 9.2 - 82
3. dgp - 4.8 - 7.8 - 8.6 - 7.1 - 7.9 - 7.1 - 7.4 - 8.6 - 6 - 7.9 - 8.6 - 81.8
4. murlough - 7.5 - 6.4 - 7.5 - 8.3 - 7.5 - 5.8 - 7.5 - 6.2 - 7.5 - 7 - 8.3 - 79.5
5. Danny - 5.5 - 7 - 6.2 - 7.5 - 7.8 - 9.2 - 6.7 - 7.4 - 4.8 - 8.3 - 8.3 - 78.7
6. beautifulmess - 6.4 - 7 - 7.9 - 7.9 - 6.4 - 7.1 - 6.7 - 7.4 - 6 - 7.1 - 8.1 - 78
7. bloop - 5 - 7.4 - 8.3 - 7.5 - 7 - 6.7 - 6.2 - 7 - 5.3 - 8.3 - 7.5 - 76.2
8. bdg - 7.5 - 5.4 - 6.2 - 6.7 - 6.2 - 6.2 - 7 - 6.7 - 7.5 - 7.5 - 9.2 - 76.1
9. cbluejays - 6.4 - 7.5 - 8.6 - 7.9 - 5.3 - 8.1 - 5.3 - 4.9 - 7 - 7.9 - 6.4 - 75.3
10. eatahouse - 3.8 - 6.7 - 5.6 - 7.4 - 6.7 - 6.7 - 6 - 7.4 - 6.3 - 7.1 - 8.6 - 72
11. schil - 0 - 6.2 - 6.4 - 5.7 - 7.4 - 6.7 - 7.8 - 7.4 - 6.3 - 7.1 - 8.6 - 69.6
12. Brenden - 6.4 - 4.8 - 4.5 - 5.8 - 7 - 7.5 - 5.8 - 5.8 - 4.8 - 7.5 - 8.3 - 65.2
13. Wildcat - 6.4 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 6.4 - 6.7 - 6 - 7.9 - 5.3 - 7.1 - 8.6 - 54.4
14. Waltrane - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 6.3 - 5 - 6.4 - 7.1 - 6.7 - 31.5
15. Wanderer - 5.8 - 7.5 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 7.4 - 20.7
16. NinjaRob - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 5.7 - 4.9 - 7.9 - 0 - 18.5
17. Silvah - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 6 - 0 - 8.6 - 14.6

[murlough23]

[worldofcm]

That definitely was a fun game.  I thought for sure that I was losing #1 after that last round - but it appears that pretty much everyone stunk that round up.

Good fun!  I can't believe I did that well with guessing pretty much every time.  It might be pretty interesting to see how things turned out if we actually counted 1/2 stars.  I have a feeling the results would have been totally different.

[murlough23]

That definitely was a fun game.  I thought for sure that I was losing #1 after that last round - but it appears that pretty much everyone stunk that round up.

Indeed. I reversed all of the 3's and 4's almost perfectly, and I never saw the 2's coming.

Good fun!  I can't believe I did that well with guessing pretty much every time.  It might be pretty interesting to see how things turned out if we actually counted 1/2 stars.  I have a feeling the results would have been totally different.

That was fun! I might try it with half stars next time, just to make the 4-star minions think a little harder (heh, heh), but then again, that might prove to be too complicated, so I don't know. I'm willing to accept feedback on the issue.

And congratulations on winning. You might think a lot of it was guesswork, but in truth I think you and Josh are both very observant of the people here and how we respond to different things.

[Josh]

I guess now is the time to confess that I based all of my guesses for bloop on the reviews posted at Pitchfork... tee hee!

Also, you know what would be fun for Mach II? We should do something similar to the "I'll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours" write-off at Epinions; each of the critics would be paired off, and you and your partner choose each other's album for the next round, and perhaps even send them a copy if they can't download it or aren't planning on purchasing it.

Not that we should do that for every round, but it might be fun to try a time or two.

[dgp11776]

I guess now is the time to confess that I based all of my guesses for bloop on the reviews posted at Pitchfork... tee hee!

Me too!!!

[bloop]

I'm assuming you could only do that for albums that Pitchfork actually reviewed.  How did you guess for SOAD (I know Matisyahu was impossible, so I just scored it exactly as you all guessed to be nice)?  I would guess that probably close to half of those I chose to score were never reviewed there *edit* actual statistic, 7 were reviewed, 5 were not.  Either way, I was normally a little to a lot kinder than Pitchfork (on albums that we both reviewed), so I'm surprised it worked as well for you as it did, but maybe you added 1 to 2 points to their reviews to do it.

I have to confess that I didn't base my guesses on anything.  I didn't even bother listening before guessing most of the time, which is probably why I'm in the middle.  I did try to check out lyrics for my Josh guesses, though, and actually did ok most of the time I did that without bothering with the music.  

I think your idea for the game would be pretty grand, Josh.  We should try that.

[murlough23]

I guess now is the time to confess that I based all of my guesses for bloop on the reviews posted at Pitchfork... tee hee!

I went with what AMG said, allowing for a bit of positive deviation if the artist was more out-there and negative deviation if they where more mainstream. You know, assessing what bloop would think about how groundbreaking it was and all that. With some other folks, I just went with how catchy and accessible (without being utterly stoopid) the clips seemed to be.

Also, you know what would be fun for Mach II? We should do something similar to the "I'll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours" write-off at Epinions; each of the critics would be paired off, and you and your partner choose each other's album for the next round, and perhaps even send them a copy if they can't download it or aren't planning on purchasing it.

I actually considered doing that for the last round of Mach I. But I didn't accounce it in time - people were already sending me their picks that round. Plus, I figured it would take time for everyone to get their stuff sorted out in terms of exchanging albums, and I didn't want to hold up the game any more.

Perhaps we can have that and a few other rounds with interesting twists in Mach II.

[Josh]

It would be really funny if we did a round in which every critic is rating the very same album! (Especially if they all gave it the same rating, giving the "4 for all" crowd a clean sweep!)

We could also do decade-themed rounds (ie, everyone must pick something from the 1980s) or, if we're playing this game in December, a Christmas music round!

[murlough23]

We could also do decade-themed rounds (ie, everyone must pick something from the 1980s) or, if we're playing this game in December, a Christmas music round!

In both of those cases, I would probably have to put a gun in my mouth.

Nevertheless, the "theme round" idea is a good one.

Maybe there can be some sort of a way of deciding who gets to pick a theme. Maybe give it to the highest scoring player in the previous round.

[Brenden]

With some other folks, I just went with how catchy and accessible (without being utterly stoopid) the clips seemed to be.

Just curious, was I one of those folks?

[murlough23]

Just curious, was I one of those folks?

Occasionally. It depended on the album. I definitely went for that with Collective Soul (an album which I think is pretty mediocre even though the strength of most of their past stuff is little other than that it's fun and catchy), and it worked.

[Brenden]

Occasionally. It depended on the album. I definitely went for that with Collective Soul (an album which I think is pretty mediocre even though the strength of most of their past stuff is little other than that it's fun and catchy), and it worked.

It's probably a good rule of thumb, I tend to have a positive reaction to an album as long as I enjoy it and the lyrics aren't horrible.

Collective Soul is a band I haven't heard much past material by, except for Disicplined Breakdown, which I couldn't get into aside from a few songs. My rating on Youth may very well change in time, it's still a relativly new album to me.

[dgp11776]

For the most part, my guesses were wild stabs in the dark.  I never listened to clips, but sometimes I owned the album which helped (duh).  I found myself looking at amazon.com reviews, Pitchfork, or metacritic.  But, mostly, I just guessed.

[murlough23]

Collective Soul is a band I haven't heard much past material by, except for Disicplined Breakdown, which I couldn't get into aside from a few songs. My rating on Youth may very well change in time, it's still a relativly new album to me.

Disciplined Breakdown sucked. Dosage and Blender are fairly solid records if you don't think too hard about 'em (always a good rule with Collective Soul... it's about the riffage). Their much-lauded self-titled is good, too, but loses some major steam in the back half.

[danny316]

I don't want to give away too much of my strategy, but here's a little bit of it:

I went by MetaCritic and AMG to get a good ballpark estimate nearly every time. For Brenden, I rated things the way I would rate them, and I was right every time. We have fairly similar tastes. I used the same tactic for Murlough, but it wasn't as accurate (mostly because he's more generous with the 5 stars than I am).

There was some careful guesswork and actual listening involved too, but I don't want to give my whole strategy away.

[danny316]

It would be really funny if we did a round in which every critic is rating the very same album! (Especially if they all gave it the same rating, giving the "4 for all" crowd a clean sweep!)

We could also do decade-themed rounds (ie, everyone must pick something from the 1980s) or, if we're playing this game in December, a Christmas music round!

Both good ideas (I also liked the I'll show you mine... one too). I don't think Murlough dislikes either of those themes' catagories as much as he thinks he does though (What about all those U2 albums? Andrew Peterson's from last year?)

The only problem I can think of with doing a decade round for an older decade is that we'd have some of us working off of cassettes (or other older media without clear track marks). (Laugh all you want, but I paid less than a dollar combined for Rattle and Hum, War, Under A Blood Red Sky, and The Joshua Tree) Sometimes bizarre transitions work better on cassette (For example, I've always liked how some tracks on The Joshua Tree blend together, and I couldn't tell you where one really ends and the next begins. I had the same issue with Sixpence's s/t for a while, but I've since bought a CD of that one.)

If we all do the same album, it'd be really nice if we could pub the album first. That way everyone could have a fair shot of hearing it. Although, I've noticed that every time we've had repeat albums so far, both critics have given the exact same rating. This could be a little too easy.

[murlough23]

I went by MetaCritic and AMG to get a good ballpark estimate nearly every time. For Brenden, I rated things the way I would rate them, and I was right every time. We have fairly similar tastes. I used the same tactic for Murlough, but it wasn't as accurate (mostly because he's more generous with the 5 stars than I am).

What did I give 5 stars to, other than Sufjan Stevens (who was a dead giveaway based on my opinion of Michigan)? Mae came close, but I gave them 4. I can't think of anyone else in this game who got 5 stars from me.

Actually, if I recall correctly, you threw me off a few times by giving something 5 stars that I didn't expect you to.

If we all do the same album, it'd be really nice if we could pub the album first. That way everyone could have a fair shot of hearing it. Although, I've noticed that every time we've had repeat albums so far, both critics have given the exact same rating. This could be a little too easy.

The 4-star minions would all score an even 10 in that round, I think. Or 5. Unless we picked something that we all hated, and rated a 1, just to mess them up and make them score 0. Tee hee!

NP: "Little Superhero Girl", Corrinne May

[danny316]

What did I give 5 stars to, other than Sufjan Stevens (who was a dead giveaway based on my opinion of Michigan)? Mae came close, but I gave them 4. I can't think of anyone else in this game who got 5 stars from me.

Actually, if I recall correctly, you threw me off a few times by giving something 5 stars that I didn't expect you to.

I'm having trouble recalling which albums you did that surprised me in the game. Hmmm.

I know the only album I gave 5 stars during the game was Arcade Fire's. Have you heard that one the whole way through? I'd be surprised if it wasn't a 5 in your book, even though you did guess 4 for me on that during the game.

Edit: Maybe we're thinking of Josh on the 5 star thing - he gave out a few of those that I remember caught a few of us by surprise.

[murlough23]

I know the only album I gave 5 stars during the game was Arcade Fire's. Have you heard that one the whole way through? I'd be surprised if it wasn't a 5 in your book, even though you did guess 4 for me on that during the game.

It's on my "To-download" list.

NP: "Born", Over the Rhine

[murlough23]

I've started a new thread to discuss playing this game again.

http://www.thephorum.net/index.php?act=ST&f=7&t=2469