RATED BY MONROE™

Hi! I am Sam Monroe. Welcome here, whoever you are. This blog is my own little universe where my passion for music gets a place to flourish and thrive. Here you will find:

★ Album reviews (new and old albums)

★ Discography rankings

★ Playlists with the best new music

★ Lists, opinions, fun and games

★ ...And more!

I listen to pretty much all genres, but with a slight emphasis on metal, punk, rock, jazz and experimental music. 

Here's some of my personal favorite artists. If you like one or more of them (or artists sounding like them) you will probably like it here: Prince, Slayer, Sonic Youth, Kate Bush, Can, Magma, Diamanda Galás, John Coltrane, Mastodon, Emperor, The Sonics, Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath, Herbie Hancock, Deathspell Omega, My Bloody Valentine, Laura Nyro, Alexandra Savior, Ghost, Big Black, King Diamond, Black Dresses, Fu Manchu, Carcass, Morbid Angel, Coven, Burial, Björk, Keith Jarrett, Lingua Ignota, DJ/Rupture, The Lounge Lizards, Wu-Tang Clan, Tom Waits, Poppy. There's many more artists I really love, but now you got a hint of what to expect.

★

I rate albums using a scale from 1-10, with one decimal. In other words there's 101 different possible ratings, with 0.0 being the lowest and 10.0 the highest (AKA the Pitchfork scale).

Here's a guide to read the numbers:

9.6 - 10.0 "Wayne Gretzky" (The chosen few, iconic, true masterpiece, legendary, unique)

8.7 - 9.5 "Sex Panther by Odeon" (Fantastic, amazing, maybe even incredible)

8.0 - 8.6 "Jim & Pam" (Very good or very, very good or even fantastic)

7.3 - 7.9 "I love you. Like a friend" (Good, will come back for and at points very good)

6.5 - 7.2 "The average one night stand" (Mediocre, decent, somewhat good, might come back for it)

5.7 - 6.4 "We have to talk" (Forgettable, not particularly good, might have some bright spots but not really)

4.5 - 5.6 "Slightly better than silence" (Bad or slightly better than silence)

3.5 - 4.4 "Percy Wetmore/Joffrey Baratheon" (Really bad, will never listen to again)

2.5 - 3.4 "Tinnitus has its benefits" (Excrutiating)

0.0 - 2.4 "Lulu" (Should not have been recorded and should never be listened to by anyone) 

★

All the best and may a smile be your umbrella

//Sam