AotW discussion

Schism

As brought up in this weeks thread, I would usually try to comment on the AotW thread if I can but I'm just not really that into Maiden (not that I dislike them or anything) so this week I left it be. But considering that it had the most votes I'd of thought people would be interested in discussing it!

Take the previous week for example. I personally voted for Draconian Times so I was glad to see it win but when the discussion thread went up I was the only one who posted.

It seems to me that AotW is going to be just more pointless listing if it continues like this. I do realise that people can't and shouldn't be made to post and I'm certainly not one to talk about activity on here, but at the same time there's no point in having the system if it doesn't raise any discussion.

This is where I'm supposed to give my solution but I'm stumped to be honest, anyone got any ideas?

Cill94

I still see some discussion going on. I also find the AOTW threads helpful for checking out albums or bands I'd never listened to before - God Is An Astronaut is an example.

Malice

Well the first thing I'd say about the album of the week discussions is that I had hoped that some people would be a bit more mature in their responses since it was precisely the same pattern of shite that got the whole thing cancelled the last time. It's pretty tiresome to read the same responses from the same posters thread after thread.

Cill94 wrote: »

I still see some discussion going on. I also find the AOTW threads helpful for checking out albums or bands I'd never listened to before - God Is An Astronaut is an example.

This thread got one reply, this one got two relevant replies and this one got three. Yes there is discussion but it's almost outweighed by the predictable off-topic responses. I'm glad you find them useful for checking out music though. I think we can all agree that it's a damn good list.

xerces

I add my two cents when an album I vote for wins AotW. With AotW's current format, I use the process to dig out albums I haven't listened to in a while and remind myself of how great they are, as with Deadwing this week. I also expect to pick up some new stuff from the nominations of others.

I agree that it would be good to see more discussion on the winning album, but I don't think pressure should be put on users either. I decided not to post in the past couple of AotW threads because they have featured albums which I didn't vote for and have only listened to once or twice, so I would have struggled to add anything insightful or worth reading. But with the level of traffic and the fact that there aren't a whole lot of people voting/taking part as it is, maybe I should have given it a bash anyway.

At the very least, I'm happy in the knowledge that someone might click into the thread and check out the album as a result of it winning. I wouldn't be against putting forward some generic questions with the winning album to help spur some thought and subsequent discussion, but I'd also like to feel free to contribute whatever general comments I may have, be they noteworthy or not.

Somnus

Firstly I'll say that I think AotW should continue, purely if only to find standout albums you may not have heard.

But I definitely think it's a great opportunity for discussion that's being overlooked. So I've a couple of ideas

1) A list of generic questions, anyone posting can at the very least fill them out and contribute something. Eg.
What is your favourite song,why?
Where would you rate this specific album among the bands others?
Any similar bands/songs that fans of this album might like?

2) I would be fully for making it a friendly place to ask n00b questions about the band. Like it might be a genre outside a users normal listening that they know nothing about. No harm in asking a bit about the band, style etc (This kind of links in with the last question I posted above)
I know that this kind of attitude should apply to all threads in the forum, but it's not always the case. But with hardcore fans of the winning albums it may not always seem like the best place for a new listener to jump in!

Just some ideas anyway

Cill94

Malice wrote: »

I had hoped that some people would be a bit more mature in their responses since it was precisely the same pattern of shite that got the whole thing cancelled the last time.

I don't see any immature responses there? Or were they deleted?

Malice wrote: »

This thread got one reply, this one got two relevant replies and this one got three. Yes there is discussion but it's almost outweighed by the predictable off-topic responses. I'm glad you find them useful for checking out music though. I think we can all agree that it's a damn good list.

I haven't been keeping track of this AOTW thing for that long, so my mistake! In truth I was referring to the last one I looked at: the thread on 'SSOASS', and that had a decent amount of responses.

Malice

Cill94 wrote: »

I don't see any immature responses there? Or were they deleted?

Sorry, that's probably just a poor choice of adjective on my part. I had to rewrite that post a couple of times . The point is all the fucking around with Deicide got very annoying last time and lead to the same problem we've got again where the album that wins is ignored in favour of an album that didn't.

Cill94 wrote:

I haven't been keeping track of this AOTW thing for that long, so my mistake! In truth I was referring to the last one I looked at: the thread on 'SSOASS', and that had a decent amount of responses.

That part of my post wasn't intended as "look you're wrong", more just to illustrate the problem in general.

Dr.Poca wrote:

1) A list of generic questions, anyone posting can at the very least fill them out and contribute something.
2) I would be fully for making it a friendly place to ask n00b questions about the band.

Both good ideas although I'm not sure we have that many newbies around.

Schism

How would it go if when people are commenting the give a personal rating too? At the moment when people reply to AotW thread it's all glowing reviews, I'm sure not everyone likes every AotW. It might spark more debate if people could rank the album, say between 1-10. If a poster gives a low score they might be spurred to defend their thoughts.

Kess73

Schism wrote: »

How would it go if when people are commenting the give a personal rating too? At the moment when people reply to AotW thread it's all glowing reviews, I'm sure not everyone likes every AotW. It might spark more debate if people could rank the album, say between 1-10. If a poster gives a low score they might be spurred to defend their thoughts.

More chance of a row being sparked than genuine debate. There are plenty of albums on the AOTW list that I think are utter rubbish. If an album gets picked in the future and I come onto the thread for it and go "I think this album is rubbish and has nothing going for it. 1/10", then fans of the album will have their backs up straight away, and it becomes a debate over personal taste rather than a thread for the winning album and why people voted for it/liked it.

Schism

I suppose something like that would inevitably happen.

I was thinking more along the lines of a serious discussion where if someone didn't like it they'd be able to say why.

You're probably right though.

Malice

Yeah, like Kess wrote, that's not a bad idea but I generally don't bother commenting on an album if I don't like it since I'm unlikely to be swayed in my view by someone else telling me it's brilliant. If I'm not a fan of an album I'm not really going to be able to contribute much beyond "I don't like it and here's why". Given that the majority of people on the thread are going to be fans of the album that might not go down well.

Kess73

Malice wrote: »

Yeah, like Kess wrote, that's not a bad idea but I generally don't bother commenting on an album if I don't like it since I'm unlikely to be swayed in my view by someone else telling me it's brilliant. If I'm not a fan of an album I'm not really going to be able to contribute much beyond "I don't like it and here's why". Given that the majority of people on the thread are going to be fans of the album that might not go down well.

Plus it would be an arguement with no middle ground. People who love the album debating with people who hate the album/artist.


A love em or hate em debate on a band would probably be better served in a thread of it's own rather than in a thread for a winning album, and even then it would probably be inviting hassle for the mods.