Huh, I actually was #1 in one of those challenges. Had like 97.

Holy shit. Those old numbers blow this one out of the water. But we definitely had some quality reviews this time around!

I think that was Challenge #10. Actually, come to think of it, there was a not so successful 12th challenge as well which is the one that I was #1 with only 30 reviews. I can't remember the total number of reviews total for the 3 other challenges, but I think #10 was the peak in quantity collectively.

It was the Nov. 2009 one, I believe. I got #1 and Perplexed got #2. It was almost dead even. oneyoudon'tknow doesn't have me listed, though. Neither of us broke 100, and only recently did I start deleting the really bad ones.

People doing 90+ reviews in a week? Come on guys, that's ridiculous. Theres no way quality can be maintained when producing such high quantity in such a short period of time.

That's exactly what I thought.

I remember those challenges with ridiculous numbers. Hey, the reviews got accepted, so the quality can't have been that bad. Besides, I doubt hardly anyone reads reviews for super obscure virgin demos and the like.

Have winners for this challenge been picked?

You need to bear in mind that the standards for reviews changed a lot in the past years as well. But I agree, 90+ reviews in a week is mental!

A lot of the reviews that were written for those collections were shorter in length and for 2 song demos, singles and EPs. Speaking for myself, I went on an obscure demo binge on the last few challenges, and there was a healthy number of single reviews in several of the middle era ones.

About half of the reviews that Perplexed has in his collection for obscure ambient/black stuff were written during those challenges, and most of them were pretty well par 5 point reviews.

I guess it's a bit more reasonable if singles were allowed and a lot of the reviews were demos.

Whether or not singles or demos were allowed, that is still a huge number. I understand that the review criterion for that period were a little less stringent, but 97 reviews in a week is like one long, nonstop listening/reviewing binge. How many people needed meth to stay awake for it?

It did get a bit draining when I did the one where I got 93 completed. I can't speak for anyone else, but I had purchased a number of obscure releases months prior to the challenges and would listen to them on and off until they were internalized, so most of that week was spent writing rather than listening.

There's only been one challenge with the completely retarded rule that downplayed the importance of demos and singles. I personally see no difference between a decent demo review and a review on a full-length. But whatever, they were still allowed.


Actually, the criteria have been slightly toned down lately. Not on virgin albums, though, but on albums with plenty of earlier reviews. Essentially, for the purposes of the challenges, we've had pretty much the same review acceptance criteria for five or six years now.

And with that being said those reviewers writing dozens of reviews over the course of a single week get nothing but my utmost respect.

We're in the process of choosing the winners. \m/

THE WINNERS

1) Androdion
For his very good work ethic and his impressive number of reviews (all top notch and above average)

2) TheStormIRide
Same reason as ahead!

3) Zodijackyl
For his amazing review of On Broken Wings!

Honorable mentions to Dystopia4 and Jopherlerx!

Send me your addresses (include Hellblazer, Gunther and BastardHead in the message) along with the cd or tshirt you want (max $25 with the shipping). Don't forget to give us a link to a distro where we can buy the prizes.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR REVIEWS AND YOUR PARTICIPATION, SEE YOU NEXT TIME!


Tony and the staff.

Thanks a lot guys!

I really should write more often but my life has been going through ups and downs over the past months, so I sometimes feel like writing while at other times I really have no brains to put into it. I hope to get a bit more stability in the next few months as to be able to write more regularly.

PS: Must I send four PMs or is it possible to add more than one addressee to the PM?

PS (2): I actually found the option to insert multiple subjects, damned be these pills!

Congrats androdion! Your reviews were awesome! I look forward to the next challenge!

Thanks mate.