I believe that reviews should not be added until the album is actually released. Too many times do reviews appear before the actual release of the CD/single/what ever.

Examples:

Dimmu Borgir
Megadeth

Both these bands had well more than 1 review for their newest albums before they were even released.

I think it needs to stop!

Some of us get promos from the record companies. I think you can easily identify who, though.

Well then make a new rule that states not to make a review of a CD UNLESS you have a promo copy from the label. Then if they are getting a promo copy from a label they probably write reviews for zines, magazines, whatever... so the review wouldn't be originally written for M-A.

If people have genuinely heard the whole thing, what's your problem?

A lot of reviews aren't written specifically for MA.

The problem, I assume, is that rough/not finalized versions end up being reviewed. Depending on the band, and how far ahead of time some greasy net snake lets the release in question leak, the likelihood of this happening seems to be about 1/2 or under, though the errors are often fairly minor (reshuffled tracklist, etc.).

I agree in principle with the complaint, but a halfway solution--such as the "unless you have an official promo copy" clause--is going to be difficult to verify/enforce. It could be added to the rules...but look around you, at this subforum. The rules only have a chance of being effective if they are actually read, which is seldom the case. A few more durstings might ultimately result, I suppose.

As I've said before, I'm not fond of the policy that lets users add releases ahead of time in the first place, but those are the breaks. While that policy is in effect, a few premature reviews are going to be hard to avoid, unless we make a more clearcut rule such as "no reviews of _____ album until its commercial release", which might eventually take some kind of root in the future.