Mr_Iko

Is only the last sentence rubbish? Mmmm?!? Dear Matteo, the suggestions I so affectionately gave you were nothing but empty words wasted in vain. I'm sorry about that. For now, sorry, but you still remain at a very low level.

frusciante wouldn't lower himself or (I suspect) rather wouldn't be able to play the lines of Navarrone-tammarrone?

mmmm, too many ellipses! Really too many! And the annoying thing is that you've belittled elegant sentences with those dots that didn’t deserve such treatment. Come on, use the correct punctuation (do you know what a semicolon is? It gives a pause without abruptly interrupting the sentence, you know?) Want an example? Easy: "The album opens with "Buttercup", a piece in which the piano and the voice of Shawn Smith (singer of Satchel) come together to create a dense melancholic atmosphere... in which Gossard's guitar (guitarist of Pearl Jam) interjects with sharp picks..." can (indeed should!) be rewritten as "The album opens with "Buttercup", a piece in which the piano and the voice of Shawn Smith (singer of Satchel) come together to create a dense melancholic atmosphere SEMICOLON in which Gossard's guitar (guitarist of Pearl Jam) interjects with sharp picks PERIOD! Read it out loud and it has the same rhythm that you exacerbated with ellipses, and the intelligibility is less disconnected! Go on, you've got the talent!

"that masterpiece known as <Californication>" = immense bullshit, Californication is not a masterpiece; NO album in history can be defined as "objectively" beautiful = another huge nonsense, think of Jarrett's "Cologne Concert" or The Beatles' "SGT Peppers" or Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust": timeless masterpieces immune to subjective judgments, monumental creations that do not succumb to any assessment; "from the almost total unanimity they are recognized as masterpieces ("Blood Sugar" is among these... "Californication" is not... but it's close ;) ) = doesn't this sentence immediately following the one where you judge Californication a masterpiece seem like a contradiction in terms? to me, honestly, it does! Anyway, aside from these youthful mistakes, I share some of your considerations regarding the sound, which I would not define as "powerful" but rather "structured," as Navarro has a familiarity with his instrument that exceeds Frusciante's and their two styles diverge significantly. I also appreciate that you pointed out how some tracks are much more mainstream than before (more catchy, is that how you say it?). I totally disagree with the rating: two stars for this album would have been more than enough. Bye!!!

But if, on the contrary, your writings reveal superficiality, haste, lack of depth, and a "coldness" of feeling, then it becomes much easier to become the target of insults and unwarranted nastiness. Besides this, I advise you not to generalize all the regular visitors of these pages into a single judgment. You will get used to understanding each of them, and you will realize that there are people here who can teach you a lot about music, more than you believe. And this comes from someone who still regrets certain statements that are so stupid and lacking in elegance that one feels openly ashamed of them. If you write that we are idiots, all you do is attract dislike. In a year, you will understand that your reviews, to date, really suck, without beating around the bush. Read some reviews by Hal (passionate), Kosmo (encyclopedic), Luciano (structured), or Rivo (intelligent) and you will understand what I mean. Take it as an example; it’s never too late to improve.

mmm... well, in a way I can’t completely disagree with you. I don’t know if it will help you, but it’s a price we all pay (the one of being insulted a bit out of playfulness, a bit out of dislike, and a bit out of sheer stupidity). I repeat what I stated above: once you submit a review, it becomes public domain and you’re subject to both criticism and praise. Of course, if someone writes well (I mean with elegance and simplicity first and foremost), with a solid understanding, fully expressing the feelings experienced while listening to an album (even without necessarily having to fulfill the noble profession of poet or novelist) and allowing readers to participate in those emotions described in their composition, one can safeguard themselves from the "stupid" comments like the ones you mentioned.

"People like you and the other idiots don't sit well with me": listen for a moment, kid, keep your head down when you talk to me, understood? Don't escalate the tone of the conversation and avoid unacceptable insults; this isn't a piece of advice but rather an attitude in line with respect and education. I've asked you to write fewer shitty reviews (yes, they are indeed shitty reviews, that is, sorry) and to increase the quality of what you write. I couldn't care less about the length; the fact that in three days you've sent ten reviews, none of which have any merit, is pathetic. No one is asking you to be Guidi Cavalcanti or Dante Alighieri, but a minimal extra effort seems necessary to produce a text that's at least intelligible. Stop writing three-minute compositions; write less, but put more effort into each individual review. No one is forcing you to write them, but if you expect someone to read those four phrases and then also appreciate them, well, dear brutal one, you are gravely mistaken. Once you're published, you're subject to free criticism, without it necessarily being an attack on your person. I don't know who you are, and frankly, I don't give a damn, but I do know that you've written ten terrible reviews. Maybe you're also a genius at composition. Well, then, show us what you're capable of. And stop being so sensitive; if you write like crap, you deserve to be treated like crap.

It is not to be the noble poet that I claim in such writings, but a little attention and a desire to write well do not disturb and even better glorify the writer's thought.

What a pain in the ass with those red dots that create ellipses! But didn’t they teach you in elementary school that there’s also other punctuation? And in middle school, didn't they teach you that pause and suspense also depend on the rhythm created by the words chosen and positioned in the sentence? And in high school, didn’t they teach you that pause can also be dictated by the sequence of sentences? Come on! The amount of ellipses in a text is inversely proportional to the literary quality of the text itself. But has anyone ever read anything about "dolce stilnovo"?

Gentleman is the ultimate expression.