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About divad23
divad23 is a Top Reviewer on Epinions in Music
Epinions Most Popular Authors - Top 200
Member: David Martin
Epinions.com ID: divad23
Location: Pasadena, CA
Member Since: Aug 21, 2000

The Epinions database: Now with as much stability as the Somali government!  more
Activity Summary
Reviews Written: 746
Member Visits: 55,619
Total Visits: 586,851



divad23's Wish List
Date Added Product Rating Product Name
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divad23's Recent Opinions
Date Written Review Title Product / Topic Product Rating Review Rating
May 14, 2013 Total Apocalypse of the Heart The Terror by The Flaming Lips
in Music
  Product Rating: 4.0    Very Helpful
May 10, 2013 All Kinds of Emotional The Lone Bellow by The Lone Bellow
in Music
  Product Rating: 4.0    Very Helpful
May 1, 2013 Ho Hum The Lumineers
in Music
  Product Rating: 3.0    Very Helpful
Apr 29, 2013 My Heart Beats Like a Helicopter Hours (The Machine De Ella Project) by Falling Up
in Music
  Product Rating: 5.0    Very Helpful
Apr 22, 2013 Not all who grow older are lost. Light for the Lost Boy by Andrew Peterson
in Music
  Product Rating: 4.0    Very Helpful
 View more opinions by divad23

divad23's Most Popular Reviews
#444 in Education: The Castle in Los Angeles
#55 in Local Services: How I accidentally ripped off Southern California' ...
#651 in Music: All Hail Breaks Loose on Radiohead's Latest
#332 in Travel: Avoid the tourist traps... get a local to show you ...
 View all 14 popular reviews
divad23's Author Popularity
#177 Overall
#489 in Education
#57 in Local Services
#337 in Movies
#8 in Music
#414 in Travel

About divad23

I used to label myself as Epinions' resident Christian music guru. More and more, I'm realizing how silly it is to label music as "Christian" or "secular". Sure, there is music made by those who profess to be Christians which has lyrics written from a Christian worldview, and often the artist will have a certain agenda or reason for making their music, be it encouraging the church or reaching out to non-Christians. However, I think it would be more accurate for me to label most of what I write as reviews of "music that is of interest to Christians". I enjoy the challenge of navigating the maze of spiritual and pseudo-spiritual content in modern music. I'm not here to be a moral watchdog - we all have our different tastes and beliefs about what is appropriate to listen to - but hopefully I can shed some light on the good, the bad, and the downright cheesy, convince some Christians that not all "secular" music is evil, and convince some non-Christians that not all Christian bands are second-rate knockoffs of established mainstream acts.

I'm known for being a bit wordy. If verbose, track-by-track reviews aren't your style, then by all means, skip to the bottom, slap me an NH, and get on with your life. I personally favor the reviews that make me feel like I've listened to an album before I really have, so that's what I try to write.

My Web of Trust is sporadic at best. If I read your stuff and VH it frequently, then I've probably been meaning to add you and I've just forgotten. Maybe you'll have to entice me with that one over-the-top brilliant review you've had lurking inside for some time now! But I should make it clear that you don't have to like the same music I like to make my list. If you end up on my WOT, I'll probably sneak into your territory sooner or later. Consider it a homage.

I've come up with an admittedly unoriginal rating system for my album reviews. Basically, I judge each individual song or track and determine how much it was worth on a rough monetary scale, then I add those values up and see what the album was worth to me overall. If it's equal to or above the amount that I paid for it, then I'm a happy man. (Or, if it's something I haven't bought yet, I know what price to hold out for.) If your musical tastes differ from mine (and they most likely do), you may find this system to be less useful than the actual song descriptions and critiques. It's just a more consumer-based way of examining whether I got (or will get) my money's worth out of an album.

Here's how the scale works:

A+/A Standouts - excellently made songs that are clear favorites: $2/$1.75
A-/B+ Songs that aren't quite the best they could be, but still incredibly strong: $1.50/$1.25
B/B- Songs that I like but don't necessarily love: $1/$.75
C+/C Songs that are okay, that I get a little bit of enjoyment from: $.50/$.25
C/C- Songs that do nothing for me: $0/-$.25
D+/D Songs that are incredibly awful, poorly composed, or otherwise irritating: -$.50/-$.75
D- Songs that have almost no redeeming factors whatsoever: -$1
F Songs that rank among the absolute worst I've ever heard: -$2

Here is a complete listing of my music reviews, sorted by album release year:

And finally, here's a list of the concerts I've attended and lived to tell about:

Here's a list of reviews I've been meaning to get around to writing (organized by the year of their release):

2013:
* Atoms For Peace - Amok
* Falling Up - Midnight on Earthship
* Iron & Wine - Ghost on Ghost
* Josh Ritter - The Beast in Its Tracks
* Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
* Brooke Waggoner - Originator
* Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito

2012:
* Of Monsters and Men - My Head Is an Animal
* Owl City - The Midsummer Station
* P.O.D. - Murdered Love
* Derek Webb - Ctrl

2000s:
* Muse - Absolution
* The New Pornographers - Challengers
* Out of the Grey - 6.1
* Relient K - Relient K
* R.E.M. - Reveal
* Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
* The Temper Trap - Conditions
* Michelle Tumes - Center of My Universe

1990s:
* Björk - Debut
* Björk - Post
* Newsboys - Step Up to the Microphone
* No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
* Nouveaux - ...And This Is How I Feel
* Out of the Grey - Remember This: The Out of the Grey Collection 1991-1998
* Skillet - Hey You, I Love Your Soul
* Third Day - Time