Reviews?

I was browsing through the Amazon reviews for various Maiden albums (I was intensely bored), and while I found many positive reviews, I also found very negative ones. I was wondering: what is your guy's opinions on reviews? Has your mind ever changed (in either direction), after reading a review? Do you tend to stay away from them, or do you tend to read them often? Do you depend on reviews a lot to decide whether giving an album a chance, or do you just start listening? Maiden albums in particular, do you have an opinion that you consider the total opposite of everyone else you have heard from?
In summary: What do you think of reviews, Maiden in particular?
 
I tend to stay away from reviews because I find them useless. Music is subject to taste, and you really won't know if you like something until you find out yourself. There are fans of even the worst albums out there.
 
I find user reviews especially useless, because most are either the same "great album", or "this thing sucks, *insert mindless insults here*".
 
I don't like "this album is great, this album sucks" stuff. But I like "This album's main theme is space, also deals with missing home and being far away from the things you used to belong to. Let's take a look at the lyrical content" stuff.

P.S. : The album I was talking about is The Final Frontier  :bigsmile:
 
Can't say that I'm terribly interested in reviews.  All that's important to me is if I like something or not.
 
Although some Amazon reviewers do submit informative, thoughtful reviews that I have heeded, in general I find individual user reviews less useful than the overall score.  The fact that 500 reviewers gave something an average of 4.5 stars tells me something.  Amazon reviews for artistic works, such as albums or novels, are not as useful (in my opinion) as reviews for toys, electronics and other consumer products.  Again, if there is a toy on Amazon and 100 parents gave it an average of 4.5 stars, then that tells me it's a pretty good toy that I won't regret buying as a present for my (or someone else's) kids.  More importantly, if a product has an average of 1.7 stars, with lots of buyers complaining about poor craftsmanship, I know to stay away.  Tastes may vary, but well-made is well-made, and crap is crap. 

You also have to be wary of "plants" -- people who work for the maker of the product saying it's great, or people who work for the maker of a competing product who rip it. 

With respect to Maiden or other musical works, look for recurring themes.  If a bunch of users all say the same thing, such as "the recording quality is bad" or "The Angel and the Gambler is annoyingly repetitive," then it's more likely that there is some merit to the critique. 
 
I am highly interested in reviews — both of things I am very familiar with (like The X Factor) or things I have yet to experience (pretty much any new movie).
It's too bad so few of them are really informative.
It doesn't matter if I agree with it or not. Just give me some information, some comparables and the reasons for your take.
I want enough information in order to help me decide if it's worth me investing my time in something new, regardless of whether you like it or not.
And if it's something I am familiar with I hope it can inspire me to see something in a way I haven't considered.
The reviews I get from you guys are one of the main reasons I'm always on this site.
 
Well I sometimes I read reviews on new albums and find a lot of mixed reviews, so that isn't very helpful. But they are fun to read IMO.
 
As long as a review, positive or negative, explains WHY it is positive or negative, I like it.  Someone's negative (Maiden's perceieved overuse of long song structures, repeating choruses and soft intros) might by a positive for me, or at least something I wouldn't consider negative.
 
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