Benjamin Stevens' RARB scoring

10: everything about this song is perfect, from intonation to tone to rhythm to ... moreover, the group must really live it up: an infectious energy, whatever the mood of the song
9: a nearly flawless performance, worth listening to again and again
8: potentially more "perfect" than a 9, but with less life
7: a strong song, everybody doing their job and doing it well, but it just may not "click" . . . perhaps the solo and the background have different moods in mind, or the voices are not quite suited to their roles
6: a good song, clearly stock repertoire, but either not very interesting as an arrangement, or just not a very cool song to begin with (some of this is subjective, obviously)
5: this song may have some problems: with tempo, with tonality, with rhythm; a sense of a bunch of people singing, but not really together
4: lifeless and dull, or without much skill at all
3: I can hardly believe there are songs this bad: these should not have been included on the album, for want of musicality or sheer lack of life
2: this would have to be god-awful, a real testament to one helluva terrible recording session or some MAJOR flaw in the arrangement: no meat to the middle, etc.
1: if a group can produce a 1, they probably shouldn't be singing as a group or as individuals . . . I might give a bunch of drunks singing a 1, but a collegiate group? I hope I never have to.

Last modified: Fri Jun 20 15:19:53 PDT 1997