Everybody’s A Wenner: The “Rolling Stone” Review-Section Revue

We’ve been hammering away at Rolling Stone‘s propensity for three-star reviews for so long now, we’ve lost track of the bigger picture: Namely, can our humble efforts here affect actual change?

Well, no. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that in the nearly six months since we started this go-to headache of a franchise, there are more and more half-starred reviews in the magazine’s reviews section. It’s a subtle shift, and if you want to see an example, look no further than David Fricke’s current review of the Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible.

Everything in this write-up reads like a three-star review: Fricke calls it “nobly flawed,” and wonders how the band “can sound so distant here so often.” If you were to examine just the raw copy, you’d think, “This album sounds as though it’s good, but not excellent–and it certainly doesn’t occupy the space in between those two subjective fields.”

So why is it awarded an undeserved three-and-a-half stars? Maybe it was just some “let’s see whether we’re alone in this semi-backlash” jitters. Maybe it was a typographical error. But we’d like to think that someone, somewhere, has been reading our semi-annual nag letter and realized they could undermine our mission statement by juking the stats in their favor. So if you’re reading, Rolling Stone, be warned: We’re on to you! Also, tell us who “won” the damn TV show. We’re the only ones watching it anyway.

Issue #: 1021 Total number of reviews (excluding reissues): 19 Total number of three-star reviews: 6 Total percentage of reviews that are three-star reviews: 29 percent Number of I’m From Rolling Stone mentions (including advertisements): 2 Number of “we get it, she’s hot now” pictures of Norah Jones: 1

Everybody’s A Wenner [archive]