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Explanation of Rating System

I use the 1 to 10 system. It’s just been my preference ever since I can remember. SPIN started using it around 1994, the year before I started the site. I included a chart of how other rating systems are roughly equivalent. You may be familiar with the letter grade system from Robert Christgau of The Village Voice. Rolling Stone uses stars, along with many record guides like the Penguin Guide to Jazz. The newest addition is the 100 scale used by Metacritic, which translates all reviews to their scale.

Not many albums listed are rated less than an 8. It’s not that there aren’t plenty of crappy albums out there. I just don’t want to bother listing them. This is a list of music I like! I have listened to every album that I rated. If there’s something really good missing from a particular year, I may not have heard it. So feel free to e-mail me about something I should hear. And hey, all you record labels, feel free to send me promos. Bring ’em on!

 

Scale

of 10

Scale

of 100

Letter Grades
Stars
10
100
A+
*****
10-

9+

97

93

A
****1/2
9

9-

90

87

A-
****
8+

8

83

80

B+
***1/2
8-

7+

77

73

B
***
7

7-

70

67

B-
**1/2
6+

6

6-

63

60

57

C+

C

**
5+

5

5-

53

50

47

C-

D+

*1/2
4+

4

4-

43

40

37

D

D-

*
3+

2

1

0

33

20

10

0

F
1/2
@fastnbulbous