About Versatone Reviews

I am an independent music critic. I do not get advance copies of albums; I do not take paid review requests. This all started on my personal Facebook, and several friends harassed me to get my reviews off their feeds and start a blog (joke’s on them - I’m still posting on Facebook, too).

This is just one eclectic music lover (with a noted bias toward Metal) who loves to share great music when he finds it.

No gatekeeping. No prejudice.

Just album reviews.

Review Style and Bucket Method

The focus is on albums as a whole. There’s balance to be had. An album can be full of certified bangers, but if it’s just a collection of songs with no notable theme, throughline, or story, then it’s not really worthy of contending for AOTY.

And, as I do not get pre-release copies and have no actual deadlines to meet, I see no reason to nail down specific numbers. Every album gets two listens (this isn’t my day job), and I need to move on.

For more on how the scoring works, please see this page.

Browsing and Filtering

To allow for more personalized browsing, I utilize Substack’s tag system. Each post contains tags (which are, for some reason, hidden from readers). And I’ve made a Compendium to allow you to use these tags to filter by rating, genre, and more.

Album Recommendations?

Yes, if I have missed an album that you feel should be considered, send it my way.

Subscriptions?

Substack has ‘sub’ right there in the name. If you subscribe, you will receive reviews directly in your inbox (or, if you download the app, you can opt for push notifications, instead). While I have the option to paywall things, all of my reviews and articles will remain free and accessible.

Subscribe for free to be notified of new albums and receive notifications for the best ones.

If you decide to pay me (weird), that money will be redirected to small artists through Bandcamp on Bandcamp Fridays.