Mike Love - Unleash the Love - Due November 17 - w/ 2nd Disc of BB Remakes

[KDS]

Amazon would also do well to clean up the one star reviews on their site for shipping issues. 

Gotham666 gives The Dark Knight DVD one star

"Ordered, but DVD won't play in my player." 

I tried to Google the article to no avail.   Back in the spring or summer, some website (I think it was MTV) pulled negative comments off their cite for a new song by the rock bland Imagine Dragons.   So, that, coupled with taking down legit non trollish negative reviews of Mike's album, could be part of a disturbing trend in music. 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Hell no.

Not even the deluxe vinyl with extra big 12 inch cover art? C'mon! 

Billy ain’t bout that life....

Yup yup

[rab2591]

In all seriousness, I think Amazon particularly is treading in weird territory by locking down reviews on music. There are a *ton* of legitimate, legal ways to stream the music (Spotify, Pandora, YouTube) that would allow people to still offer a legit review.

I agree it’s weird territory. But perhaps it’s a way for Amazon to help retain some business without just becoming a place where people who listen on Spotify come to do reviews. As much as I dislike the policy of verified only reviews I understand it. Heck, I briefly floated the idea of buying the Mike Love album just to leave a sensible review...but I can’t in good conscience pay actual money for this thing.

I used to buy albums from Amazon all the time, in fact it’s primarily where I bought my Beach Boys discography. But streaming has completely changed that for me, and Amazon probably feels the financial sting from millions of other music listeners doing the same.

Frankly I think there is a market open for a good music review app that would allow people from Spotify and Apple Music to write their opinions on albums without being chased off with “verified reviews only” policies (quite like the book review site ‘Goodreads’). When I was an early fan of The Beach Boys one of my favorite things to do was to listen to an album while reading the reviews - you can hear certain things that you otherwise would’ve missed had a reviewer not pointed it out, or you get a better understand of the making of the album from a knowledgeable reviewer. Would be great to see an app or site like that.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Amazon would also do well to clean up the one star reviews on their site for shipping issues.  

Gotham666 gives The Dark Knight DVD one star

"Ordered, but DVD won't play in my player."  

I tried to Google the article to no avail.   Back in the spring or summer, some website (I think it was MTV) pulled negative comments off their cite for a new song by the rock bland Imagine Dragons.   So, that, coupled with taking down legit non trollish negative reviews of Mike's album, could be part of a disturbing trend in music.  

I remember reading something along those lines. I don't like it one bit.

And yes, those needless one star reviews like the example you cited really bring my sh*t to a crisp.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Frankly I think there is a market open for a good music review app that would allow people from Spotify and Apple Music to write their opinions on albums without being chased off with “verified reviews only” policies (quite like the book review site ‘Goodreads’)

I like that idea a lot...

I think the verified purchase thing is ok, but it should just carry more weight than a non-verified purchase.

[HeyJude]

It appears as though the website still allows one to submit a review for "Unleash the Love" without an Amazon verified purchase. I don't know if that means they did a big clean-out but haven't literally instituted a policy of only verified purchase reviews, or if they have locked all non-verified purchases out and simply left the "review" button up, in which case that would suck to write a nice, long, thoughtful review only to have Amazon ignore it.

[rab2591]

Frankly I think there is a market open for a good music review app that would allow people from Spotify and Apple Music to write their opinions on albums without being chased off with “verified reviews only” policies (quite like the book review site ‘Goodreads’)

I like that idea a lot...

I think the verified purchase thing is ok, but it should just carry more weight than a non-verified purchase.

I actually almost edited this idea into my above post. I can see Amazon making two simple sections in their review section for verified and unverified reviews. Let the consumer judge what is a BS review and what isn’t.

[HeyJude]

I would of course like it to be known that I don't weigh heavily Amazon reviews. I doubt that many folks really leave their purchase of music or movies (as opposed to, say, a consumer product like a vacuum cleaner or something) up in the air until they read Amazon reviews.

There are indeed plenty of awful, YouTube-level reviews on Amazon. Lots of awful writing. Grammar nightmares, etc.

Also, I see in some cases seemingly "regular" Amazon customers are sent free copies of books and other things and asked to review them. Are non-journalist, non-professional "reviewers" that are just "regular" customers really super likely to give a freebie item a horrible review, or will they hope they'll continue to be sent freebies?

[rab2591]

It appears as though the website still allows one to submit a review for "Unleash the Love" without an Amazon verified purchase. I don't know if that means they did a big clean-out but haven't literally instituted a policy of only verified purchase reviews, or if they have locked all non-verified purchases out and simply left the "review" button up, in which case that would suck to write a nice, long, thoughtful review only to have Amazon ignore it.

When you click on “write a review” you are sent to a page to select your star rating and to write your review. But once you select your star rating the page immediately pops up an alert:

“Sorry, we are unable to accept your review of this product for either one or both of the following reasons:
This item is currently only eligible for Amazon Verified Purchase reviews. Please visit our Customer Reviews Guidelines and About Amazon Verified Purchase Reviews for more details.”

[KDS]

Amazon would also do well to clean up the one star reviews on their site for shipping issues.  

Gotham666 gives The Dark Knight DVD one star

"Ordered, but DVD won't play in my player."  

I tried to Google the article to no avail.   Back in the spring or summer, some website (I think it was MTV) pulled negative comments off their cite for a new song by the rock bland Imagine Dragons.   So, that, coupled with taking down legit non trollish negative reviews of Mike's album, could be part of a disturbing trend in music.  

I remember reading something along those lines. I don't like it one bit.

And yes, those needless one star reviews like the example you cited really bring my sh*t to a crisp.

I wish I could find the article because I can't remember who initiated the taking down of negative comments.   I'm about 99% sure it was about a new song by Imagine Dragons, but I can't recall if the removal was initiated by the band, their label, or who/what.  

[HeyJude]

Frankly I think there is a market open for a good music review app that would allow people from Spotify and Apple Music to write their opinions on albums without being chased off with “verified reviews only” policies (quite like the book review site ‘Goodreads’)

I like that idea a lot...

I think the verified purchase thing is ok, but it should just carry more weight than a non-verified purchase.

I actually almost edited this idea into my above post. I can see Amazon making two simple sections in their review section for verified and unverified reviews. Let the consumer judge what is a BS review and what isn’t.

You can already filter customer reviews in a number of ways, including filtering by viewing only "verified purchase" reviews. I think in some cases you have to first click on "see all reviews", and then you get this:

https://www.amazon.com/Unleash-Love-2-CD-Mike/product-reviews/B07667GM1W/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_top?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews

[HeyJude]

It appears as though the website still allows one to submit a review for "Unleash the Love" without an Amazon verified purchase. I don't know if that means they did a big clean-out but haven't literally instituted a policy of only verified purchase reviews, or if they have locked all non-verified purchases out and simply left the "review" button up, in which case that would suck to write a nice, long, thoughtful review only to have Amazon ignore it.

When you click on “write a review” you are sent to a page to select your star rating and to write your review. But once you select your star rating the page immediately pops up an alert:

“Sorry, we are unable to accept your review of this product for either one or both of the following reasons:
This item is currently only eligible for Amazon Verified Purchase reviews. Please visit our Customer Reviews Guidelines and About Amazon Verified Purchase Reviews for more details.”

Ahhhh. That makes sense. At least they're not wasting a potential reviewer's time.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I would of course like it to be known that I don't weigh heavily Amazon reviews. I doubt that many folks really leave their purchase of music or movies (as opposed to, say, a consumer product like a vacuum cleaner or something) up in the air until they read Amazon reviews.

There are indeed plenty of awful, YouTube-level reviews on Amazon. Lots of awful writing. Grammar nightmares, etc.

Also, I see in some cases seemingly "regular" Amazon customers are sent free copies of books and other things and asked to review them. Are non-journalist, non-professional "reviewers" that are just "regular" customers really super likely to give a freebie item a horrible review, or will they hope they'll continue to be sent freebies?

Like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Hutzler-571-Banana-Slicer/dp/B0047E0EII/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1511296188&sr=1-3&keywords=banana+slicer#customerReviews

[HeyJude]

It appears they may still be allowing all reviewers to post reviews on the "digital" version of the album at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076L1X31M/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_0

At least for now....  

[rab2591]

I would of course like it to be known that I don't weigh heavily Amazon reviews. I doubt that many folks really leave their purchase of music or movies (as opposed to, say, a consumer product like a vacuum cleaner or something) up in the air until they read Amazon reviews.

There are indeed plenty of awful, YouTube-level reviews on Amazon. Lots of awful writing. Grammar nightmares, etc.

Also, I see in some cases seemingly "regular" Amazon customers are sent free copies of books and other things and asked to review them. Are non-journalist, non-professional "reviewers" that are just "regular" customers really super likely to give a freebie item a horrible review, or will they hope they'll continue to be sent freebies?

I actually used to be in their “freebie” Vine program. It didn’t depend on good reviews (not sure if that has changed in the last 5 years though). It depended that you wrote up an honest review (in an allotted amount of time) of a product you selected to be sent to you. Amazon would send out an email with like 100 items that ranged from 60” televisions to books that wouldn’t be available to the public for months down the road. You’d select one or two items you wanted sent to you and you were given a certain amount of time to review it.

Also, thanks for the tip on the filter for verified purchases. Haven’t used Amazon much since the last holiday season!

[HeyJude]

I would of course like it to be known that I don't weigh heavily Amazon reviews. I doubt that many folks really leave their purchase of music or movies (as opposed to, say, a consumer product like a vacuum cleaner or something) up in the air until they read Amazon reviews.

There are indeed plenty of awful, YouTube-level reviews on Amazon. Lots of awful writing. Grammar nightmares, etc.

Also, I see in some cases seemingly "regular" Amazon customers are sent free copies of books and other things and asked to review them. Are non-journalist, non-professional "reviewers" that are just "regular" customers really super likely to give a freebie item a horrible review, or will they hope they'll continue to be sent freebies?

Like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Hutzler-571-Banana-Slicer/dp/B0047E0EII/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1511296188&sr=1-3&keywords=banana+slicer#customerReviews

There is also the infamous sugar-free gummy bears listing:

https://www.amazon.com/Albanese-Candy-Sugar-Assorted-5-pound/product-reviews/B00DE4GWWY/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_top?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews

[Gabo]

I would of course like it to be known that I don't weigh heavily Amazon reviews. I doubt that many folks really leave their purchase of music or movies (as opposed to, say, a consumer product like a vacuum cleaner or something) up in the air until they read Amazon reviews.

There are indeed plenty of awful, YouTube-level reviews on Amazon. Lots of awful writing. Grammar nightmares, etc.

Also, I see in some cases seemingly "regular" Amazon customers are sent free copies of books and other things and asked to review them. Are non-journalist, non-professional "reviewers" that are just "regular" customers really super likely to give a freebie item a horrible review, or will they hope they'll continue to be sent freebies?

Like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Hutzler-571-Banana-Slicer/dp/B0047E0EII/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1511296188&sr=1-3&keywords=banana+slicer#customerReviews

There is also the infamous sugar-free gummy bears listing:

https://www.amazon.com/Albanese-Candy-Sugar-Assorted-5-pound/product-reviews/B00DE4GWWY/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_top?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews

The reviews for these gummy bears are more positive than Unleash the Love, at least until a couple days ago

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I would of course like it to be known that I don't weigh heavily Amazon reviews. I doubt that many folks really leave their purchase of music or movies (as opposed to, say, a consumer product like a vacuum cleaner or something) up in the air until they read Amazon reviews.

There are indeed plenty of awful, YouTube-level reviews on Amazon. Lots of awful writing. Grammar nightmares, etc.

Also, I see in some cases seemingly "regular" Amazon customers are sent free copies of books and other things and asked to review them. Are non-journalist, non-professional "reviewers" that are just "regular" customers really super likely to give a freebie item a horrible review, or will they hope they'll continue to be sent freebies?

Like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Hutzler-571-Banana-Slicer/dp/B0047E0EII/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1511296188&sr=1-3&keywords=banana+slicer#customerReviews

There is also the infamous sugar-free gummy bears listing:

https://www.amazon.com/Albanese-Candy-Sugar-Assorted-5-pound/product-reviews/B00DE4GWWY/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_top?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews

The reviews for these gummy bears are more positive than Unleash the Love, at least until a couple days ago

And probably less auto-tune on the gummy bears, too...

[Pretty Funky]

If you click on the ‘comment’ under each reviewer there is still the ability to add your opinion.

Example:

Robert N. Gould 3 days ago

Are you deaf? I listened to the entire album before writing my comments. It is truly awful. The cover songs are pathetic autotuned covers of the originals. Beach Boys tribute bands do a better job interpreting them than Mike Love and Company. The "new" material, such as it is, is wretched. The project is a classic Mike Love moneygrab. Light your money on fire rather than spend it on this aural sewage.

[RubberSoul13]

The Beach Boys played new Mike Love alongside classic hits at the "Unleash The Love" listening party last night. This is not okay.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Ok, something needs to be done. I mean, Mike sued Brian for far far less in 2005, and this is actually something actionable.  Can you imagine something from TLOS being performed during the C50 tour? No, of course not.

[guitarfool2002]

Ok, something needs to be done. I mean, Mike sued Brian for far far less in 2005, and this is actually something actionable.  Can you imagine something from TLOS being performed during the C50 tour? No, of course not.

I got hammered when I raised that issue after Mike played his Christmas single for the Hollywood parade. Same deal. It's not The Beach Boys, period.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Well, looks like we're nails, cause I'm ready for a hammerin'.

Wonder if someone can convince Brian to open a show with a minute of Pisces Brother, then immediately stop the song and say "Nah, I'm just fucking with you"

[guitarfool2002]

Well, looks like we're nails, cause I'm ready for a hammerin'.

Wonder if someone can convince Brian to open a show with a minute of Pisces Brother, then immediately stop the song and say "Nah, I'm just fucking with you"

Haha, I can hear Brian saying that! 

Another possibility - he opens with Brian's Back...stops it after singing a verse...says "Back? Where the f*** did I go?". Then launches into I Get Around.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]