The role of the reviewer should be to give a personal take on the CD. This means that there's going to be some good and some bad reviews. It's ok to ignore reviews but that's hardly the point. Without the reviews the people out there don't know that the CD even exists. I try to write reviews which are constructive and fair. This means that sometimes I have to say when I don't like the CD but also giving reasons for my opinion. The thing is, you often find yourself sent CDs to review which you mint not have chosen to pick up on the shop. I had one recently where the package fell to pieces in my hand on opening the envelope. The actual material was good but the production did it no favours at all. I commented on this and some months later the artist and I met. He thanked me for the comments and gave me a new package!
I once gave one of our CDs to a reviewer whom I knew was going to be pretty tough on it. He was. But...our next album addressed his criticisms and hopefully therefore appealed to a wider audience as a result. I send around forty CDs to magazines and get back around ten reviews. I can't choose who reviews them nor if they get reviewed at all.
But...Arthur-it is is exactly right when he talks about recording what you sound like. It's not really honest to produce an elaborately arranged album with loads of mates playing and singing in the background if, when a club books you, you turn out to be a solo artist with a guitar. Being aspirational is one thing but sell your wares fairly.