Reviews are not published unquestioningly, in my experience (UK, one mag. only). Bad ones - and I do think the public deserves warning of c**p - just quietly disappear. The result is they've ceased to have any value.

I also think that artistes should not be allowed to get their friends to send in reviews. The CD or whatever should be sent to the editorial team, who should then choose a reviewer. Then we the public are protected from some of the rubbish that does get printed.

A review will never suit everybody, reviewers have their tastes and viewpoints too - but applied with intelligence a good review should still be possible (variations on "this track is not to my personal taste, but I can think of many whom it would probably please" type comments).

Paws