Top cliches used by music writers

.Music writing-journalism, when it is good can make you want to listen to the records, even if you've heard them many times before. On the other hand there is a lot that is cliche-ridden

e.g. 'highly anticipated...'
'critically acclaimed;
(band description) like (insert band name) on acid'
'masterpiece'
'Chanteuse'
'sophomore album'
'wunderkind'
'trilogy'
.... etc etc

What are some of your top music writing ciches?

 

Diva
Genius
Beatle-esque
Farewell Tour

 

"Pretentious" is tossed around a lot.

 

Usually by people around here talking about music writers

One word that has gotten seriously overused lately in reviews is "stunning".

You also often read in reviews that the album is a serious contender for album of the year, and then the year end comes around and it doesn't even get an honorable mention.

 

"Their best album since [classic album]" in every review for every new release from the band.

 

That's one of the most annoying ones to me. Anything with ambitions beyond a three-minute rock song automatically gets called pretentious.

 

"You've got the love I need"
"keep on, keeping on"

Scott

 

"Breath of Life". Most that use it have no idea what it means. They merely use it to sound cool in these parts.

Ed

 

What does it mean?

 

O the number of critics reviewing remasters who use some variation of the phrase, "the music jumps right out of the speakers..."

For a good five-year span in the late 90s, 15% or so of Stephen Thomas Erlewine's reviews (and therefore 10% of AllMusic reviews of popular new music) seemed to wrap up, "making it an easy album to admire but a hard album to love."

An awful lot of reviews of modern country music right now use the word, "wheelhouse."

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

'neglected' album
proto punk

 

Seminal

 

"His best album since Scary Monsters..." was a long running cliche.

Also "their best since (What's the Story) Morning Glory?) was a cliche in the UK.

 

Anything described as "like (insert band name) on acid is always total crap!

 

Sophomore jinx.

 

Any book about Jim Morrison has to spend more time discussing his weight than the music.
Any book about The Rolling Stones should never mention an album by name after Exile on Main St but include lots of references to drugs.

 

"survived the British Invasion intact" or
"survived punk intact"

 

Words that should earn a music writer a boycott include "shambolic," "coruscating," and the verb, "limn."

Not only are these look-at-me terms overused cliches that seem to spread, STD-like, from review to review, they're often utilized incorrectly and even in opposition to their actual meaning.

 

"Return to form" (it never is, alas)
hazy
swirling
angular
soundscape

 

For songwriters it would be stuff that ends in "of love": Victim Of Love, Prisoner Of Love, Soldier Of Love and so forth.
For music critics, it is bad puns, comparing the new release to the so called "classic" stuff and making far fetched analogies with their lyrics and their personal lives or current events.

 

Lysergic

 

I see "wheelhouse" used so frequently now. The word is starting to grate on me as much as "literally" as an intensifier, even in published reviews.

 

'this album proves beyond any doubt that he/she/they are the worthy successor to (insert legendary artist/band here)' is a good cliche.

I love reading the pretentious reviews on Pitchfork and the big words they use, showing us both how committed the writer is and how serious all this creative stuff is. Maybe they should be writing fiction instead - they do go on a bit. I just want to know if it's a good record. I don't think you need multiple paragraphs to do that.

 

Epic
Magnum Opus
Profound
Simple but profound
Vibe
Cohesive
Artistic expression
Artistic intent
Concept
Underrated
Charm
Polished
Raw
Comeback album
Passionate

 

"the new single is about to drop."