I continue to be astonished, given the general usefulness of Allmusic and the decent quality of most of their appraisals, at the awfulness of the worst writing on their site. Here's a byline I hadn't encountered, Kim Summers, on Samantha Sang:
A one-hit wonder from the late 70s, Samantha Sang made her professional singing debut because of Barry Gibb and Maurice Gibb.
Born in Australia in 1953, Samantha Sang entered the music world in 1978 singing "Emotion." Unfortunately for the singer this would be her only pop rock hit. The song was written by the popular songwriting duo Barry and Maurice Gibb, who also had their own band, the Bee Gees. The song "Emotion" was on the album of the same name. Besides this song the album included favorites from other well-known 70s soft and pop rock singers. Hits included Eric Carmen's "Change of Heart," Denny Rendell's "You Keep Me Dancing" and Arty Simon's "But If She Moves You." The Bee Gees also had two of their hits, "Charade" and "Love Of A Woman" on the album. Samantha Sang has also provided backup vocals for artists such as David Wolfert, Francis Lai and Carole Bay Sager.
Although only popular from her "Emotion" song, Samantha Sang is a very talented vocalist. In 1996 "Emotion" was on the Bee Gees album release Soul of the Bee Gees. She also performed background vocals for Eric Carmen's Definitive Collection. Despite the fact that Samantha Sang has only one solo song to her credit, she has taken the music industry by storm, performing with such singing groups as the Bee Gees and Eric Carmen.
Also, she has worked with the Gibb brothers, aka the Bee Gees.
the writing can be bad, it can also be hillariously bitter, such as their review of the last Bright Eyes' album. ex:
"Supporters excuse this as soul searching, but the heavy-handed pretension in the words and the affectedness in his delivery -- not to mention the quavering bleat that's halfway between Feargal Sharkey and the Dead Milkmen's Rodney Anonymous -- give the whole enterprise a sense of phoniness that's only enhanced by its unadorned production. When Oberst was swallowed in the deliberate grandeur of Lifted, his drama-queen theatrics fit the music, but here, they expose him for the shallow poseur he is. "
etc. on and on.
Scraps
Good lord, they're not usually so unrestrainedly snotty. That reads like a Pitchfork outtake.
OH MY GOD you've very quickly become my favorite blog. My friends all make fun of me for the hours I spend reading allmusic reviews. No matter how many I read, I can't get over how horrible they are--in content and style.
Scraps
I love genuinely bad writing. I used to actively look for it on the web -- especially bad poetry -- but these days I'm mostly content to let it find me.