FAQ
Here we'll try and answer the questions we have been asked most frequently.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does DPRP go about reviewing albums?
The content of the Album Reviews page basically depends on what bands and labels send us, as well as the private purchases of the review team. Reviews are coordinated centrally, to make sure that the steady flow of new albums is divided evenly among the reviewers and prevent duplicates.
When dividing the albums among the reviewers, the personal tastes of the individuals are taken into account. The reviewers all work according to a 'manual' and use the DPRP rating system. A reviewer is basically free to decide what kind of review to write; for example, one time he will opt for a track-by-track review, another time he will write a more overall conclusion.
I would like DPRP to review the album of my band. What should I do?
First read the review policy and check if your band's music complies with the guidelines mentioned there. If so, you can then send a copy of the CD/CDR/DVD/LP to one of the addresses listed above. You're welcome to ship the CDs without the jewel cases to save costs. Please do not send CD/DVD's by registered mail, since this often results in having to drive down to the post office to pick up the package. Similarly do not send large batches of material which may incur charges from Customs/Taxes.
Depending on the current workload, it might take 2 - 3 months before your album is featured in the reviews column. Please send some background information and the address of your website together with the CDs. This will save time in digging for background information and more time can be spent listening to your album. Because of the large number of albums we receive, we normally don't inform every band or label when the review of their album has been published.
The new album by popular band X has not been reviewed on DPRP. Why not?
There are two reasons why a certain CD is reviewed on DPRP. First of all, if the concerned band or label send us a (promotional) copy, and we feel that it fits the progressive rock genre, then we will review it. Unfortunately, not all bands feel they need the publicity on DPRP to get the attention of their target group. This is especially true for the more well-known bands. Unless we have a very good relation with these bands or labels we will not receive any promotional copies of their new albums.
The second reason why a CD gets reviewed on DPRP is when one of the team members buys the CD themselves and thinks it's worth a review. The whole DPRP operation is carried out by a group of volunteers who spend a lot of their free time on DPRP. We do not get any money for our work and we don't have a budget to buy all kinds of new releases. You will therefore understand that a team member will only spend his money on the bands he really likes. This way the specific preferences of the team will trickle through to the reviews pages.
In a nutshell, unless we get a (promotional) copy from a band or label OR the concerned band is a personal favourite of a team member, the CD will not be reviewed.
I completely disagree with the review you wrote about album Y by band X!
No matter how objective you try to be when writing a review, there is no such thing as a 'perfectly objective review'. Judgement of a CD will always be based on what a reviewer thinks is good or bad, and will always be influenced by his personal tastes and preferences. However, we do try to be as objective as possible and at least try to explain why we think something is good or bad, or try to indicate to which people the CD might or might not appeal. Sometimes we write Duo reviews so that our readers get the viewpoint of two different reviewers. At the end of the day, no matter how good or bad a CD is, there will always be people who will disagree with a written review.
In case of major releases DPRP will try to provide so-called Round Table Reviews in which more than one team member gives his opinion about the CD. This depends on whether the Record Label or band concerned will supply more than one copy.
Can I send my own review to you for publication on DPRP?
No, sorry you can't. For the purpose of consistency we have decided that CD reviews will only be written by members of the DPRP team. There are several reasons for this. First, we would like to give priority to those bands who send us their material. Second, the visitors of DPRP know the style of our reviews and know what to expect. They also know if they often agree or do not agree with a specific DPRP reviewer. Therefore they are able to judge for themselves if the CD is worth buying or not, based on that reviewer's opinion. Third, certainly not the least important one, however bad a CD really is (in our opinion) there will always be someone who is raving about the CD. People who volunteer to send us reviews will probably be very positive about the concerned album. In other words, accepting 'outside reviews' would probably result in a decrease of objectivity and a majority of very positive reviews.
How can I become a CD Reviewer?
Please contact us at . The job requirements are very simple: a passionate interest in progressive rock and the ability to write about it. Journalistic experience is not a must, but of course a plus.
What is a 'Round Table Review' and how is it done?
When a new album is issued by a major progressive rock act, DPRP often presents a so-called Duo Review (two reviewers) or Round Table Review (more than two reviewers). Sometimes a major act provides us with multiple review copies, but more often we use temporary CDR copies or audio files of the promo. These copies are distributed among the reviewers who volunteer to participate in the RTR. Normally each reviewer has about 2 weeks to listen to the CD and write a review independently. Their individual contributions are then compiled into an article by the CD Reviews Editor. When time permits (which is not very often) we might try to forward the individual remarks of the first reviewer to a second reviewer and so on, so that they can build on each other's comments.
We rarely write Roundtable Reviews for lesser known or new bands because time often doesn't permit this. The interest of the readers of DPRP in this band does not merit the necessity of a RTR either.
Does DPRP also review demos?
We are sorry but we reserve the right not to review Demo's. We try only to review material that is sold commercially to other people; whether through the old-fashioned record shops or online.
DPRP has been sent our CD for review but it hasn't appeared yet. Why not?
First we have to receive the CD/DVD's and then decide which reviewer will accept that piece of work (or whether it is rejected because it does not meet the Review Policy criteria). It then takes time for us to re-distribute the CD/DVD's to the team reviewer (who now cover many countries around the world). The current workload and available time of each of the team members may also affect the time it takes for a review to appear.
DPRP has said it will not review my work. Why not?
DPRP holds the right not to write a review for an item which is not considered to be progressive rock or related to progressive rock, symphonic rock or progressive metal by the team. We are certainly not trying to define what is progressive and what's not, but in the past too much time has been wasted on heavy metal, grunge, and new age albums. Not only does it take a lot of time to carefully evaluate a CD, DPRP's visitors aren't generally interested in these releases. Any such material we receive and which is 'rejected' will not be returned to the sender.
Why does DPRP prefer not to review MP3 files of our music?
Several reasons. Here's some of them.
Our reviewers always play CDs several times when reviewing; using MP3s would mean they would most likely have to review using a PC, not their car or home stereo. Not only is this very inconvenient, but it would also delay the review process unnecessarily. Copying to a phone is possible of course but also not convenient. This applies to all formats of digital files not available from a streaming service.
We normally review all aspects of an album, including sound quality (always of inferior quality in an MP3 which is a compressed file, even when high bite rate is used) and artwork (not available when reviewing MP3s). DPRP therefore only reviews albums in their commercially available format and lossless files.
There's a certain barrier to overtake for a band to release a CD. Currently lots of bands are releasing and selling material as CDRs or MP3s, some of which are of doubtful quality. The high quantity of MP3s and low quality of the material (from a compositional point of view) will probably make reviewing MP3 files not only uninteresting and tedious, but also impossible with the capacity of the DPRP team.