I’m very meticulous with my music—I rate everything and constantly have 2 albums at opposing ends of the aural scales. Granted, I have my own tastes and this section is nothing more than an explanation of that. Keeping that in mind, let’s break it down.

Songs:

Made from ground up goosebumps, 5 star songs are as rare as they are brilliant. These are the songs that release me from the realm of all mundane things—full of originality, variety, and passion. Less than 1/10th of the songs in my music library are awarded 5 stars, and that says a lot considering I don’t buy music I don’t also love.

DJ Krush – The History of Krush
Supercar – Warning Bell
Geinoh Yamashirogumi – Kaneda

Fantastic, albeit somewhat unoriginal songs receive 4 stars. These are the songs you hear on the radio and scream to yourself, “Oh! I LOVE this song!!” Then, you realize a day later you still don’t have it. Great songs, but not the cream of the crop, and not the songs you need within 5 feet at all times.

Utada Hikaru – Shiawase Ni Narou
9mm Parabellum Bullet – Supernova
Yamasaki Masayoshi – One More Time, One More Chance

Songs that fail to break the pop model AABA, but provide fun for a few weeks receive 3 stars. These are those toe tapping songs you enjoy with company, but wouldn’t want to actively lock yourself in a room and listen to. Most often deleted from iPod touch to make room for the new hotness within a month.

Bump of Chicken – RIP
BoA – Amazing Kiss
Ai Otuka – Friends

Songs that draw the line between commercialism and music, sales value and talent—these songs receive 2 stars. Often less than musically inclined individuals dancing to music in fact created by someone else. In Japan, 2 star songs are also known as “Johnny’s #1 Hits.”

Arashi – Everything
Aya Matuura – Ne-e
Ayumi Hamasaki – Rule

Songs that can be interpreted as nothing less than LULZ receive one star. These are the last songs you would want to be stuck with on a desert island with; the CD’s plastic casing alone would ensure your death before the first sun fall.

Misono – Vs
Zone – Good Days
News – Weeeek

Albums

Albums are, in turn, averages of their songs, with respect to character and balance. That is, in addition to each song, every album receives an additional rating for overall feel. Shiina Ringo’s Karuki Zamen Kuri No Hana, with it’s remarkable flow and symmetry, receives an additional 5 stars in this department. Finally, because I believe a 1 to 5 scale is too constricted to accurately asses an album, I double the mean of songs + style.

A couple examples for the non mathletes:

Shiina Ringo: Karuki Zamen Kuri No Hana

Shuuykuu 5
Doppleganger 5
Meisai 5
Odaijini 5
Yattuke Shigoto 5
Kuki 5
Toroshiku 5
Okonomide 5
Ishiki 5
Poltergeist 5
Souretsu 5

Song total: 55
Overall album flow, length with respect to content, character: 5

Now we add everything together to get the Total Score: 60
Divided by (song count (11) + 1) = 5
Doubled: 5 x 2 = 10

Final Score: 10 (Perfect Score)

Muse: Absolution

Intro 5
Apocalypse Please 5
Time is Running Out 5
Sing of Absolution 5
Stockholm Syndrome 5
Falling Away with You 4
Interlude 5
Hysteria 4
Blackout 5
Butterflies and Hurricanes 5
The Small Print 4
Endlessly 5
Thoughts of a Dying Atheist 4
Ruled by Society 5

Song Total: 66
Overall album flow, length with respect to content, character: 4
Grand Total: 70
Divided by (song count (14) + 1) = 4.7
Doubled: 4.7 x 2 = 9.4

Final Score: 9.4