There's been a series that I've been reading in the Sunday Sun here in Toronto in the ENTtertainment Showcase section. I've been a bit hesitant to point it out, but it's a feature on page E5 of the Sunday Sun (and I think it's the whole Sun family of newspapers - see CANOE for all those) called Garage Band Idol. As the by-line states: - Want Darryl Sterdan to review your homemade, original song? E-mail us an online link where he can hear it. If he chooses yours, he'll tell readers if it sucks or not. Send the link to CDcritic@wpgsun.com
Here's a recent example from this past Sunday's paper of a review:- When you're 38, you're too old to take up certain activities. Ballet dancing for one. Skateboarding for another. And, most certainly, rock 'n' roll.
But that, confesses Pat Brooks, is when he got a guitar and began singing somewhere besides his car. Now, five short years later, he has progressed to the point where he can barely play, barely sing, barely write a song and barely keep time.
At least, that's going by Limestone Ridge, one tune on the MySpace page of his one-man band Sugar Packet Solution.
There are other cuts, but we didn't listen -- frankly, life's too short.
Darryl's Verdict: "Too old to rock 'n' roll, too young to die." (0.5 out of 5)
Youch! Admittedly, this is the worst review of them all, but I've been reading them every Sunday and nobody has gotten more than 1.5 out of 5.
So, of course, I sent Mr. Sterdan my own email requesting to be skewered... Hey, as they say: "Any media is good media!". So, we'll see if I get the media...
