Learned about from newsletter Biblioracle, John Warner:
Robert Christgau was music critic at The Village Voice from 1969 to 2006, and the (above) edition of the book we owned compiled his “Consumer Guide” capsule reviews from the paper - short, funny, penetrating, sometimes caustic, always opinionated takes on the records of the day.
Each album got a letter grade, and Christgau’s description of what each grade means gives great insight into the approach and attitudes he brings to his work:
An A+ record is an organically conceived masterpiece that repays prolonged listening with new excitement and insight. It is unlikely to be marred by more than one merely ordinary cut.
An A is a great record both of whose sides offer enduring pleasure and surprise. You should own it.
An A- is a very good record. If one of its sides doesn't provide intense and consistent satisfaction, then both include several cuts that do.
A B+ is a good record, at least one of whose sides can be played with lasting interest and the other of which includes at least one enjoyable cut.
A B is an admirable effort that aficionados of the style or artist will probably find quite listenable.
A B- is a competent or mildly interesting record that will usually feature at least three worthwhile cuts.
A C+ is a not disreputable performance, most likely a failed experiment or a pleasant piece of hackwork.
A C is a record of clear professionalism or barely discernible inspiration, but not both.
A C- is a regrettably successful exploitation or a basically honest but quite incompetent stab at something more.
A D+ is an appalling piece of pimpwork or a thoroughly botched token of sincerity.
It is impossible to understand why anyone would buy a D record.
It is impossible to understand why anyone would release a D- record.
It is impossible to understand why anyone would cut an E+ record.
E records are frequently cited as proof that there is no God.
An E- record is an organically conceived masterpiece that repays repeated listening with a sense of horror in the face of the void. It is unlikely to be marred by one listenable cut
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