Not 200/2000 or whatever Q/Uncut/whoever suggest they do, just a bit more space to consider a few important new and re-issues due out.
Word is the only one I buy too. I trust its reviews/comment, and haven't bought a duffer yet.

can't we decide for ourselves. This sort of streaming makes reviews increasingly less essential I enjoyed the rrecent eview of the Johnny Cash album but I could listen to it for free while I read the review. With preview streaming for fans on the web it's not as if journos have the benefit of a release preview. I'd heard most of the new Delphic lp almost a year before the cd was "released". The main role in my opinion of reviews nowadays is to point you in the direction of the good stuff with a few longer ones maybe adding context to bigger releases or to overlooked oldies.

I'd be happy if the reviews were supplemented by a list of what's been released in the month. I find out about a lot of stuff through Word, but if I want to see what's out there I have to look at Q, which is crap in almost every other respect.

i buy the Word because i want to read articles by this particular bunch of people--other music mags just don,t give me the buzz that i get here, so when an artist i,m particularly fond of, such as Peter Gabriel,brings a new album out then i want to find as much info as possible about it--not just which song works, which song stinks etc but background info about the production, the build up to recording--even the artist,s own opinion on what he,s aiming for, this is what i want to read in a mag, so..more big reviews please!

The Word was, until the change, probably the last stronghold of the intelligent album review. Elsewhere they are either condensed into meaningless hai-Q's or are given over to a fawning - "My Opus Just Out!" - interview with the artist.

Like Monsignor B I want to read recommendations from a range of contributors, and I have my benchmark ... anything Rob Fitzpatrick recommends (apart from Lily Allen, obviously) is worth a listen. Maybe that will be on Spotify, but without a nudge in the right direction how will I know what to look for?

P.S. I'm sure Mark Ellen's diary could be kept to a single page.

The shortened review section is one of the things I like best about the new look.

I've never found reviews to be useful or especially interesting, whether in the Word or elsewhere. Instead, a longer article about the artist is far more likely to pique my interest in their latest work.

For example, the piece about Midlake a couple of months ago persuaded me to buy The Courage of Others. A 200 word review wouldn't have had the same effect.

So - ditch the reviews altogether! Isn't the rest of the magazine, in effect, one long reviews section?

I love reading reviews but not necessarily at the time of their writing or as a guide to buying, especially now in the Spotify age.
But I read and re-read all my old magazines, over and over again with no particular system to it. I love finding out what records came out when and what people thought of them.
Just read an old Mojo where Charles Shaar Murray gave Oasis' 'Be Here Now' 9/10. Go figure.
I think the reviews section is a great document of the time and it would be sad to see it go.
Having said that, I also appreciate that it also both financially costly and time consuming for the diminished reader dividends it reaps now.

You still get 4-5 meaty LP reviews now which no other magazine does. I'd happily have an extra page of them, but of course we do get to read the opinions of The Massive on 'The Massive Attacks' too.

Yes you can listen on Spotify, but contrary to popular belief not all music is on there, and it can be some time after the physical CD, Vinyl and iTunes version have come out before a records turns up on Spotify. Given the deluge of music around it's always nice to have The Word team cherry pick a few for you.

A good writer can illuminate a record you might not otherwise have considered listening to or might have dismissed out of hand. They can also shed new light on something you've already heard and send you scurrying off to dig it out for another spin.

When a record comes out that I like, even if i've already heard it, I actively look forward to reading peoples opinions on it. I had the Field Music record for a couple of weeks before I got to read Kate Mossman's review but it was no less interesting to read her take on it. She mentions for example that there is bit of King Crimson influence, a band I've never really dug into so next time I'm on Spotify I'll have a look at them. That's what reviews are for.

...is an articulate, trustworthy review pointing me to stuff I really should be checking out. If it's great and relevant, give it some space. I don't really need a long and articulate review telling how it's a middling album with one or two stand out tracks, no matter how noteworthy the artist is.

Should remain the yardstick.The Massive have pointed me in a number of interesting directions,towards both the new and back towards some things I'd neglected to play for some time,so the answer may lie at our own fingertips.Indeed haven't our imaginary friends at Word Towers given us the opportunity to flex our reviewing muscles within the magazine.I would appreciate the odd overview of an artists/bands work,a retrospective if you will,as I'm sure I'm not alone in neglecting certain peoples work and It would give some of us a short cut to catch up.

The thing about Word I've always liked is that they "write more about less", so the long reviews of key releases are just right, and a double-page mop-up of other items of interest is just enough to make me think I'm not missing out.

I do like pencilsqueezer's career overview idea too, though.

I'd be happy for these people to listen to a bunch of new stuff and nod me in the direction of the releases they think I might like.

I find its helpful in me hunting down things that I haven't heard of. If an album gets a good review and its on eMusic, I'll try it. It was always the bit of the magazine that I would sit down at the pc with and have a dabble in spotify or you tube to listen to the reviewed stuff.

And regarding Mark Ellen's diary - it's becoming my favourite place to start the magazine. The line about Mo Mowlem's socks in the current issue was a particular favourite.

Would be nice to know what's coming out that month, as for those of us without an HMV and the only displayed music is in WHSmith or Asda, knowing when things come out (and being introduced to new things) has to be done solely on recommendation from magazines. Obviously the CD is useful for that, but I've bought many a CD just because I knew it was coming out from a magazine. Had I not read a review (or seen an advert) I may have missed a treat. And that would be a shame.

So, yes. Word towers, a list of artists/LP titles/record labels. We can do the rest of the digging ourselves (and consequently review more for the Massive Attacks section). Give reviews back to the people and all that!

I really like being able to get a snapshot of what's around and what it's like in one place, ideally in Word. I don't want to trawl the internet for news, though I will go there once I'm interested. I love reviews which are passionate and which pique my interest. So more please!

don't cut out the long reviews! In the age of Spotify, Youtube, Myspace etc. I find the 200-word reviews increasingly reduntant. Some kind of "also out this month" -list would be useful, but the current system of 5-10 long, detailed and well-argued reviews should not be jeopardized. That's the kind of stuff that you can't find in other mags.

Meaty reviews of a select handful and a swift assessment of an interesting varied cluster. I think it would also be helpful to have an "also released" list - there's so much coming out that I missed the second volume of Jack Nietzche recordings for one.

And I agree with bigsteviecook above - there are several CDs and books that I have sought out and enjoyed based on the recommendations of the Massive

in my opinion is a complete mess. I have subscribed to the magazine from the start, but there seems no format to it anymore. I mean what is the section where a reader recommendeds an album, film etc. If i want that sort of info i can look at any review on Amazon. Also the word of mouth section has been brought back (which i used to like), but how many times do we have to hear from Danny Baker and what he likes. I new it was going downhill when the main review last month was Sade's album.

Not bigging up the competition as R2 really is a different niche to Word - much more at the folky/rootsy end where Word doesn't generally go. Loads of reviews, news, tours. I buy them both as they cover a lot of ground between them.

longer reviews are great

supplemented my more shorter reviews would be good

reviews should be descriptive and express a view

I dont accept that you should go to uncut for such things - music magazine of the year is a badge Word wears with pride

a heavy presence of interviews with musicians, reviews of concerts and reviews of recordings is what makes a magazine a music magazine

I dont mind the staples

I dont mind the drawn covers - loooking forard to the first drawn beard

I do think the format has got a bit "all over the place"

I dont mind a longish diary from the editor as long as he has had an interesting week

I hope for once I haven't overlooked any bad typos in this

and don't want more reviews. I buy the Word because it doesn't do this kind of thing.

two penneth added.

Even if I don't know the artist I read them, as I'm still interested in other opinions. It's good to know what's out there. I have never used Spotify.

And as much as I love Mark Ellen - in fact he makes me laugh just to look at him (in a nice way) - that diary is awfully long. I'm sure we could cut out at least two of those 'To the Boom Boom Room to see blah...' missives.