What's very important for new releases?

When a band will release a new album, what's very important for you to decide if this new album is a very good album?

- the lyrics have to be bold and with a clear Christian message;
- the music has to be cool, cool intro, riffs and more;
- if the music fits with the voice of the vocalist;
- the production has to be good;
- the mastering of the CD;
- how the CD looks, the artwork, if there are lyrics on the insert;
- anything I have forgotten to mention.

Do you buy new releases when the quality of the CD is not very good?
Or when there are other things you don't like.
What if a band brings out a very cool CD with very bold lyrics, cool music that really fits to the vocals but with a lower production, do you buy the CD or do you say NO due the lower quality?

First of all, artwork isn't really that big of a deal to me. I like great artwork, but if the music and message are good, then I can overlook subpar artwork.

I like music that is recorded well, has a great vocalist, and has a message of hope in Christ that touches my heart. I like bold vocals, and I like some poetic stuff. It just depends on how it moves my soul and how it gets my feet to tapping with the beat.

I can overlook some production issues. I realize from experience that not all indie artists have the knowledge or funding to make a CD that would rival a major recording label release. Mastering is a good thing, but I have some CDs that have never been professionally mastered that I still enjoy. You just have to turn up the volume!

So, what's most important for new releases for me?

1. Good music
2. Good singer
3. Good lyrics/message

You can have the best message in the world and no one will care if the music and singer stink.

Alldat pretty much nailed it for me. My biggest thing with new releases too though is checking out samples before I invest. Often when I've bought one or two albums from a paticular band I like I just assume I will love the next album when in fact it's nothing like their previous music and the message isn't very good.

that has happened very rarely for me though

The most important thing for me is the singer, or screamer with some bands. Then I worry about the rest. For some reason I've always cared a lot about the sound of the drums. I don't care about lyrics a whole lot as I don't delve into them at all.

Vocalists and music are usually the first thing that catches my attention. If I don't like the music or the singer, it doesn't really matter if the message is good or not because I just won't listen to it. Then of course most of the music I have is from Christian artists and I prefer the music that has strong Christ-centered lyrics.

The production isn't too big an issue but I have gotten rid of at least 2 albums because something about the guitar in the production really bugged me.

I could almost care less about what the band chooses for art work, but if I'm gonna purchase a cd it better come with liner notes, credits etc. I won't buy mp3 albums.

1 - Vocalist - Rob Rock, Herbie Langhams, Michael Sweet kind of sound
2 - music - hard rock or metal and good quality
3 - lyrics - Biblical in some way or other
4 - production value - good sound, although I can cope with raw!
5 - price - Cheap is always good, but not a necessity
6 - artwork - Not that important, but it does make it look great! Stuff like
Gethsemane Rose - Tattered 'n' Torn
Bride - Silence Is Madness
Impellitteri - Crunch
Stairway - No Rest No Mercy

Stuff not like
Stairway - The Otherside of Midnight (good concept, but not very well done)
Bride - This Is It (Not really a rock looking album)
Sacred Warrior - Wicked Generation (poor!)
Ledfoot - S/T (again, a good concept but poorly executed)

Fundy

Music, a good bold message and how the voice of the vocalist sounds are important for me.
For example Killed By Kain has good music but the voice of the vocalist sounds not cool.

cool artwork is cool but not so important as how the music, vocals and lyrics sound.
Most of the time I "fall" for the music.