Talk:New Year (song)/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: J Milburn (talk · contribs) 16:35, 10 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Happy to take this one. Review to follow soon. J Milburn (talk) 16:35, 10 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

As with the last one, if it's "the Sugababes", make sure that's what's used everywhere.
- Done Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
"were formed in 1998 by founding members" Redundancy
- Not really sure what's redundant here? Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  - Of course they're the founding members if they formed it. J Milburn (talk) 10:09, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    - Done Till 08:45, 12 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
"accapella" a cappella?
- Done Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
"Their manager, Ron Tom," Whose manager?
- Donaghy's Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
"Multiple B-sides were featured to accompany the single, including "Forever", "Little Lady Love" and "Sugababes on the Run"." This implies there were more B-sides. Why not "Three B-sides were featured to accompany the single: "Forever", "Little Lady Love" and "Sugababes on the Run"."
- Wrote something similar Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
""New Year" was omitted from the" How about "not included"?
- I think omitted is more effective. Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
"beats, bass, strings, guitar and keys," You're listing both song components and instruments together. Perhaps just list the instruments used?
- Don't really know how to differentiate b/w them? Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  - "Beats" are not an instrument. "Strings" and "keys" are parts of instruments. A "guitar" is an instrument. "Bass" can either be an instrument or part of the music. J Milburn (talk) 10:09, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
""New Year" "tells [a tale] of festive fumblings to Last Christmas"" Fumblings to Last Christmas? I don't follow.
- Her words :/ Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  - What do they mean? There's no point us quoting something if we don't know what it means. J Milburn (talk) 10:09, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
"and through lines such as "I'm older than my years, drowning in my tears" the Sugababes are shown singing with insight.[16]" Not clear what that means.
- :/ Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  - If you're meaning to say that the band are performing in a deep, meaningful way, you're going to need to attribute the thought. It's not really something we can say in our neutral voice. J Milburn (talk) 10:09, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    - It does: "According to Betty Clarke of The Guardian..." Till 08:45, 12 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
"According to the Daily Mail, the Sugababes avoid sounding "mushy" on the album's ballads such as "New Year" and "Look at Me"" I don't know what "mushy" means, and the mention of the album/"Look at Me" isn't really adding much.
- Removed the 'Look at Me' bit Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
"picked it out as one of the newspaper's favourite Christmas songs" Personification?
- Yeah Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  - Yes, but that's probably something we should avoid. J Milburn (talk) 10:09, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    - Well, that's what the article says. Till 08:45, 12 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
"making it their eighteenth highest-selling single there." The band's? By what date? Can't have been at the time.
- Clarified Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
"One Touch (album). Sugababes. Universal Island Records. 2000." Again, you're citing the booklet, I assume, not the album
- Done Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Concerning File:Sugababes-Newyearcover.JPG, 300 by 300 pixels should be fine.
- I don't know how to do this. Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Was it performed much at the time of the original release? Concert tours, for instance?
- Not really sure. Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  - Well, this would presumably be important information. You spend a whole paragraph leading up to one performance years after it was released, but don't mention anything from the time? J Milburn (talk) 10:09, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    - I didn't find sources that mentioned "New Year" being performed at said time. Till 08:45, 12 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
      - This article says that the song was performed on tour. Could you perhaps take another look around? J Milburn (talk) 18:03, 17 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
"The song received rave reviews from critics" Informal.
- Not really :/ Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  - The OED lists 6 meanings of the word "rave"; three are nouns, three are verbs. It doesn't list however you're meaning to use it. J Milburn (talk) 10:09, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    - Reworded Till 08:45, 12 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The sourcing looks good. J Milburn (talk) 16:54, 10 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Ta, Till 05:04, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Some sources you may wish to use-

Hyland, Ian (21 December 2000). "Christmas singles". Sunday Mirror. p. 47.

"SUGABABES: New Year (London) - It mentions Christmas in the lyrics but it's a New Year grower. 8/10"

The Express December 21, 2000 "TURKEYS THAT BECOME FESTIVE CHART-TOPPERS" DOMINIC UTTON Pg. 14

"The only interesting contenders are Sugababes, whose song New Year is far too good to make No1, Eminem, the American bad-boy rapper, whose song Stan, a skewed, vicious tale of obsessive fandom and suicide, may have peaked too soon and Bob the Builder, currently top with a three-minute contribution so annoying that it does, indeed, feel like a throwback to the good old days of Noddy Holder and co."

Ok, some thoughts.

As mentioned above, there is the problem with undue weight/recentism/possibly WIAGA#3a concerning the performances.
The review section feels basically like a list of quotes. That's not a particularly good writing style.
Concerning "The song was raved by critics"- that doesn't mean what you think it means. It's not at all clear what you're trying to say here.
"A journalist from the BBC wrote that the single as "lives up to the hype" and praised the inclusion of lyrics about Christmas as "without sounding remotely contrived"." Poor writing
"on the album's ballads" - This article isn't about the album. It's about the song.
I do not think that the live performance could possibly be interpreted as promotional.
"During the video, the group's members sing in front of a white background, while computer graphics such as snow, letters and butterflies appear throughout." More clumsy writing

The first two I'm willing to let slide, but the others definitely need dealing with before I can promote. Also, take a look at the sources I cited above. You don't have to use them, but I thought they may be useful. J Milburn (talk) 15:52, 24 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, this has stagnated- there have been no edits to the article or the review page in over a week, and problems remain. I'm going to close the review. I recommend you renominate once these issues have been dealt with. J Milburn (talk) 19:08, 1 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]