User Friendliness – 8
Treovr loads up pretty quickly, despite the amount of images contained in its pages. I don’t know if this will remain the same if more content is added, though. The archives are grouped according to general categories – they could be more specific for easier navigation. This will come in handy when more content is added.

Reading Enjoyment – 8
Readers will definitely find Treovr a joy to read – or look at. The images are not your run-of-the-mill content you can find everywhere. Still, it would be good to have some text to accompany the images.

Useful Info – 8
There isn’t much “practical” info in the pages of Treovr, but if all you need is to find unique stuff about art, science, and music – this is a pretty good blog to visit.

Overall Experience - 8
Treovr is still a “baby” and with a few tweaks here and there, this blog can go a long way. If I were you, I’d keep my eyes on this one.

Visual Aesthetics – 10
The visuals of Never Too Late Guitar are excellent! From the unique header to the brown-beige color theme, the blog is simply pleasing to look at. There is no shortage of images within the blog posts themselves. Great work!

User Friendliness – 10
Navigating Never Too Late Guitar is such an easy task. All the relevant links can be found either in the right column or at the top of the blog. Load times are a snap as well.

Reading Enjoyment – 10
I learned guitar when I was a kid, but never really became good at it. Needless to say, I enjoyed myself immensely as I was going through the posts in Never Too Late Guitar. I especially liked the awesome guitar pictures.

Useful Info – 10
There is a LOT – I repeat, a LOT – that you can pick up in this blog. True, Jeff may consider himself a beginner, but he is also right in saying that he has a lot to share with others.

Overall Experience - 10

I’m glad to say that we have another Gold Bloggy Award Winner! Guitar enthusiasts – whether you are a newbie or more experienced – Never Too Late Guitar should be in your bookmarks!

Visual Aesthetics – 10
I am not fond of using “z” for “s” but that aside, the visuals of Guitar Noize are great! The main background is black with a spattering of white blobs. The text background is plain white, making it easy to read. And the header-logo is obviously custom made. The posts themselves are also visually appealing, with relevant images included.

User Friendliness – 10
I have to say that Guitar Noize is very very easy to navigate. The clean look of the blog makes it a simple matter to find what you’re looking for. The posts also contain the necessary information for the reader to get where they want to go – from links to instructions, Jonathan provides these. More so, load times are not an issue.

Reading Enjoyment – 10
Easy reading! Any guitar enthusiast will love going through the posts in Guitar Noize as they are quite simple to understand, and the passion of the blogger just shines through. Mind you, this is not your run-of-the-mill teach-yourself-how-to-play-like-Eric-Clapton resource. You get to watch videos, read Jonathan’s take on all things guitar, and so much more.

Useful Info – 10
Very useful indeed! While I said up there that it is not a step by step tutorial on how to play the guitar, you will pick up tricks in this blog as well. And of course, there is a lot of trivia, which, while not “practical,” is quite important information to guitar lovers.

Overall Experience - 10

Nothing more needs to be said. Guitar Noize is a Gold Bloggy Award Winner!

Visual Aesthetics – 9
Merkez Burasi’s header is definitely beautiful and very much reflective of the blog’s theme. However, the template used is quite bland when compared to the blog’s content. Thankfully each post is accompanied by album art making the blog really colorful and interesting to look at. The empty label cloud is also an eyesore and should either be populated or removed.

User Friendliness – 9
The blog posts have content that are well organised. Each post is formatted the same way with the album art showcased, a complete list of the songs in the album, and giving important information such as the data format, download rate, file size, and also the music genre. However, before being able to download anything users need to go to Rapidshare. The great thing about the blog though is that the searhc box is pretty prominent and the tabs at the top actually contain useful sections (E-books, Soundtracks, Facebook, Subscribe, and Requests)

Reading Enjoyment – 7
Nothing to read here. A delight to surf though if only for the very interesting album art.

Useful Info – 10
Very useful blog for Jazz lovers.

Overall Experience - 9
Merkez Burasi is a great resource for jazz lovers looking for free downloable albums. A blog to subscribe to if you are into music but not something to visit if you are not.

Visual Aesthetics – 9
I am partial to dark themes and Street Anthem fits the bill perfectly. The layout is orderly, making the overall look pleasing to the eyes. One suggestion though – some of posts had pink fonts and I felt that those posts didn’t quite match the rest of the blog.

User Friendliness – 8
Street Anthem is well-organized and makes it easy for readers to navigate the whole blog. I like how the links are arranged in an orderly manner in the right column. I think it would be better if the recent posts and categories were found before the blog roll, though. I couldn’t find a section for the archives either. Another thing, the fonts seem a bit too small for comfortable reading.

Reading Enjoyment – 9
There isn’t that much text in Street Anthem. The posts are more on videos, which are cool to watch, of course. I think the only thing that the blog needs in this respect is more insight from the writers.

Useful Info – 10
For the target audience, Street Anthem hits the nail right on the head. I would have to say that the content is one of the strongest points of this blog.

Overall Experience - 9
Street Anthem should be in every music lover’s bookmarks. Those who are into watching music videos would like Street Anthem especially.

Visual Aesthetics – 8
The color scheme of Song Of Fire is very apt. Red, black, and white are the predominant colors and when you look at the homepage, the passion seems to be shouting at you. I do not like how the green Technorati button at the top of the page takes away from the overall effect, though. Maybe it can be placed lower in the column? Also, there are practically no other visuals in the blog. Relevant photos would definitely help.

User Friendliness – 8
I had some problems with loading time. I am not sure why because there weren’t too many photos at all. Perhaps it was due to the music player. The organization of archives and categories could use more work as well.

Reading Enjoyment – 10
I enjoyed reading the informative posts on music and its different aspects. I particularly like the short stories available as well.

Useful Info – 10
The concept of Song Of Fire is something new to me. I love music – all kinds – but it seems to me that there is much that I do not know about it, especially after reading this blog. There is a lot of information, both facts and opinions, to be found in the pages of Song Of Fire.

Overall Experience - 8
Song Of Fire offers great content. A little tweaking on the visual and formatting side and Song Of Fire would be even better. I recommend a visit to this site.

Visual Aesthetics – 8
At first glance, Music Road does not really give you that “wow” factor. Don’t get me wrong, the visuals are perfectly fine – default template and color scheme, neat layout, and all that. I just think that it needs something to make the blog stand out aesthetically.

User Friendliness – 10
The layout is very organized and user friendly. The posts are also linked well to more information, making it easy for readers. I had no problems with page loading times as well.

Reading Enjoyment – 9
I love music – all kinds of music. Maybe this is why I enjoyed browsing through Kerry’s blog. Though I haven’t heard of many of the artists and songs she talks about, I found myself reading what she had to say.

Useful Info – 9
There’s a lot of information in this blog about music. In this respect, Kerry achieves her goal, I believe. Of course, music is a very broad topic so different people may have different tastes, and as such, some may not find the information in Music Road as useful as others.

Overall Experience - 9
Aside from the visuals, Music Road is worth the music lover’s time.

Technorati Tags: music, songs, singer, songwriter, composer

Visual Aesthetics – 8
The color scheme is actually very pleasant – three columns, the middle one is white and the outer two light blue. The long blocks of text does not really appeal to me, though. Plus, all the buttons on each side makes for a cluttered look.

User Friendliness – 9
The clutter might confuse readers for a bit but I am sure once you get used to it, navigating the site will be easy. I like how the links are embedded into the posts so you don’t have to look for the information yourself.

Reading Enjoyment – 8
Though the blog contains a lot of information with regard to music – especially those related to indie record label Atom Sounds – I didn’t really find browsing through the different posts very enjoyable. I mean it was not boring, something just seems to be missing. Maybe it’s because I am not familiar with the record label? I suggest that the posts somehow reach out to those who have not discovered their artists yet.

Useful Info – 9
Very useful information, especially for those who are interested in the indie music scene. The occasional posts on the general music scene also helps to add some flavor to Atom Sounds Music News.

Overall Experience - 8
The combination of the visuals and the long blocks of text pulled down my rating. Atom Sounds Music News could be a bit more enjoyable if some formatting adjustments were made. As far as the content goes, it is perfect for their target market.

Technorati Tags: music, music news, indie records

Billiam’s Music Blog

Music downloads for free!!! But wait…Billiam doesn’t condone piracy. What you’ll find here are samplers. He supports the artists and encourages other music lovers to do it as well.

Visual Aesthetics – 8

Very plain template. Nice enough header. Lots of album art.

User Friendliness – 8

Positives: Fast loading time. Highly readable text. Distinct links. No-nonsense posts. Clean look. Easy enough navigation. Downloading can be a hassle especially when the download slots are all taken. Negatives: Too long archives. Suggestion: Use labels instead and put albums of the same artist(s) under one label. No comments but since there is a chatbox it really doesn’t matter much.

Reading Enjoyment – 8

Nothing to really enjoy here in terms of literary value. Once you’ve downloaded what you need you can then enjoy listening to your music of choice. Note though that Billiam uploads compressed files only so that you will need to buy the real album if you want to listen to it at its best quality. This blog stays true to its goal so it still deserves a pretty good score for reading enjoyment.

Useful Info – 10

Very very useful blog. Each entry is a goldmine with the: 1. album art; 2. song list; 3. Download link; 4. Link to the Wikipedia entry on the artist(s).

Overall Experience - 8

A unique blog that promotes and shares music without trampling on anyone’s interest (except for super greedy artists who wouldn’t want you to listen even to crappy quality music without playing). Hard rock and heavy metal lovers should consider this as a regular stopover.

Technorati Tags: Downloads, Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Alternative Rock, Gothic, Instrumental, Music Downloads, Wikipedia