During the past few weeks the record review department has been confused as to what policy should be followed when reviewing records. Who should review and how? The fact that we haven't any clear ideas of student opinion as regards record reviews make these questions even harder to answer: should reviews concentrate on the relevency of rock music, is it saying anything of value? Does it have any social merit (or is it merely an opiate purveyed by the capitalist record companies?) Or should reviewers imitate the rock critics in attempting to establish what is essential, as art, in a particular piece of music (a task requiring consid-erable ability and talent)? Or finally (oh God no!) do we need reviews anyway?

Salient does of course welcome all student copy and the records column will continue to provide an outlet for reviews from students. But we want to maintain a high standard of reviews. Part of this will depend on the skills of the reviewer, the rest depends on what the readers need. If we don 't know what you all would tike then we can 't perform a useful reviewing service. One way of course is for you all to write and tell us. Another way was agreed on last week and will be discussed at the next meeting of the Rock Club. We are hoping to organise weekly or fortnightly music forums where people interested in rock music can listen to the latest releases. Hopefully we will be able to print general comment from these forums in the records column. It's a bold idea that will depend on the participation of followers of rock music for its success so watch for notices advertising the next Rock Club meeting. Otherwise if you have another idea drop it into Salient.

Brian King

Graeme Simpson