Wikipedia:Peer review/Shenandoah (band)/archive1

Shenandoah (band)

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I've listed this article for peer review because I am trying to get it to good article class. Given that Shenandoah is such a common word, I'm having a hard time trying to get Google to understand what I want, but I think I've dug up enough sources. One problem I'm having is that I can't find very many reviews; the Allmusic reviews are either blank or just one-sentence reviews, and I could only find one review anywhere for In the Vicinity of the Heart. In addition, I can't find a single secondary source to verify that Ralph Ezell rejoined the band, or that Stan Munsey joined at all, or that Curtis Wright left, so I had to settle for an archive of their official website. I've also had a hard time finding sources that describe the band's sound and influence, and would appreciate any suggestions for sources.

Thanks, Ten Pound Hammer, his otters and a clue-bat • ^{(Many otters • One bat • One hammer)} 22:42, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ruhrfisch comments: I think this looks pretty good, here are some mostly nitpicky suggestions for improvement.

The first sentence of the lead seems a bit too complex for me (listing all the original members and what they did / played). WP:LEAD says in part The article should begin with a short declarative sentence, answering two questions for the nonspecialist reader: "What (or who) is the subject?" and "Why is this subject notable?"[1] I think the info on the founding members should be in the lead, but if you had to tell someone who knew nothing about the band in one sentence what they were about, would you list their founding lineup?
- Done I split it up some.
I would mention something about the band's musical style in the lead - my rule of thumb is to include every header in the lead in some way
- Done Also added.
~~This sentence seems too long / complex - could it split into two, perhaps after the semicolon with a year or two added to provide context?~~ Seals, Thacker and McGuire re-established the band in 2000 with keyboardist Stan Munsey and vocalists Curtis Wright and Brent Lamb. Ezell later rejoined on bass, with Mike Folsom taking over after Ezell's 2007 death; following Lamb's and Wright's departures, Jimmy Yeary became the fourth lead vocalist. Whoops, already 2 sentences - could a year or two be added to the end of the second sentence?
- I haven't been able to find the years in which most of the fresher members left. As I said, I can barely find anything that says Wright or Lamb or Yeary are/were even in the band. I think the archive of the website is the best I can do.
The first six subsections in History are each just one paragraph long. This makes the article flow a bit choppy IMO. Could any of thse be combined - perhaps in two or three album blocks? When I look at the FA Radiohead, for example, it combines two albums in several sections.
- Done Re-divided some sections and merged others.
Would it also make sense to add years to the History seubheaders? Perhaps the first two paragraphs in History could be a new section called "Formation and Shenandoah (1985 - 1987)", followed by a section called "The Road Not Taken, Extra Mile, and lawsuits (1988 - 1992)" and so on (and yes, I think those need to be en dashes, not hyphens in the year ranges)
- Done Added years.
This sentence seems odd Following the success of this album, the band began a tour that comprised more than 300 shows a year.[10] I can see giving the total number (more than 300 shows in one year) or the duration (an 18 month tour with more than 300 shows a year) but as is it seems incomplete
- Done Rephrased to indicate that they played 300 shows in 1989.
Another odd sentence - makes it sound like when they left, the Columbia label had no other acts (no bands): After Shenandoah left the label, producer Larry Strickland assembled three musicians to form a new band called Matthews, Wright & King, in an attempt to keep a band on the label.[17]
- I clarified the setence to indicate that Columbia had other acts, but not other groups, on the label.
Where possible I would try to briefly identify many of the people mentioned (songwriters mostly) - even though they are wikilinked, a casual reader will not know who these people are in most cases and a brief identification helps. A nice example where this is already done is The album also produced the band's last Top Ten hit in "Vicinity"'s B-side, "Darned If I Don't (Danged If I Do),"[5] which Brooks & Dunn's Ronnie Dunn wrote with Dean Dillon.[27] (though I still don't know how Dean DIllon is without a click). Nowadays many musical acts write all or most of their material, so some readers may not be as familiar with the idea of bands chielfy recording songs written by others.
- I've clarified some of the writers.
Is there anything else that can be said about this album? In 2006, the band released the album Journeys on the Cumberland Road label.[45] Once sentence? No reviews? No sales figures?
- Indeed. It came and went in an eyeblink, no reviews, no sales figures, etc. Allmusic doesn't even list the songwriters or musicians. I did find a review for Shenandoah 2000 and cited it.
Since it is close to 2010, it will soon be 4 years since they released an album. Do they tour? Are they planning on releasing an album anytime? I think on things like this the band's own website owuld be Ok to use a source (We hope to have a new album out in X, come see us at the Y state fair, that sort of thing) OK< just looked at their official website andsee they are touring in 2009 - I think this would be worth including in a sentence.
- I added some touring info.
I also wonder if recent tour dates are known, could a search on newspaper websites be made in the cities where they played to get a review or story about their tour / performance? This would avoid the common name problem.
- I haven't found any reviews of their concerts. The pic I got of them last July was at a county fair out in the middle of nowhere, about 30 miles from either local paper.
Refs look OK to me (not a music expert) and the images look fine (nice lead pic and fiar use seems justified for the other image)

Hope this helps. If my comments are useful, please consider peer reviewing an article, especially one at Wikipedia:Peer review/backlog (which is how I found this article). I do not watch peer reviews, so if you have questions or comments, please contact me on my talk page. Yours, Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 04:19, 24 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

- I've addressed most of your concerns. Ten Pound Hammer, his otters and a clue-bat • ^{(Many otters • One bat • One hammer)} 17:45, 24 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]