User:Tcspencer01/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose to evaulate this article because this is one of my favorite albums, and I am a huge fan of the band that wrote it (Coheed and Cambria), so I figured that I would be more likely to catch inconsistencies or incorrect information about the album or band. This album is considered a landmark amongst guitarists like myself, so it is important that its history, themes, and accolades are correctly depicted as many guitarists will continue to visit this page over the years. My initial impression was surprise at the grammatical errors present. I was also surprised that most of the important information about the album was contained within the lead section, with little new information present in other section.

Evaluate the article
The lead section begins with a sentence that accurately and consicely describes the album. There are many hyperlinks present in the first few sentences, which I believe is important because users may be seeking for information about the band or record label that released it. From here, the lead section begins covering the article's major sections. A few sentences in, I began noticing inconsistencies. There were several grammar errors, and one sentence said the album was part of a "projected" tetralogy despite the fact that the fourth and final installment was released in 2007. The tetralogy is not discussed again, and this is only the first bit of information that appears only in the lead section. Many of the details concerning the album's concept are not covered in the "Graphic Novel" section.

The article does not contain any information on the album's composition despite the fact that the band's lead songwriter has discussed the album in numerous interviews (see this article) Information concerning album sales is inconsistent and poorly cited. One citation mentions that the album sold a million copies but leads to a web archive of a website that no longer exists and may not even be considered a reputable source. This is peculiar considering that the articles from other sections come from reputable sources like Entertainment Weekly and Billboard, and many of those are more recent (written in 2015 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the album).

The article's greatest strength is in closing Wikipedia's equity gap. It focuses quite a bit on the band's main songwriter, Claudio Sanchez, who is an underrepresented minority. Another one of its strengths lies in its neutrality. The article states no opinions and does not feel like an article written by a fan; it feels very matter-of-fact. The article's images are also well-placed and relevant, and their captions are helpful, although higher-resolution images would make it more visually appealing.

On a final note, I looked at the "Talk" page for this article and found that many others have raised the concerns that I just described. Clearly, this article needs more work. Its major sections need to be expanded, its citations need to be checked one-by-one for relevance, and the grammar needs to be edited. At the moment, it is poorly developed.