Allmusic seems like it's has been trying to be less elitist lately and has been giving generous rankings/reviews to artists and bands that don't deserve such.

such as

Limp Bizkit's Greatest Hitz 4 Stars
Slipknot Live 3 1/2 stars

It's one thing to properly explain artist place amongst fans and artist import to genres. It's another to call puke caviar just because some people like eating puke.

IMHLMFO

Well they gave Hotel California five stars a long fucking time ago.

I wasn't aware they weren't always giving bad albums good ratings.

Maybe I've just noticed it more lately because they're starting to evaluate the careers of nu-metalers, boy bands and teeny punk poppers as if there's something redeeming in those acts just because a bunch of people listened to them over the past decade.

I'm used to reading rave reviews about classic rockers. Even when I disagree, it doesn't seem unusual. But now that the Linkin Parks and Limp Bizkits are becoming veteran acts, it seems weird to read career retrospectives that verge on semi-reverence or ones that semi-apologetically validate the shit by explaining its genre importance.

Aren't they always really generous with their ratings, even if the review is on the bad side?

I guess If I looked back on all the reviews I've read, that's probably true.
Just seems a little more nauseating to me when it's a Fred Durst than a Bob Seger or something.

I thought I remembered reading somewhere that their ratings were only meant to be interpreted as relative ratings within each artist's catalog.

eg. If Captain & Tenille "Muskrat Love" is given five stars, it only means its the best damn captain & tenille album and not that its better than one of neil young's lesser efforts that may have only garnered 3 stars.

If that were true, wouldn't every artist have a five-star, or at least a four-star album?

Some artists don't have anything rated higher than 3 stars.

maybe its more by genre or style than per artist...

I remember someone once saying that the star ratings were just averages between the ratings of all the various writers that have rated a particular album.