Why does iTunes have hollow star ratings on unrated songs?

Answer 1

The hollow stars represent the rating that you gave the album. This can happen because you downloaded a pre-rated album (tsk tsk) or you accidentally set it yourself. There is not an obvious place to change it but the easiest way in itunes8 is:

1) go to the menu bar and click "View">>"As Grid"

2) double click the offending album

3) there should be hollow stars under the image of the album giving its rating

4) click the stars, hold down, and drag the rating to 0 (this won't change the individually rated tracks btw)

5) no more hollow stars will appear in list view

It took a while to figure that one out and it really should be an option in the tag editor