Just to get a few things off my chest

[John A Swartz]

A few write to my comment:

> > 4.  Music is neither good or bad -- you may like it or not like it, but
> > that like or dislike doesn't make it good or bad.  I don't particularly
> > like alot of what's being played on the radio these days (although I'm
> > starting to get into some stuff), but that doesn't mean it's bad, just
> > that I don't like it.  Maybe I should start a new slogan:  "Music
> > doesn't suck - people do."  O.K., maybe not . . .  ;-)
>
> I disagree.  Sometimes fans are ripped off by bands throwing in
> anything just to make up an album.  Fans know when they're getting
> the real thing and when they're gettin a half baked effort just
> to extract a few more bucks from the record buying public.  In
> those cases it does suck.  I think it happens more than we'd
> like to believe.
>
> RR
>
Ross,
I think you're right.  Isn't the substandard work on Club Ninja
responsible for a lot of the erosion of BOC's fan base?
theo


You (and Steve Swann also commented I believe) are missing my point.
And *Club Ninja* may be a good example.  A lot of us don't like the
music on that album -- that is our subjective opinions of it.  However,
that doesn't make the music good or bad.  It's whether or not it's
enjoyable to someone.  If you don't like it, then that's fine but
it doesn't mean the music sucks.  And how complicated the music is
does not necessarily make music better or worse.  Look it some simple
little tune like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (the nursery rhyme, not the
Stevie Ray Vaughn version) -- that tune has a grand total of 4 notes in
it.  Sure, I don't want to sit around listening to it, but there are
millions of little kids out there that think that song "kicks ass" (of
course their description of it would be a little different).  That song
has been passed down for years.  But is a simple little ditty with 4
notes in it a "good" song?  Most music can probably be enjoyed by
someone (hopefully at least the person who wrote it) - by that person's
definition then, it is "good".  Everyone else in the world might hate
it, but that still doesn't mean it's "bad".

To say music is "good", "bad", "kicks ass", "sucks", etc. is a matter
of opinion.  I'm not against opinions, but you need more to make them
something to discuss -- WHY do you think something's good or bad?  Hey,
if I ask for opinions on this list on some music (say, to decide if I
want to buy it), I need more than just a few people saying "It's great"
or "It sucks" -- those statements don't tell me anything, and 2 different
people could each give me opposite responses.

I hope this makes what I was trying to say clearer, if not, just
disregard what I've said -- I'm ranting on far too much here . . .

John