I've come to realize that the following criticisms of records or musicians really bother me; I try to avoid making them at all costs because I find them so insulting. "The emperor's new clothes" -- insulting becuase it implies that others' tastes are actually delusional/dishonest. "A singles band" -- translation: I've never really heard their albums and have no interest in them, but enjoy some singles therefore I will try to sound like I know what I'm talking about by dismissing them as "a singles band." People only like it because it's cool to like it -- i.e., a sort of "sub-Emperor's New Clothes". Perhaps if I had ever been part of a "cool group", it wouldn't bother me so much. And of course, I have no respect for lazy dimissal based on false, reductivist narratives and debunked myths (rather than the music) Reductivism in general pisses me off come to think of it. It's a complex reality! What are some others that you can think of that you consider "invalid" or that irk you for some reason?
I don't get bothered by such things, so I'm not 'triggered'. But, I do raise my eyebrows when someone says that an album is 'objectively bad'. Also if someone claims that 'real fans of artist X .....'. Implying that anyone who doesn't isn't a real fan.
The Beatles is the emporor's new clothes. They are a singles band that people only like so they look hip.
I would switch that around and add "People only don't like this so they look cool/hip"...... like there's no way you could possibly not like certain albums/ music
I didn't want to be the first to mention our friends from Liverpool, thanks But yeah, its big here, if you don't like "Sgt Pepper"for example its not because you just don't like it, its because your a hipster!
Yeah. Funny I was looking at it the other way, I.e. if you like band/album x, you are just trying to be cool. But I guess it works both ways. Either way it does bother me and sometimes does indeed trigger me into an Internet spat I’d rather avoid.
It doesn’t trigger me, but one thing that always blows my mind: “The album is too short!” Good. More albums should be shorter.
I can give that a pass because I think many albums are too long, but too short/long might be a genuine subjective opinion and thus (to me) valid.
I see nothing wrong with the "Singles band" label. I think it can be an accurate description and not necessarily a negative one. I think the Who were a "singles band" during the 60s and they had some brilliant singles. Same goes for the Beach Boys in their early years (62-65). Both are among my favorite bands. The Rolling Stones were also primarily a "singles band" before "Beggar's Banquet" -- lots of great singles and sort of patchy albums. On the other hand, the post-Barrett Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin simply cannot be described as "singles bands" whether you like them or not.
Good one. If I ever write something like that, I am probably intentionally trying to rile someone up. it truly is BS.
I, too, find the use of the term 'objectively' in the context of music, artistry, how a piece of equipment sounds etc. a bit puzzling inasmuch as things such as music, artistry, how a piece of equipment sounds etc. are all subjective matters which primarily depend upon any given single individual's subjective viewpoint at a given point in time and not upon an external 'absolutist' viewpoint. In short, in the context of forum discussions, there can't really be an absolutist viewpoint for anything that is subjective by its very nature. Even a single person's value judgements, which they might view as absolutist from their own perspective, might actually vary from day to day or hour to hour.
I know there are people like that, but they're not really interested in music, certainly not interested enough to hang out on message boards and post about it.
Definitely anything based on the idea that someone is pretending to like/dislike something. I’ve never met anyone in several decades of hanging out with music obsessed people that was disingenuous about their opinions. I didn’t always understand their reasons, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t their genuine opinion
Well yea...if an album is too long the grooves are too narrow to produce good fidelity. However a long cd, so long as it's not over say 80 minutes , doesn't have that problem. Now if it's too long for you....just hit the stop button on your to unit. Don't deprive others. Simple.
