Phil,
This is in no way a flame. You have made some good points, and
I'm just giving some opposing arguments...
>
>All of these lists of various people's "favorite albums with NO bad songs" has
>been interesting and informative but it proves a point that I have often
>thought and I wanted to see what y'all think about it. Good bands that
>are really good will always have an album with all good songs (or at least
>most of them).
>
That's an interesting point, and it may hold up when looking at the
albums from one point of view, but once you introduce more than one point of
view you will have real problems deciding on what is "good". Some of the
albums that people listed don't have (in my opinion) any really good songs,
and I'm certain that many people would feel the same about the albums
that I would choose. That's the way it should be. "Good" is a subjective
term; it can be misleading to think that just because one person doesn't
like all the songs on an album that it is not "good" to someone else.
>In other words, if a band only has one or two good songs,
>then why buy the album? That kind of band doesn't deserve your support if
>they don't have enough skill to produce more than a couple good songs.
>Obviously the one good song they did have was just a coincidence.
>
Again, who decides which songs are good? Ignoring that for the
moment, how do you even know if a band only has two good songs before you
buy the album and listen to it a lot? You could borrow or dub a copy from
a friend and decide that way, of course. Sometimes though, that is not an
option. Quite a few of the albums that I have taken chances on have turned
out to be some of my favorite albums (like Magellan's "Hour of Restoration",
Golden Earring's "Moontan", etc). I bought "Moontan" for the song "Radar Love"
and because I was curious if their other songs were as good. At first, I
thought I had made a mistake 'cause I didn't like the rest of the album.
After giving it more time, I have come to like many of the other songs even
better than "Radar Love". This probably wouldn't have happened if I borrowed
it, because I wouldn't have given it enough time. As the Fates Warning fans
keep pointing out, sometimes you have to listen to an album a lot before
you hear the nuances and power that are not obvious on first listen.
If a person feels that a band only has one good song, then he may
feel that it's only a coincidence that the band made a good song. As long
as the person actually listened to most all of that band's songs then that's
a fair judgement -- for *his* point of view. For another person, every one
of that band's songs might be good and that's also fair -- for *his* point of
view. By saying something like "a band doesn't deserve your support" and
"the one good song was a coincidence" the person is implying that the band
doesn't deserve anyone's support -- which wouldn't be fair to other people's
views. Of course, if you told someone who loved the band that they shouldn't
support them, then that's when we see the flames start... :-) Sometimes
when someone says that "Dream Theater sound like bad metal" my hackles rise
and I have to remind myself that they're just as entitled to their view as
I am. I might still try to get them to give DT more time though... ;-)
>This thought may seem off the wall, but this is the reason why I hate singles
>and DESPISE pop radio. People who hear one song on the radio and then buy
>the single often do this because the rest of the songs aren't any good.
>
I don't think the average person buys the singles because the
other songs aren't good -- I doubt that person has ever heard those other
songs. They buy it because they know the single *is* good and they're
afraid the rest of the album won't be (and a single is cheaper than an
album). I'm just the opposite. If I hear a song that I like on the radio,
I'll buy the album so that I can hear the rest of the songs. I don't love
radio, exactly, but it has exposed me to some stuff (alternative mainly)
that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. I'm glad I got that exposure.
What bugs me is that people are afraid to give the other songs by that band
a chance.
>... One of the reasons ytsejam is so
>great is because we can hear about good bands that we might not hear of
>any other way. So keep those opinions coming!
>
I definitely agree with you here! :-)
> Please react to what I said about singles and that good bands are
>characterized by albums with almost all good songs.(I won't say all,
>because we all have different tastes, and its no big deal if we don't like
>one or two.)
>
Well, there's my reaction... :-) I'll look forward to your reaction
to my reaction...
Steve
P.S. Cool -- my random quote generator actually gave a somewhat appropriate
quote this time:
-- Steve Chew - schew@tis.com - http://www.clark.net/pub/iz/home.html "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies." -- Nietzsche
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