Guardian review

[buddhahat]

The music might not be to my taste, but the view through that window is fantastic.

Hear hear, and it's enough for me that I can get this enjoyment from the music, without having it validated by newspaper x or y's review.

I remember getting pretty knotted up over Paul Morley's review of BWPS, which ended along the lines : "I need to go and wash my ears out with Dr dre", or Hendrix or some other unquestionably hip muscian (tedious in itself to have to validate your opinion by letting the reader know that you are down with what's cool but that's by the by). I thought "He's wrong, and I'm right - this music is good, and he just doesn't realise it ......  Arsehole."    but on reflection I have realised that if somebody says they don't like something then that's fair play, it is not objective truth, and in fact no such objective quality rating exists for music. If you think Beethoven is merda, then more power to you. All that matters is your own enjoyment or lack of.

Edit: Actually having thought about this a bit longer, I think reviewers' opinions do have some importance as part of their role is to flag up for society what is or isn't worthy of our attention. I suppose a worst case scenario would be that if something zeitgeist changing like Sgt pepper had received only negative reviews then there is a danger that its subsequent dismissal could have a detrimental impact on culture. Maybe this is in part why we get defensive when we read bad reviews of things we like.

[The Heartical Don]

The music might not be to my taste, but the view through that window is fantastic.

Hear hear, and it's enough for me that I can get this enjoyment from the music, without having it validated by newspaper x or y's review.

I remember getting pretty knotted up over Paul Morley's review of BWPS, which ended along the lines : "I need to go and wash my ears out with Dr dre", or Hendrix or some other unquestionably hip muscian (tedious in itself to have to validate your opinion by letting the reader know that you are down with what's cool but that's by the by). I thought "He's wrong, and I'm right - this music is good, and he just doesn't realise it ......  Arsehole."    but on reflection I have realised that if somebody says they don't like something then that's fair play, it is not objective truth, and in fact no such objective quality rating exists for music. If you think Beethoven is merda, then more power to you. All that matters is your own enjoyment or lack of.

Good call. I think Paul Morley is quite a narcissistic man. One of the arts with a capital A. Long, long ago I already thought he always wanted to be the true star of a review, not the artists themselves. He could be elated about absolutely mediocre stuff, or weird dross from the fringe. He dislikes (IMHO) the common man. The only thing I have to thank him for are the Fire Engines.

(Note: Ian Penman was even stranger. He did not write one single sentence that made any sense. I bet he'd read the collected works of Derrida, Foucault, Lacan, and their ilk, and nowt else. He went like this:

"In a semi-deluded dream state, in circular experiences of the numen pe se, the rhythmic expeditions of Zot Zot Plumbum are truly extraordinary, because wheres in prior work they tended to follow the colonialist attitudes of the ordinary aprés-ski tourist listener, this time the Freudian sub-sub id itself is addressed, with consequences that stretch far beyond the exploration of repressed emotions - the motíf Oedipal converges shockingly yet beautifully with the cerebral demands of the superego, modified as it was by Rogers in his typical Jungian réveries.")

In my world, Love You is a pure punk-album. Rough, open, emotional, unexpected, with faults, in your face, just as punk should be. Compared to it, Never Mind The Bollocks is lazy heavy metal drivel, far less interesting than anything by, say, Motörhead, Free, or, Wishbone Ash.

[Mike's Beard]

Brother John, I am English and I do not read newspapers as there is something rotten about each and every one of them.

As a fellow Brit I must add that all Newspapers over here are garbage. Only good if you want to read up on what B-List celebs have been up to in the last 24 hours. Even the actual news in these rags is written with a bias towards whatever Party the writer leans towards.

The music might not be to my taste, but the view through that window is fantastic.

Hear hear, and it's enough for me that I can get this enjoyment from the music, without having it validated by newspaper x or y's review.

I remember getting pretty knotted up over Paul Morley's review of BWPS, which ended along the lines : "I need to go and wash my ears out with Dr dre", or Hendrix or some other unquestionably hip muscian (tedious in itself to have to validate your opinion by letting the reader know that you are down with what's cool but that's by the by). I thought "He's wrong, and I'm right - this music is good, and he just doesn't realise it ......  Arsehole."    but on reflection I have realised that if somebody says they don't like something then that's fair play, it is not objective truth, and in fact no such objective quality rating exists for music. If you think Beethoven is merda, then more power to you. All that matters is your own enjoyment or lack of.

Edit: Actually having thought about this a bit longer, I think reviewers' opinions do have some importance as part of their role is to flag up for society what is or isn't worthy of our attention. I suppose a worst case scenario would be that if something zeitgeist changing like Sgt pepper had received only negative reviews then there is a danger that its subsequent dismissal could have a detrimental impact on culture. Maybe this is in part why we get defensive when we read bad reviews of things we like.

This is like saying "I need to go wash my ears out with sulphuric acid".

[Mike's Beard]

The words "Brian Wilson" and "contractually obligated" make for a very scary combination.

  as in: I Think We Have Been F*cked?

Have no fear Don. Once Brian has soldiered through and manfully delivered his contractually obligated Disney tunes album, he'll be able to buckle down and focus on his much anticipated personal dream project "Brian Wilson Reimagines Wishbone Ash". Even The Guardian will have no choice but to give it gushing 5 star write ups.

[brother john]

The words "Brian Wilson" and "contractually obligated" make for a very scary combination.

  as in: I Think We Have Been F*cked?

Have no fear Don. Once Brian has soldered through and delivered his contractually obligated Disney tunes album, he'll be able to buckle down and focus on his much anticipated personal dream project "Brian Wilson Reimagines Wishbone Ash". Even The Guardian will have no choice but to give it gushing 5 star write ups.

How about Brian Wilson Reimagines Dr Dre? Now that I'd like to hear!

[The Heartical Don]

The words "Brian Wilson" and "contractually obligated" make for a very scary combination.

  as in: I Think We Have Been F*cked?

Have no fear Don. Once Brian has soldered through and delivered his contractually obligated Disney tunes album, he'll be able to buckle down and focus on his much anticipated personal dream project "Brian Wilson Reimagines Wishbone Ash". Even The Guardian will have no choice but to give it gushing 5 star write ups.

How about Brian Wilson Reimagines Dr Dre? Now that I'd like to hear!

  for the both of you... Brian Wilson Mashes Up Dr Dre, yes, I'd buy that.

[brother john]

Brother John, I am English and I do not read newspapers as there is something rotten about each and every one of them.

You are quite right about that. Newspapers are one of my 'Don't get me started...' topics. Suffice to say they are all, to a greater or lesser extent, corrupt, except perhaps the Financial Times, which is a great paper.

If you want to know what's actually going on in the world, forget it.

[Mike's Beard]

The words "Brian Wilson" and "contractually obligated" make for a very scary combination.

  as in: I Think We Have Been F*cked?

Have no fear Don. Once Brian has soldered through and delivered his contractually obligated Disney tunes album, he'll be able to buckle down and focus on his much anticipated personal dream project "Brian Wilson Reimagines Wishbone Ash". Even The Guardian will have no choice but to give it gushing 5 star write ups.

How about Brian Wilson Reimagines Dr Dre? Now that I'd like to hear!

 
Or "I Just Wasn't Made For These Rhymes"?

[buddhahat]

Or "I Just Wasn't Made For These Rhymes"?

Somebody has to do the mash up just to give that title a home.

[The Heartical Don]

Or "I Just Wasn't Made For These Rhymes"?

Somebody has to do the mash up just to give that title a home.

  Yes. This title is a piece of art...