Should I Be more harsh? - Music - Forums : Best Ever Albums

Kiki

Been thinking about this lately. Haven't paid an awful lot of attention to it and formed my thoughts in an essay of sorts. As a result this is more of a stream of thought.

All this music listening and not much opinions have been said by me. Other people on here seem to more assertive and ready to give opinions. I don't ever seem to be critical of other music and avoid using genres when describing it where possible. Maybe it is these lack of genres being used that may be creating the illusion of it? Think

Hmmm...

Maybe it is subconcious desire to avoid confrontation? Or one to avoid cliches? Like how people say "Says the person who listens to..." as their only comeback. So maybe I shouldn't worry about that. It's all a little silly in the end.

Is it justified to "hate" any music? Are there legitmate reasons to actually dislike a piece? Everything being so subjective that you could like anything and the only reasons you dislike any music is because of a bias you had before listening? Like a bad review, the artist being uncool or unhip, disagreeing with views? Think

A lot can go into that.

So would I be justified for being critical to any album? And for that matter what are favorites? How does one of them come about? How exactaly are the favorite albums different to the least favorite albums? Is it all related to life events? In their strange way coming into it at the lucky moments and securing their place at the top of the pile. Maybe the least favorite ones could have easily been the most favorite but got unlucky.

Or should I be more vindictive and go on instinct. Be more critical than I am now? Think

So should I be more harsh perhaps? Take pride and satisfaction in saying how it is OR how I find it to be? One can only ponder.

Yourselfisntsteam

neat topic you have here. Whenever posting something on any sort of website (Involving stating an opinion) I always get paranoid that I am either being to bold and seeming like a raving asshole, or being a pushover and not saying what's really on my mind. I probably actually veer back and forth between the too, never hitting the right mean... Brick wall

Concerning harshness in criticism (say rating albums) I believe that critics should try to be as harsh as possible, its called "criticism" for a reason.

Everything becomes subjective in some ways: you can have two very intelligent people come to completely different conclusions regarding anything; art, politics, theories....

discussions on what makes an album good or bad often turn somewhat philosophical, and philosophy is all about logic (or in some ways applying logic to things that aren't particularily logical) so:

On one hand: If you can back up your opinions with well reasoned and logical (as logical as discussing something subjective can be) arguments, go for it, state your opinion, even if its different- it can make things more interesting

of course the negatives to being more "harsh" are obvious, one could piss a large number of people off very quickly...

of course this probably isn't helping you at all ,whatever, theres my rant on the subject

nrs182

Age: 32

I think those comments of "Says the person who listens to..." are dumb. At the end you'll never agree in matters of taste, but that doesn't means you can not criticize. If I hate an album i'll say it, if someone loves it I can't say stuff like "You're wrong" or "Your taste sucks". I write in these forums normally adding IMO at the end, just to be clear, at the end forums are for that, to give your opinion as harsh it can be, without having to interfere with others opinion. Some users here can become a little bit sensitive and passionate about some issue, but that's their problem, I come here to give my opinion whatever it is and even to debate opinions, I do not come here to be the smart one or the one who's right, that just ruins it.

Guest

The older I get the more I find my harsh judgemental comments of yesteryear just come back and bite me in the bum, so I tend not to bother anymore!

I like what I like, I like listening to new stuff and will listen to most things people I respect musically recommend. For me music is a bit like politics and religion... something that is not worth getting in a lather about. Everyone has an opinion and will do all they can to defend that opinion. Someone who loves Pink Floyd is unlikely to change their minds just because you think they are shit. Someone who hates Joy Division is unlikely to be convinced by your witty rhetoric that they are in fact the world's greatest band. And anyone in BEA land is yet to be convinced by my assertion that the world would be a better place if more people listened to The Cramps! Wink

By all means say what you think (as forcefully as you like) just don't expect everyone to agree or to change anyone's mind. Remember comments like 'XXX is the greatest thing on earth, you arsehole!' can come back to haunt you in the future d'oh!

purple

mancsoulsister wrote:

the world would be a better place if more people listened to The Cramps! Wink

amen! and Bjork still sucks

cartoken
The Seer

Gender: Male
Age: 39
Location: Paris

purple wrote:

! and Bjork still sucks

this is an illness. intensive listening to Homogenic is your only cure i'm afraid.

Mr. Shankly

Gender: Male
Age: 52
Location: Auburn, Washington

You ask some interesting philosophical questions.

I don't personally get this whole notion that someone can be offended or have hurt feelings because of someone else's opinion, even if his/ her perception is that the opinion is "harsh." I mean it's that person's opinion. If you disagree strongly and feel strongly about your favorite music, it shouldn't matter what the other person's opinion is, unless you're an insecure teenager (no offense to the teenagers on here) who bases his/her self esteem on what others think. At the same time, your opinion is an expression of who you are, what you think, what you feel, what you are passionate about. Let it out, man! Being afraid of expressing your opinion is like being afraid of your own shadow. You have to assert yourself in life. I would say though that if you come with unpopular criticism, be prepared for an argument, and in such a case, it helps if you know what you're talking about and can back it up (at least with me). I also think there's nothing wrong with arguing, as long as you can avoid making it personal. It seems you think criticizing a band or artist someone likes is personal. It isn't and shouldn't be taken that way. Finally, there's a difference between saying this music doesn't appeal to me (one can't really argue against this statement) and saying a band sucks (With this one, you're asking for an argument and you better be prepared to back the statement up).

Kiki

Yourselfisntsteam wrote:

neat topic you have here. Whenever posting something on any sort of website (Involving stating an opinion) I always get paranoid that I am either being to bold and seeming like a raving asshole, or being a pushover and not saying what's really on my mind. I probably actually veer back and forth between the too, never hitting the right mean... Brick wall

Concerning harshness in criticism (say rating albums) I believe that critics should try to be as harsh as possible, its called "criticism" for a reason.

Everything becomes subjective in some ways: you can have two very intelligent people come to completely different conclusions regarding anything; art, politics, theories....

discussions on what makes an album good or bad often turn somewhat philosophical, and philosophy is all about logic (or in some ways applying logic to things that aren't particularily logical) so:

On one hand: If you can back up your opinions with well reasoned and logical (as logical as discussing something subjective can be) arguments, go for it, state your opinion, even if its different- it can make things more interesting

of course the negatives to being more "harsh" are obvious, one could piss a large number of people off very quickly...

of course this probably isn't helping you at all ,whatever, theres my rant on the subject

I like what you're saying there. One thing I would pick out though is how you say critics should be as critical as possible. At smaller levels it is understandable but for major publications, if an album is reviewed negatively it could hamper other people's enjoyment, cause some people to avoid the album for some months, years or forever and affect promotion and touring. There may even be bias towards the album as the journalist had it in for the band. Such harsh criticism is detremental not only to the finacial costs for a band but also to their own will to carry on.

... And the major problem which I covered in the first post, the reviewer may have loved, liked or hated the album if life events went differently. It could be a strong bias creating another stronger bias which is no way attached to the actual music played.

Kiki

nrs182 wrote:

I think those comments of "Says the person who listens to..." are dumb. At the end you'll never agree in matters of taste, but that doesn't means you can not criticize. If I hate an album i'll say it, if someone loves it I can't say stuff like "You're wrong" or "Your taste sucks". I write in these forums normally adding IMO at the end, just to be clear, at the end forums are for that, to give your opinion as harsh it can be, without having to interfere with others opinion. Some users here can become a little bit sensitive and passionate about some issue, but that's their problem, I come here to give my opinion whatever it is and even to debate opinions, I do not come here to be the smart one or the one who's right, that just ruins it.

So there is no right opinion? That does explain a lot in music and something which should be said more Smile

Good stuff

Kiki

mancsoulsister wrote:

The older I get the more I find my harsh judgemental comments of yesteryear just come back and bite me in the bum, so I tend not to bother anymore!

I like what I like, I like listening to new stuff and will listen to most things people I respect musically recommend. For me music is a bit like politics and religion... something that is not worth getting in a lather about. Everyone has an opinion and will do all they can to defend that opinion. Someone who loves Pink Floyd is unlikely to change their minds just because you think they are shit. Someone who hates Joy Division is unlikely to be convinced by your witty rhetoric that they are in fact the world's greatest band. And anyone in BEA land is yet to be convinced by my assertion that the world would be a better place if more people listened to The Cramps! Wink

By all means say what you think (as forcefully as you like) just don't expect everyone to agree or to change anyone's mind. Remember comments like 'XXX is the greatest thing on earth, you arsehole!' can come back to haunt you in the future d'oh!

What you say about it being like politics and religion, maybe that can be a reason to be more harsh. Because in the end it doesn't really matter what is said, no one is going to be proven right or wrong. Or perhaps it could interpreted as a reason to be more considerate of people's opinions. Like you said, it wouldn't be a good thing to have people come back and bite you in the future for something you said.