Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 08:27:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Chris Calabrese <chris at bmamarketing dot com> Subject: Why do we try to compare?
I am often fascinated by reading reviews - mostly of cds by artists I really enjoy listening to.
If anyone here visits amazon.com, you will know that users can submit their own 'top 10 list' or 'best prog ever'list. I get particularly agitated when I read one for the crims that has a list like 'the crimson catalog - best to worst'. It doesn't even really matter to me which ones they choose, but why even waste the negative energy. I for one, enjoy all crimson cds to some degree and that's why they're such a great band. Why do we compare? Not just crimson but any cds in this way. Some bands do have better cds than other ones (such as early 70's Yes vs. early 80's Yes) - but one of the things that makes Crimson one of my favorite bands is that each release is powerful and unique in its own way. I didn't just purchase every Crimson cd because I like the band. I purchased all their cds with the intent of listening to and honestly enjoying each one. It drives me even more crazy when crimson 'fans'??? on places like amazon.com and even ET sometimes end up diminishing the value of a great band by making these outrageous comparisons. Especially on amazon, the point of a list like this is to sell more cds for amazon through present customer recommendations. I for one, do not think you're being a true fan of the band if you're telling new/potential crimson fans that Beat and ItWoP are garbage. Here is an example of this:
On the other side of the coin, I have also seen other types of reviews that are more of an 'introduction' to a specific band. I think these make much more sense because they present the band in a way where the fan has positive ideas about about specific releases rather than negative ones. Here is an example of this:
I think we all should take a step back and try to find what makes each release so special instead of figuring out why we like one better than the other. What do we ever accomplish by doing that?
Chris
(A Crimson fan who works in the bowling business)