we're all fanboys

[bloop]

Um, something's been bothering me with my top 10 list, and with others as well.  It's like, the top few at least is a foregone conclusion.  "I like Radiohead more than any other band, so they're #1" says bloop..."I like OtR and Innocence Mission more than Radiohead and Webb, so they're #1 and #2".  All of this, on all sides, without having heard half the songs (I've heard the Rh album by now, obviously, but it was a foregone conclusion before even the pre-release leaks were out).  

We're all fanboys.  This is sad.  I'm going to go meditate until I get an objective mind on musical excellence (and there IS a such thing...whatever God thinks must be objective truth).

[Guest]

I'm not a fan of Radiohead, Over the Rhine, Innocence Mission, or even *gasp* U2.  They all make good music, I just don't like it.  Sometimes I even wonder why people think they're that good.

[bloop]

I'm not a fan of Radiohead, Over the Rhine, Innocence Mission, or even *gasp* U2.  They all make good music, I just don't like it.  Sometimes I even wonder why people think they're that good.

OK, I know that there isn't a band that's for everyone, so that's not what I'm concerned about.  I think anybody looking at U2 and Radiohead based only on their music, absent other observations, it's hard to deny that they both are good whether one likes them or not, but this is coming from someone that does enjoy both of them.  But, again, all this is not what the thread is about.  You probably have your own set of favorites.  Do you pretty much know those favorites would make your top 5 or 10 before even listening to them?  Apply accordingly.

[Escuchame]

I'm not a fanboy!  You know why?  'Cause I don't have a "favorite."

My guilty pleasure... my pseudo "favorite" is Jaci Velasquez, but she barely makes my Top 30 for the year.  I've grown exponentially cold to her music as of late.

I don't know.  I used to think that Pearl Jam were my favorite, but they're not.  Same for The Smashing Pumpkins; they're not really up 'there'.  I grew up listening to them and I respect their craft and their stylistic growth, but I'm not one to do cartwheels over them.

I've been tempted to think that this is an existential problem of sorts, a psychological malady, maybe.  It's kinda strange not having a band that I blindly idolize regardless of what they put out, 'cause truthfully, apparently everyone has one.  Jess and Josh embrace U2.  David worships at the altar of Jars of Clay.  Scott instinctively backlashes at the slightest hint of Radiohead opposition.  Et al.

At the end of the day, I'm kinda content with my 'deprivation', if you will, since it saves me the time, effort, and stress of having to heroically intercede for the idols on my wall whenever somebody dares say something diminutively negative about them.  I just don't give a damn.

Additionally, I think my lack of a "favorite" in a way also helps me maintain a sense of critical level-headedness, since I don't have to deal with the imaginary, non-existent artistic "absolutes" that taint the lives of those with an inkling towards fanboyishness.  It's a nice sense of freedom in a way... to know that I'm not the audiophilic equivalent of a narrow-minded fundamentalist who refuses to allow new ideologies (or in my case, new artists) to challenge, and maybe dethrone, concepts that have been mechanically hard-coded into their heads.

In other words, I'm free!

Peace out,
Andree

[Vlad!]

I'm not a fanboy. I don't have a top 10.

[bloop]

I just don't believe you, Andree.

I'm not sure how strong a fanboy I am, even for Radiohead.  The b-side, "Where Bluebirds Fly" is, excuse me, BORING and breaks tradition of the band writing b-sides better than most bands' album tracks.  But I guess I am in the way that I'll defend any of their albums (as art - people don't have to like them for me) to the death, save for "Pablo Honey".

I'm also a huge Pumpkins fan, but I can see where Corgan's instincts didn't always serve them well.  Firing the drummer, and the whole "Machina mystery" thing comes to mind - it was a little lame really.  

My problem isn't with acknowledging where my favorite acts fall short from time to time, but perhaps remaining open-minded enough to hear the gold in others.  There isn't anything wrong with liking a band, or being a "fan" per se, and I think with those that I am a fan of that I'm relatively cool about it.  I can see where others might not like them (even Radiohead).  What drives me crazy is really the fact that I can guess pretty accurately which albums will be in my top 10 before the year has even started, and only a couple of those don't make it because they disappoint me.  If you're free of that, that's cool, but I don't want to give up my favorites anyway, so I'm glad I'm me if ya know what I mean?

P.S.  I have opened myself up to more CCM this year than any year previous, so maybe there is some hope...really, in a sea of opinions, maybe this shouldn't bother me at all.    

[polka_dot]

Oh my gosh you guys, did you know that Stacie Orrico was #6 on TRL today?  Her voice is so amazing!  Once, I got within 10 feet of her! She's the nicest person on the planet!

oh wait, wrong board!  




Really, I'm open to all kinds of music.  My favorites change all the time, depending on my mood and what I'm going through in life at the moment.  Regardless, there are some bands that I would buy their newest CD without ever having heard it.  But I don't even attempt to make top 10 lists.  My musical tastes are still growing...I have no idea what I'm going to like in a couple months.

[Josh]

I may be a fanboy, but I'm not blind to the mistakes that my favorite bands make. "Some Days are Better than Others," "Miami," and "Peace on Earth" all have some ridiculously bad lyrics here and there (though the last two are still excellent songs overall). I think Automatic for the People is highly overrated, and, out of the 13 albums REM has released, I'd only give one of them five stars. And I think Dylan has a terrible voice. I can even think of a couple of OtR songs that I simply don't care for much.

Being a fanboy is a lot like following a favorite sports team. You'll watch the team play every night and you'll always enjoy it, but you'll freely admit that the team loses sometimes. That's how I am with my favorite bands. I always love listening to them, but I don't for a second claim that any of them are perfect.

[bloop]

Yeah, but in your case, you seem to know that OtR will not only make your list, it'll be near the top when the album isn't even out yet.  I'm not attacking you for it, though, because the same is true of me when HTTT by Radiohead wasn't yet released, when I hadn't even prereleases by which to judge.  It seems...I don't know...intellectually dishonest or something, and that's what bothers me.  I'm tortured I guess.

[Josh]

Yeah, but in your case, you seem to know that OtR will not only make your list, it'll be near the top when the album isn't even out yet.

OtR is my third favorite band, and since my two favorite bands aren't releasing new material this year, it seems fair to predict OtR taking my top spot. But nothing's set in stone. It might not make my list at all. I'm merely prophesying.

I would have predicted that either Radiohead or Switchfoot would be topping my list at this point in the year, but they're not. Derek Webb robbed them both. Unexpected stuff like that happens.

[Escuchame]

Being a fanboy is throwing a fit whenever someone disses your faves.

You both do that.  Don't lie.

I particularly don't care.  I just laugh.  I don't have a favorite band (yet).

Peace out,
Andree

[bloop]

Um, pardon me Andree, but no I don't.  It all depends on how they "diss my favorites".  I won't get into it in depth right now, but there is a right way to diss and a wrong way.  If someone humbly says so and so band that I like isn't for them, I have no problem with that.  If someone says so and so band that I like blows goat cheese, and people that like them must be retarded, that's another matter entirely.

I need to be passionate about some little thing that doesn't matter in the long run, but, as I said, I think I keep myself in check pretty well.  I think Josh does, too, in terms of not berating dissenting opinions.  It's really not fair to say otherwise about either of us, and that isn't where my issue is here, so I don't think it's right to bring that up unless you have good examples where we've done otherwise consistently.  

Besides, both of us are missing at least one critical element of being a true fanboys:  absolute devotion to our favorites no matter what.  Both can admit songs that we don't like by our favorite bands . . . most normal people can do that.  Neither of us worship our artists, we just think they're very, very good (and we're probably right, btw).

[bloop]

OK, I understand what you're saying, Josh, but the mere act of prophesying tends to set up any top ten list, in a general sense, early even if the order is out of wack.  Next year, I'd imagine REM will be somewhere in there, probably near the top.  Anticipation alone will bias my list toward REM.  It isn't a big deal, and I am having a crisis over nothing, but it is a consideration.

PS  How do we even compare Derek Webb to Radiohead?  The two albums are so different.  Overall, I'd pick Radiohead because I like interesting uses of electronics and incorporating that into a rock sound, but that is clearly only what I like and not really "better".  I currently have 5 albums from this year ahead of Derek Webb's, none of which I would say is really better...I just listen to them a lot more.  It seems to me that it only amounts to personal preference, so am I worrying over nothing at all?

[Josh]

OK, I understand what you're saying, Josh, but the mere act of prophesying tends to set up any top ten list, in a general sense, early even if the order is out of wack. Next year, I'd imagine REM will be somewhere in there, probably near the top. Anticipation alone will bias my list toward REM. It isn't a big deal, and I am having a crisis over nothing, but it is a consideration.

Yes, I'd imagine REM will make my list, as well... right under U2. But I don't think anticipating those albums makes them definite contenders for my Top 10 list.

How do we even compare Derek Webb to Radiohead?

They are indeed hard to compare. Simply put, both albums have their strengths and weaknesses, but I think Webb's album is tilted a bit more toward the pros than the cons. I think his album has much better pacing and song transitions, and there aren't any songs on his album that I think should have been cut and left as B-sides (I could live without "Backdrifts" and "Young Blood," truth be told, though both are OK songs). And I think Webb's album is something fresh and new, at least from a songwriting perspective, whereas Radiohead are beginning to toe the line of repeating themselves.

But yeah, it's hard to compare the two.

 

[bloop]

With music, I care more about instrumentation and so forth than lyrics, and I still like incorporating electronics in an interesting way more than about anything else.  I think Radiohead still did that with HTTT, but it does come off as a retrospective of all their music, not dissimilar from "All That You Can't Leave Behind" by U2.  

Webb's music transitions so well because the songs are stylistically similar from song to song (varying usually between folk/pop and country) . . . Radiohead are still in whiplash mode, mixing guitar-driven sounds with electronic experimentation.  "Backdrifts" is one of my favorite pop songs of the moment, so I have to differ from you there, and "We Suck Young Blood" is pretty neat, esp. the bridge.  Backdrifts is pretty different for a Radiohead song, lyrically, and in just how poppy it really is.  "Scatterbrain" is the song on the album I don't think I would miss.  Again, a simple replacement with a b-side, "Paperbag Writer", would have made a better choice, and I think it fits with the concept of the album just as well.

Of all the songs on Webb's album, I think I could do without "Nobody Loves Me".  It sounds the most like traditional CCM to me (traditional CCM usually makes me wretch, but it doesn't in this case).  I don't think I'd take any songs off either disc entirely, though.

[Josh]

"Nothing (Without You)" is the Webb song I would cut. It's just not that interesting, musically, and his vocal isn't as strong as on the surrounding songs.

[bloop]

Yeah, that too actually, but "Nobody Loves Me" is still pretty traditional CCM.

[DvChWi]

Hmm, I guess I'm a Jars of Clay fan, since I own all their albums and eagerly anticpate their new one.  I would like to believe that if they came out with a real stinker, I would be objective enough to spot it.    

[Escuchame]

I must apologize, my comrades, for having indicted you of wrongs not applicable to you.  I guess I'm just jaded towards music fanboys who feel the need to be overly vehement about their 'defendants'.

However, I still have a contention to make.

Yes, I'd imagine REM will make my list, as well... right under U2. But I don't think anticipating those albums makes them definite contenders for my Top 10 list.

This is awfully hard to believe, especially in U2's case.  That's an automatic #1 for you.  Let's keep it real here.

Peace out,
Andree

[bloop]

Come on now, Andree.  If a Radiohead album wasn't my #1 in the year it came out, as was the case with "Amnesiac" ("The Bends" didn't make #1 in its year either for me, although I find it to be excellent...let's not discuss "Pablo Honey"), surely it isn't out of the realm of possibility that Josh might not have U2 at the top spot.

[Escuchame]

Well, as far as I'm concerned, that hasn't happened so far.

Josh... has U2 not been #1 on a particular year for you, at least within the time frame that you have been a U2 fan?

Peace out,
Andree

[Josh]

I think that my #1 from 1989 would be Peter Gabriel's Passion instead of U2's Rattle and Hum. Also, OK Computer beats out Pop for 1997.