Newsgroups: alt.music.alternative
Subject: Re: Pearl Jam slag fest.
From: scduncan@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu (Sean C. Duncan, Idiot)
Date: 22 Nov 92 18:01:07 -0500
Organization: Miami University Academic Computer Service"

In article <00963F70.583A4820@vms.csd.mu.edu>, 2767hoffmanj@vms.csd.mu.edu writes:
> A point was brought up earlier regarding the ongoing flame/gush battle
> over Pearl Jam...
> The point was something along the lines (from a gusher) that one should
> quit flaming PJ simply cuz they don't like it...its all a matter of taste.
> The slagger replied that one of the shining points of the NET is that one
> can often learn of new music via the posts...and if anyone is going to ask
> about Pearl Jam, he will flame away...

I guess that's me...


> I guess what I want to know is...what difference does it make?  If someone
> asks about Pearl Jam and the best reply that people can come up with is:
> "they really suck" or "man, they're the greatest thing in the world,"..
> what did the questioner learn?...nothin'.
> 
> I too use the NET to discover some new stuff...sometime ago I asked about
> the Fatima Mansion here (and on R.M.Industrial) and I got a flood of posts
> telling me how WONDERFUL they are...so I went to my local record store and
> gave it a listen...in my opinion (formed after listening to the thing) was
> that they SUCKED..pure and simple...This is of course my opinion and a matter
> of taste...
> 

And I have been told many times that I should be gushing over Sugar.  Heard
it, hated it.  But, my point was, that in my case, the number of *good* bands
that I've picked up because of mailing lists and newsgroups have far
outnumbered the bad ones.

> What ends up happening is a cascade of posts of yea's and nay's over a band..
> but more often then not, no real info was passed along...The slagger also
> pointed out that the NET is here to post opinion....This is true..but what
> good is being done besides chewing up bandwidth by recreating the Rush flame
> war under a different title....

I agree... we don't need any more idiotic flame wars, but, then again, no Pearl
Jam-loving dork is going to tell me that since I despise the band that I can't
tell people about it.  It does waste bandwidth, but if someone asks for my
opinion, I will respond rationally and at length about why Pearl Ham is simply
Bad Company in wool socks.  It's my opinion, and I'm going to flaunt it
*with*support* if anyone wishes to hear it.  But, we've all been through this
so many times already, that I'd like to let the topic just wind down and die of
its own accord.
 
> I guess all I am saying is that if you have an opinion..support it..so that
> readers have some sort of context for what you are talking about...You think
> something sux...tell us why...same goes if you really dig a band...why?
> Those bits of information, most often ommitted, are the ones that are most
> helpful...
> 

Sure, I agree.

I don't want to belabor the point any further, since there have been enough "PJ
rules!" vs. "PJ sux!" posts already.  I could go on and on about how I think
Eddie Vedder is one part Roger Daltrey, one part Mark Lanegan (wannabe) and
three parts utter cheese.  I could talk about how his incessant grunting and
"ugh... ooh... argh..." shit makes me laugh so hard that I cry.  I could go on
and on.  But I won't, since it's all been done before.

Sure, supporting claims of musical taste makes some sort of sense, and I will
go on at length about why I like the bands I like and hate the bands I hate in
personal email, but if someone's asking for opinions, usually just a "yay" or
"nay" will suffice.

I don't want to perpetuate a flame war, but no one's going to tell me that I
can't slag 'em because they like 'em.  Gimme a break.  I expect people to
insult my musical tastes on the net -- who doesn't?


> Please forgive the spelling mistakes above...I can't seem go back and correct
> them with this editor..sorry.
> 
> Later. (for the person who questioned this in another post...it is a 
> vernacular closing for my letters...generally noted as the short form of
> "I will see you later."...when?...I dunno..so there.you now have the answer.)
> 
> Anyway.
> 
> Later, all. 

Later!

> -justin.
-- 
Sean C. Duncan, scd@einstein.bgsu.edu :: scduncan@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu
"The best thing to come out of Ohio is I-75." - Anonymous
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Newsgroups: alt.music.alternative