icecab21 wrote:how do we prove you wrong about your least favorite album?
we can prove you aren't the person that get's to decide what is good and bad for other people, but we can't tell you to prefer one album more than another.
people get to make any aesthetic subjective choice they want, and be correct in that preference, as they decide it, so it's valid to them, this does not make it valid for others
You raise a good point Icecar12... well the way I see it, the percieved value of art is subjective, but it's like, subjective up to a point. I mean, you could go so far as to say that what Britney Spears puts out is 'art' in the technical sense, but 'art' is a category that also includes Mozart. Someone who believes there is greater intrinsic artistic value in Britney Spears' music than there is in Mozart's could probably be said to be 'wrong' in an objective sense. This doesn't go to say that someone
liking Britney more than Mozart is wrong - I mean, the 36th Symphony wouldn't be too effective on the dancefloor, so if someone is into that sort of thing then you can't really blame them for liking Britney more... get what I mean?
To look at it in a wider context, what do you classify as art though? That's also a tricky question. Like, for example, the dude who designed the chair you're sitting on now might consider it art - he put his creativity, knowledge and skill into it, and made a lot of effort to create something both practical and aesthetically pleasing. You probably haven't even looked at the chair (I bet you are now) in that way before, much less considered it a work of art.
The thing is, in this thread we're dealing with metal bands, which means we could probably consider all the records mentioned as art. Metal doesn't tend to be music created for the sole purpose of mass-consumption and to raise huge amounts of money via radio and tv airplay. Once you take out the requirement for mainstream mass appeal, it leaves the artists more opportunity to explore what they want to do.
But up to a point... for example, look at Sonata Arctica exploring their musical abilities and tastes with Days of Greys. Maybe they just got tired of putting out 4/4 power metal in slow, mid-tempo, and fast and wanted to try something different. Someone more dramatic than I could say that SA might be under the tyranny of the fans tempted to stick to what they, the fans, are comfortable and familiar with, effectively stifling their own artistic expression. If they put out a re-creation of Silence next, would they be expressing themselves as artists and musicians? Even if the fans love it, if the artists themselves don't, can you say it's genuine? Authentic? Even really 'art'?
What is 'better' or not? Well, nobody can say. Sales figures aren't a good barometer. Is 'better' defined by what moves you more and influences you more? Well yeah, but music is not going to affect everyone in the same way.
I guess the point of this thread is to take artists whose work you really love, and say why you dislike X Y or Z album. I mean, people have been explaining why they dislike Chameleon and Born Again, and haven't been saying 'if you like this album you have no taste!', so it's been informative enough I suppose.
To answer your question, you can't prove anyone wrong about their least favourite album. Attempting to do so is an exercise in futility. The only thing that you can do is suggest they listen to it again with a different mindset... the rest is up to the mind.
