MOG

I always find it fascinating to go to Amazon.com and read the negative reviews about great albums. For instance -- Nirvana's "Nevermind". While most reviewers there give it five stars, one in ten will give it only one (there's almost no in between). Here are some clips from the one-star reviews:

"I am sorry but I just don't get it. My only take is that the late 80's got so bogged down and stale with the everywhere hair bands that anything new and angry sounding would be refreshing."

"Come on people, don't be so stupid and gullable. Nirvana were not geniuses, they were COMPLETELY talentless."

"Do you Nirvana fans really believe all the hype about Kurt being a "brilliant songwriter"?"

"They had no talent of any kind and if it weren't for the media hyping up their image, they'd have been forgotten a long time ago."

"I could really care less if all you emo kids and generation X'ers attack me. You won't sway my opinion on this incredibly overrated album and band. So ask yourselves this: Do you truly love the music on Nevermind, or is it just its historical importance you care about?"

There are many, many more like that.

It would be easy to make fun of these people, but not terribly constructive. My usual reaction, though, is something these reviewers would probably resent even more: pity. To me, it's like encountering someone who's missing one of their five senses. Cripes, man, can't you HEAR it? How awful.

You'll notice every one-star review will mention the "hype" surrounding the album. I hate to psychoanalyze others, but I think it's clear that the negative reviews are just a reaction to that hype, by people who wear their don't-tell-me-what-to-think attitude like a sash.

The hype around Nevermind, though, was the hype of thousands of music fans, not the hype of a record company marketing department. I first heard it after my roommate at the time bought the tape -- I just borrowed it from him without knowing anything about it, and after one listen, was thinking "Holy shit!" My wife first heard it in a record store where it was playing, and bought it on the spot. It's the kind of album that makes you want to press copies into the hands of all your friends. And if you can't hear that, well, sorry.

The real lesson here, though, may be about the crushing weight of expectation. Pop music is never enjoyed on a completely objective level -- there are always associations you have with it. It was only after many many years of trying to hear music "objectively" that I learned to embrace the intangibles, and to let them enhance my enjoyment of the music.

So you still like to listen to Poison because you have fond memories of glamming it up with girlfriends back in the day? That's great. (Just don't make me listen.) That coin has a flip side. If the hype around a band, even non-manufactured hype, has soured your enjoyment of them, well then I guess that has to be allowed as well.

A while back I resolved to not try to press music (or books or movies) onto people. It hasn't always worked out, because music is a meme that makes you want to spread it. But I hate it when people play music at me, going isn't this great? Huh? Huh? And so I figure the more I try to sell somebody on some pop music, the less likely they are to actually like it. It might even end up galvanizing their opinion against it, like the Nevermind detractors above.

But fer fook's sake, man, give it another listen, 'kay?