On the other thing: I don't have the stamina to get back into an argument that I've engaged several times over the years - I find, ultimately, that there is no point in arguing with people who po-facedly insist that there is no meaningful aesthetic distinction to be made between Mozart and a musically illiterate 5-year-old banging on a piano keyboard. So I'll just assert the unsurprising view that there is plenty of room for legitimate differences of taste, but also that there has to be a point at which we insist on more objective distinctions of worth.
I think where I draw the line is when notions like "this song is unlistenable" or this song is "melodically incomprehensible" move beyond the implied "(I personally find this song) unlistenable" or "(I personally find this song) melodically incomprehensible" to the suggestion that a listener who finds said song either "extremely listenable" or "melodically comprehensible" is somehow being "too forgiving" or that they "can't hear" what's wrong with the song. In a similar sense, I've always been frustrated with critical reviews of Costello albums that pre-emptively dismiss anyone who might like them as invalid because anyone who likes the album is a fan ("oh, of course the diehard FANS will eat this up, but for us real people with high standards, we know the truth...")
There are, of course, meaningful aesthetic distinctions to be made, but if someone were to say "anyone who can't hear that the beauty of an innocent 5-year old banging on a piano has a soulfulness that Mozart could never fully capture is incapable of human emotion" I'd have more of a problem with that than if they said "I've never really been into classical music, but when my 5-year old makes up songs on the piano, I have to admit it stirs something in me. I'd rather listen to those than a piece by Mozart."
I mean, I'm somewhat guilty of this as well, it's an easy thing to fall into when you're passionate about music-- or anything, really-- it's why people get into big arguments about the "Top 100" anything. My post today asserts that Costello shouldn't have cut two songs from
All This Useless Beauty, and I say so almost as if it is Science Fact. I have always felt pretty strongly that the album would be better-- and, perhaps more significantly, would have been better received at the time-- if he hadn't cut the two towering songs, "God Give Me Strength" (as played by The Attractions) and "Almost Ideal Eyes", which would have (I think) lifted the album up a notch and made it feel like more of a Major Album. Costello has admitted that "Almost Ideal Eyes" should have been included, but still-- some people for whom ATUB is their favorite albums probably think I'm full of shit and that the album is fine just as it is.
For me, it's a significant point because the poor reception of that album (decent but mixed reviews and poor record sales) sort of sent Costello into a downward spiral, which led to him sort of taking a break. He got into the fight with Bruce, he got mad at the label and quite Warner Bros. despite previously having a healthy relationship with them for years, it just generally seemed like ATUB's failure put him in a bad mood and made him give up for a while. I know that seems funny to say, given that he had
Painted From Memory just two years later, and lots of pretty high profile stuff like "She", but between 1996 and 2002 he had zero albums of his own, a pretty big gap for him. He had the Bacharach thing and the Von Otter thing, and then a handful of soundtracks and guest appearances, but it's easy enough to speculate that if ATUB had succeeded, it would have maybe sent him on a slightly different path.
But I think it would be one thing for me to argue the context and point to things I think indicate that those songs should have been included, and quite another for me to veer into suggesting that, for instance, "anyone who can't see that those two songs should have been added is living in a fantasy world; they've deluded themselves into the thinking the album is complete, when clearly it is lacking..."
I don't know... it's just my own natural tendency, and sometimes it makes me a little bit wishy-washy, but I think there's a difference between total relativism (i.e. "it's ALL good, everything is equal") and accepting that these are all personal points-of-view and no manner of asserting that they are correct will make them anything more than that. I know from more than a few attempts to convert people who "just don't like his voice" that you hit a wall at a certain point. I can't make them like Costello's singing voice. However, if they were to turn it back to me and say his voice is "unlistenable" and that I only like it because I'm "too forgiving" I think that's where the trouble begins!
