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From: nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Opinion vs. Fact, KT Bush, Gratefully dead, etc.
Message-ID: <262@mit-eddie.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 31-Oct-85 07:13:02 EST
Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.262
Posted: Thu Oct 31 07:13:02 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 3-Nov-85 09:58:07 EST
References: <1150@decwrl.UUCP>
Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 61

> [Seth:]

> The point is that everybody likes what they like, and there's no way
> you can say that Kate Bush is better than the Dead, The Beatles, Led
> Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who, Bach,

Come on.  I think it's clear (at least to me) that when one uses the
term "better" that it is just a matter of opinion.  I can't see any
reason for anyone to get upset if I say that Kate Bush is better than
The Beatles or Nico or whatever, and I haven't gotten upset or flamed
when people have said that Nico or whoever is better than Kate Bush.
That's just a matter of opinion.  I don't get upset either if someone
says "I don't like Kate Bush" or "I don't like The Beatles", etc.  That
too is just an expression of personal taste.

On the other hand, if someone says that Pink Floyd or The Beatles or
Kate Bush are "bad", then that's a different story.  In that case, the
person is saying that the music is detrimental, and not only do they not
like it, but no one should because it's bad for you.

> or even Madonna.

Oh, yes I can.  Because Madonna is just plain bad!  The word was defined
for cases like this.

> More precisely, you *can* say it if you want, but all you do is make a
> fool of yourself with that kind of statement. Your opinions are *your*
> opinions, but you have a very annoying habit of presenting them as
> though they were facts.

Didn't we already have this argument six months ago?  The "fact" that
one plus one equals two is really just a matter of opinion too.  A
"fact" is just an opinion that people believe in more strongly than
other opinions.  Do I make a fool out of myself if I say that it is a
fact that one plus one equals two?  If you claim that facts are anything
other than very strong opinions, then you are making a fool of yourself.

> Ok, she's [KB] a cross between Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd, with a
> lot of her own style thrown in. My statement still stands, that she
> may be original, but not as radically original as you insist she is.

By decaring this as a fact, rather than just your opinion, you are
making a fool of yourself, now aren't you?

> In fact, if you paid attention to the Dead discussion, you would have
> read that Dead albums aren't the way to appreciate the Dead. They are
> a concert band, and they have never been able to capture their magic
> on an album.

Yeah, I know all about this, and I plan on seeing them sometime.  But
all this stuff about not being able to capture magic on albums seems
just too mystical for me.  If they are not "performance artists", I
don't see why a recording of a concert shouldn't be nearly as good as
the concert itself.  Unless they just are incompetant at finding a
decent engineer.....

			"And in the corner of some foreign field
			 The gunner sleeps tonight"

			 Doug Alan
			  nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (or ARPA)