Quote:
Originally Posted by Karlifornia
It ain't about obscurity. It's about what the people who care about it most find appealing. If you're a casual music fan, then yes, many things may seem obscure to you. If someone asked me to list my favorite computer software programmers of the past decade, my list would seem pathetic to anyone who had invested time (whether it be forced through occupation, or enjoyed as a hobby) in learning about computer software development. I wouldn't "yawn" at that list. I'd try to take the advice of those who have invested time into it to heart.
I hate hate beer snobs. When I tell someone I drink Budweiser, I know it's shit. If someone was making a list of the Top 100 beers of the past decade, I'd know better than to try and throw Budweisers hat into the ring. I'd get laughed out of the discussion. That doesn't sway my own appreciation for Budweiser, but I know better than to try and flaunt Budweiser into the faces of those who obviously have invested more time into the intricacies of beer.
Basically, American Idiot is the Budweiser of music to me.
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Sure, some people (and I give DC credit here) can listen to and include albums from different genres with varying degrees of commercial success. But when you have lists that hit every indie rock/hipster cliche - admittedly combined with some underappreciated gems - then they've crossed the line from connoisseur to pretentious person ordering the most obscure microbrew on the menu and thinking they've got a better beer than my Blue Moon.
Music is such a subjective taste and there are so many good albums released every year that the amount of overlap on these lists smacks more of groupthink than of an honest accounting of varied tastes. Really, Stankonia, The Blueprint and Late Registration are the only rap albums of the decade worth mentioning? Albums like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot are being placed in the top 5 admittedly as much for the anti-label coolness they represented as the music itself.
It is what it is as these lists and magazines are catering to their audience, but insinuating that a person who likes American Idiot more doesn't care about music as much as one who has Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, the Strokes, Radiohead and a token album from an artist before they became mainstream (we'll say M.I.A. or Death Cab) as his top 5 is ludicrous and insulting.