HelloAngel said:
Let's be nice. Everyone's entitled to their opinions.
Yes, everyone is entitled to his/her opinions - but not everyone has the luxury of expressing said opinion on the front page of one of the biggest U2 fan sites in the world.
Although this is a fairly well written critique, I completely disagree with it. Also, I feel there is a lot of whining here and a sense of unmet super-expectations.
While I don't feel HTDAAB is one of U2's best (does it have to be?), it has entered my top 3. Time will determine if it stays there - moods can change. But that's my view - and tell me, do you really care about it?
This leads me to one of my biggest complaints about the critique: the "two crap albums" comment. As I don't feel U2 have released ANY crap albums ever, I find that comment highly offensive. I can't help but question - if this reviewer feels U2 are releasing crap, why be a fan? In the past, when artists have disappointed me several times, I didn't then write artitcles on one of their biggest fansites or continue buying their works. I looked elsewhere for my music. I realized that where the artist is and where I am are not the same place and it's time I moved on. After all, what is "crap" to me, could be brilliance to others.
And that comment transitions to my ultimate complaint: the need for music critics. I've said it before and I'll say it again: music critics are the most useless profession ever (even if one is an amateur). If this reviewer gave the album a 10/10 or 4 stars or an A+ or whatever high "grade" he wishes, my comments remain the same. Music is far too subjective, too personal, too visceral for it to ever be reviewed. A movie critic can at least provide a summary of a film - he/she has some value. But one can't summarize music (despite what some critics think). Therefore, this just leads to the critics' "feelings" of the music. And good or bad, they mean nothing to me.
But alas, I am subjected to such criticisms constantly - in magazines, in newspapers, and now, on the front page of one of my favorite fan sites.
I would love for nothing more than to not only read another music critic ever again, but to never again see their works blazenly posted or advertised in all of my favorite magazines or websites. It's time we all realized how useless music critics (again, good or bad, agree or disagree) are.