There are facts and then there are options, but somewhere in the middle is taste. To me taste is like a fact that you can’t prove, and is also difficult to discuss because it’s hard to communicate about. Basically, I believe taste exists, but only to other people who have taste.
Obviously there’s plenty of room for subjectivity, but what I’m trying to describe is a certain feeling, a certain wavelength, that I think is hard for people to get who aren’t already there. Coincidentally software engineering is another realm where there’s definitely this mystical taste, but again any time you try to shed light on what you mean it’s like people almost intentionally try to torpedo your attempt at making a point.
In the end though the music and the code speak for themselves, and Pet Sounds to me really is the ultimate. It’s uncomplicated yet emotional lyrics. Each song’s melody is just so catchy. The whole thing has this romantic early 60s American feeling. The album makes me think of George Lucas’ American Grafiti but as music. It’s simultaneously nostalgic but to me still feels fresh.
I think very few bands today could make something so masterful. I just absolutely love that album.
I don’t know though, when I was reading the review I felt sorry for the person. It seemed like they were far away from this sense of taste. Comparing love supreme with pet sounds is like comparing a sandwich to some really complicated culinary masterpiece. Both are good, but they’re very different.
Sometimes it’s more pedestrian things that are done really well that are what is most impressive to me. If it’s critically good but also has mass appeal then you’ve done something very impressive.
Or I guess it’s also like comparing Hemingway to Joyce. Clearly Joyce is on another level as a writer and I enjoy him very much. That being said, if I had to pick whose head I’d rather be in for an hour or two I would pick Hemingway.
So any way, love supreme is good and so is Joyce, but so is pet sounds and Hemingway. To me though, ultimately pet sounds takes the cake for best album of the century, but it’s really difficult to explain why because it comes down to taste. If you try to make music and you try to balance all these different elements: ambition, mass appeal, melody and harmony, etc… it’s just basically perfect.
Also I don’t think this just because it’s old and important. I really just like the album.
> Or I guess it’s also like comparing Hemingway to Joyce. Clearly Joyce is on another level as a writer and I enjoy him very much.
Who’s better: the engineer who writes a great program in 10,000 lines of code. Or an engineer that writes a different great program in 1000 lines?
Brevity doesn’t imply less skill. One might argue that Hemingway is “on another level” because he did more with less. Joyce left little to the imagination whilst Hemingway left almost everything to the imagination. Hemingway used white space as a feature.
But then again, here we are, discussing taste — which makes your point. I love a good Hemingway vs Joyce debate. Great fun, thanks for your thoughts.
Obviously there’s plenty of room for subjectivity, but what I’m trying to describe is a certain feeling, a certain wavelength, that I think is hard for people to get who aren’t already there. Coincidentally software engineering is another realm where there’s definitely this mystical taste, but again any time you try to shed light on what you mean it’s like people almost intentionally try to torpedo your attempt at making a point.
In the end though the music and the code speak for themselves, and Pet Sounds to me really is the ultimate. It’s uncomplicated yet emotional lyrics. Each song’s melody is just so catchy. The whole thing has this romantic early 60s American feeling. The album makes me think of George Lucas’ American Grafiti but as music. It’s simultaneously nostalgic but to me still feels fresh.
I think very few bands today could make something so masterful. I just absolutely love that album.
I don’t know though, when I was reading the review I felt sorry for the person. It seemed like they were far away from this sense of taste. Comparing love supreme with pet sounds is like comparing a sandwich to some really complicated culinary masterpiece. Both are good, but they’re very different.
Sometimes it’s more pedestrian things that are done really well that are what is most impressive to me. If it’s critically good but also has mass appeal then you’ve done something very impressive.
Or I guess it’s also like comparing Hemingway to Joyce. Clearly Joyce is on another level as a writer and I enjoy him very much. That being said, if I had to pick whose head I’d rather be in for an hour or two I would pick Hemingway.
So any way, love supreme is good and so is Joyce, but so is pet sounds and Hemingway. To me though, ultimately pet sounds takes the cake for best album of the century, but it’s really difficult to explain why because it comes down to taste. If you try to make music and you try to balance all these different elements: ambition, mass appeal, melody and harmony, etc… it’s just basically perfect.
Also I don’t think this just because it’s old and important. I really just like the album.