OB1
Well-Known Member
All this is touching on the topic of whether critics and rankings matter, and I firmly think they do, as we’ve discussed, because critics listen to 1000x the music we do, so they’re very good filters. Now that doesn’t mean everything critics like one “should” by any means, but they can be very useful guides in finding shortcuts in a veritable jungle of music to choose from. As such, if they’re going to rate JB the greatest drummer, I may 1) disagree with the ranking as an objective matter or 2) disagree because I don’t like his style or the tunes associated with as a matter of subjectivity, but he’s clearly done something right compared to other drummers to be so high on the list by those who have heard multiple thousands more records than I. I do think sometimes it’s hard when objective criticism meets subjective criticism.
I agree that these things are useful and therefore matter. I have bought (or avoided) a great many albums based on reviews (especially those by journalists that I am familiar with the work of).
Also, best of lists can be a good prompt about artists to investigate and music to buy.
Much of this stuff is subjective but I think we both agree there's taste and there's good and bad.