Music 101: Pt. 2 - Avoid Blind Allegiance.

So you loved the first album - it changed your life. The second album was pretty good. But now that this artist/band is 10 disks deep in their catalog, your once favorite performer of all time seems to be taking a tire iron to that once mighty, though now thoroughly deceased, artistic steed.

It's O.K.

You can call it like it is. It's all right to not like every single stinkin' thing an artist or group releases. You no longer have to pretend that each new Radiohead album is even half as good as The Bends or O.K. Computer. Fret not - admitting that the new Pearl Jam album is a festering pile of phoned-in, mediocre, pretentious upchuck doesn't make Ten any less of a monumental achievement of musical greatness. Van Halen was outstanding. Van Halen III is one of the worst things you could ever put in your ears.

It's O.K.

In a related manner, it's no disrespect to the greats that their kids didn't get the goods passed down. Yes, John Lennon was brilliant. It's not blasphemy to admit that Yoko and Sean consistently put out audible dingo feces (though Julian certainly had a few fine moments). Sting - also brilliant, but stating the obvious that his son's band, Fiction Plane, is suited more for torturing enemies of the state than for entertaining the crowd before a concert by The Police... well that's just good old common sense. You can still love "Every Breath You Take".

It's O.K.

Like what you like. Admit what you like. Admit what you don't. Be a fan of good music, not a mindless cult member who nods in lobotomized agreement with whatever an artist does.