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The super fan vs hater discussion


Aria

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I've been thinking a lot about this, after that track for track review thread dropped. @Ghentopened the topic with his take, giving an onslaught of adoration, 5 stars and the occasional super tiny critique that felt as though it stemmed from sub conscious guilt, like "I've said so many positive things, I guess I need to say SOMETHING negative here..."  

To which Oliver aired his frustration,  his argument being that Ghent's opinion is almost invalid by the fact that he'll love anything Blink drops no matter what.

To which people pointed out that Oliver despises everything blink related, and airs it as often as Ghent praises the band so how is his opinion not invalid the opposite side of the fence for the same reasons. 

To which Oliver pointed out that there have been a sprinkling of things Blink related he's enjoyed, which perhaps was a sub conscious guilt, like "I've said so many negatives, I guess I need to say SOMETHING positive here..."

Without fighting, can we truly break down the perspectives from both sides and come to an understanding where the other is coming from because it's never going to stop, and it might make both sides less annoyed in general if they at least see where the other's thoughts/feelings are coming from. 

I feel like I'm somewhere in between Oliver and Ghent when it comes to Blink. @Donald Trump's Bulge I'm not sure if you have a favorite band/musician? Honest inquiry, because I know a lot of people who have bands/musicians they enjoy but I couldn't begin to imagine them having a favorite. You're one of those people for me- I guess it's because I never see you geeking out for a particular artist or band? But if you do have one, I'd love to hear about it because -- 

I identified so much with Ghent's ultra-praising review. When Conor Oberst drops a new record, that is my exact reaction. Track by track, 5 stars,  I am on my knees for it each and every time. I can only tell you that a very small part of me understands that others may find it less than super valid because of this, but the bigger part of me feels literally completely accurate in my stance on how amazing it is. 

And you know what? When it comes down to it, I know in the general sense it's not technically as great as I think and say it is, but to me, it is and getting a batch of new songs from my favorite artist/whatever band he's in (Dude seriously needs to call the records book because he'd be in there for guy who's been in the most bands ever)is my absolute favorite part of having a favorite musician/band. 

I think that, people who don't care for Blink at all shouldn't get worked up in the slightest over somebody adoring something they can't stand. The majority of us have been guilty of it, I have been guilty of it, but you don't wanna (or shouldn't wanna) dampen the excitement one gets from hearing new material from their favorite artist. It's a once every two years if you're lucky feeling, and instead of analyzing how wrong they are maybe just appreciate how stoked they are in this moment, cause you knew they would be anyway. 

Here's where a lot might disagree with me if they haven't already: I contend that ride or die fans have more of a right to air their joy pertaining to a band/musician than somebody else does shitting on a band/musician (Unless it's FOB, cause, I mean, ew)  

If you're going to anticipate loving something,  you have every right to love the fuck out of it and scream it from a mountaintop, but doesn't it seem a bit silly if you can't stand something, are expecting a train wreck and then choose to listen to said expected train wreck, then trash it? I think a good example of what I'm trying to say is, when I first grabbed the songs off Nine I had a text file open, with the intention of doing a track by track review as I listened, but towards the end of The First Time, which I had a super hard time enjoying, I minimized that text file. I couldn't justify with myself writing a 0/5 star across the board review of a record I went into assuming it would be a disaster. 

It was one of those, I'm just gonna listen and if I end up enjoying this I will write a track by track review and if not I'll write nothing at all because I knew going into it I'd hate it, and listened anyway. Seems like I'm asking to shit on something, you know? "I fucking hate chick flicks. Sappy, lovey bull shit. Brb, gonna watch The Notebook and write a review on it." Why, if you are so vocally against "chick flicks" (Hate that term)  would you watch an ultra popular commercial one? And then why would you, after everybody knows you can't stand them, then write that you watched it and hated it? It's pointless. 

I guess I'm mostly curious into hearing the perspective of those who disagree with me on this. I feel like I shouldn't have to note this, but:

I'm not saying there shouldn't be any negative reviews. They're totally justified when/if you're going into something curious as to whether you're gonna like it or not... or you're expecting to like it, but don't.... or you think you'll dislike it, but you really, really hope you will like it. 

I think a lot of people need to evaluate with themselves whether or not they truly are "I think I'll dislike it, but I really hope I don't." Cause that's easy to convince yourself of, when in reality, a lot of the times there's not a lotta you at all that's hoping you'll enjoy it. Just indifference. 

Which is fine, but breaking down all sides of this could be fascinating because this section is like a World War at times, where one country adores Blink, another fucking hates them, another clings to the side projects and watches tucked back in a bunker. 

I'm definitely a "ride or die sympathizer". It's just so much easier for me to put myself in their head, not just in terms of a glowing review, but, I'm just saying, if this was Conor Oberst Online, and Conor dropped new music and people on a Conor Oberst message shit all over it, and talked about how garbage he was now I'd, as a ride or die Conor fan get insanely defensive, and irritated beyond belief. When you have a ride or die blink fan dismissing your frequent criticisms like you're bat shit and stupid, you have to understand where you are. This isn't Chorus.FM (Fuck, I hate that site) where it's entirely miscellaneous. You are on a Blink-182 Message Board. Sure there are two worlds here: The Blink section, and elsewhere, but fuck man - a lot of the ride or die haters stay in this section. 

I'm curious as to why. 

I'm curious as to why you're here, on a blink message board when you fucking despise the shit they put out. 

Genuinely, not in a trollish sort of way. And not in a way that suggests I want you to fuck off outta here (Cause I want you to stay! Lol) but I'm curious, does it come from a place that feels justified in attacking this band because of your former dedication to them, and your appreciation for their earlier catalogue? Cause I can understand that to a certain degree, but at the same time you have to understand like I do that....

How I fell in complete love with Enema Of The state, like finding that album was fucking finding God - And then The Mark, Tom and Travis show, and Chesire Cat at Disney world with a walk man shaking at how fucking perfect it was,  then contemplating jumping off a bridge because your 15 year old ass took forever to afford that 40 dollar out of print copy of the mark tom and travis show off amazon and you left it at the disney hotel, getting dude ranch and feeling the same exact way you did when you heard Chesire, etc etc etc -- How I fell in love with this stuff at first listen, others still have that feeling when it comes to the new stuff regardless of how much you think blink is completely off balance at this moment. And if I'm me hearing Enema for the first time, and I'm here, and there's a track by track review thread  it's gonna be across the board 6/5 stars.  

And when the singles before the album drop on here, and we get What's My Age Again, All The Small Things and Adam's Song you bet I'm gonna go absolutely ape shit and type up how much I love them in as many different ways one can because it can't be said enough.

Blink-182 is not my favorite band And this post is from a pretty damn neutral perspective between:

Super fans  --------- Haters. 

I'd really like the Super fans perspective of it all, feelings, concerns, etc and same with the absolute haters. 

Maybe this topic is dumb. I pulled an all nighter last night, so I'm not all here at the moment. I think it could be a good conversation though. 

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I've been a fan since 1999, back when I was in high school. Me, being from a different country (Ecuador), it was difficult for me to grasp the idea of seeing them live. I remember going to a friend's house for a high school project and he had Enema on the speakers. I was completely floored by the sound of it. And 20 years later, I can honestly say that I am a super fan of the band. As of now, I'm living in California and whenever Blink 182 stops at San Diego, I'm going to be there, close to losing my voice to the best band I have heard in all of my life.

I don't mind criticisms, but it talkes a toll on me while listening to any album, thinking, is this any good? Then why do I like it so much?

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I don't bother with anything I can't stand. I made it about 15 minutes into the first Episode of Lost; turned it off, never again. Trash.

But I use to love Blink; and every so often they still do things that are good, so its enough to keep me interested. Plus I own a board that I am addicted to posting on and it kills a good chuck of my boring work day. So this is why I stick around and am critical of them. This reply is pre me hearing the new album by the way.

The Beatles are my favorite band. But I still don't like stuff they did, like that Magical Mystery Tour movie. But they were on drugs so..... I don't think there is anything that is 100% free of criticism. But certain aspects of it can be. Even modern Blink, I can't think of a single thing wrong with the song 6/8; its amazing, despite what people thing, and I did get pretty darn excited about that one song if you look back. I can still be a fanboy when I think stuff is amazing. But I am probably too far gone to not question a single thing one person does.

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Donald Trump's Bulge said:

I don't bother with anything I can't stand. I made it about 15 minutes into the first Episode of Lost; turned it off, never again. Trash.

But I use to love Blink; and every so often they still do things that are good, so its enough to keep me interested. Plus I own a board that I am addicted to posting on and it kills a good chuck of my boring work day. So this is why I stick around and am critical of them. This reply is pre me hearing the new album by the way.

The Beatles are my favorite band. But I still don't like stuff they did, like that Magical Mystery Tour movie. But they were on drugs so..... I don't think there is anything that is 100% free of criticism. But certain aspects of it can be. Even modern Blink, I can't think of a single thing wrong with the song 6/8; its amazing, despite what people thing, and I did get pretty darn excited about that one song if you look back. I can still be a fanboy when I think stuff is amazing. But I am probably too far gone to not question a single thing one person does.

 

 

I believe their best songs came in while they were experimenting on drugs. 

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i think one of the main reasons the board gets so exhausting at times is that people get shoved into those exact categories. 

i can dislike something the band does... doesn't mean i'm a hater. i can absolutely love a new song they drop. doesn't mean i'm a super fan or blinkbot. i still don't get why people get so defensive about differing opinions on here. i hated on a lot of things since california got  released. not because i wanted to hate them for the sake of hating but because i really didn't like it. i like a lot of stuff about the new record. doesn't mean i changed my opinion on the things the band did before. the arguing on this board gets so childish sometimes and I think it's mostly out of bordom when there is nothing new to talk about. so i take the leak of Nine as a blessing. people are actually occupied with the band rather than to look for reasons to fight or to mock people.

 

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As a fellow Conor Oberst die hard, I will say a "California" comparison would be if he put out an album full of "Hey There Delilah" inspired songs. I would definitely feel just as confused and disappointed and feel the need to dissect how/why he took that route haha. 

But that's neither here nor there, Nine has gotten a much better reception than California and I don't think it will bitterly divide the Blink 182 Online world the way the Cali era did. There will be plenty to praise and bitch about as usual haha but that type of existential crisis probably won't keep going (at least until the EP comes out and we see what's in store with that)

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I don’t have an issue with critiquing things I like or love and have never understood why people think that’s wack. If a TV show I love has a shitty episode or season and I know it has the potential to be great, then yeah, I’m going to criticize it. That doesn’t mean I hate the show. That goes for music too. I can think of several bands I love that have albums I hate, and I know they can do better. blink, Weezer, Gorillaz, etc come to mind. But I think you can have this perspective toward art you love and not invest so much emotional energy into being bitter when you’re not a fan of how something turns out. Or into shitting on someone who does love the work, like Oliver at Ghent in the track-by-track review thread. 

But on the flip side—I understand feeling upset and retaliating when someone criticizes or shits on something that you love. but sometimes it goes too far, and I don’t get that either. Like when Watcher told Kay her music was shitty. It was hilarious that he felt provoked to that level (not funny that he shit on Kay’s music), but it was also kind of sad to read because like...imagine being that upset about someone disliking the music of a band you love. I don’t think I would give enough of a fuck that someone hates an album from my favorite band to feel the desire to shit on an aspect of their personal life. So that’s weird.

I guess if you feel extreme one way or the other, maybe you’re investing too much of your emotional attention into it and need to just ignore the haters or go find something else to listen to. 

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I think I have invested 20 years of my life following blink so closely, analysing every little detail of what they were doing, keeping up with the news etc, and when it eventually happened that I didn't like what they were doing, I realised that leaving was never an option haha 
Maybe I didn't agree with some extremely positive comments about them but I never lashed on anyone or made fun of anyone. This is just not me, in general. I  always try to find the good side of everything I'm invested into and I love blink, I have to stick with them through the good and bad times.

Digital Ash has become my favourite Bright Eyes album recently. 

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