An Open Letter to mylifeisveryboring

Dear mylifeisveryboring,

After my response in your "10 Greatest Albums Of All Time" thread, you decided to block me. Not being too familiar with the mechanics of this forum, I have no idea if you can even see this open letter addressed to you, but I was not allowed to message you personally and I feel the need to at least attempt to clear the air.

Although my list in your thread reflects my actual taste in music, I thought it was very obvious that I was kidding when I referred to the other users in the thread as "foolish fools" (I hoped the redundancy of that insult would make my intentions clear), or when I referred to my own selection as "definitive." And my decision to exceed the 10 album rule was also meant as a gentle ribbing.

What bugs me about having been blocked is that I don't even know why you did it. Did you take my teasing literally? Were you upset by my music selection? (I know some of it - Death Grips, for example - is not as easy to swallow as The Beatles). Are you a stickler for rules, and angry that I decided to disobey the "10" requirement? Or is it the case that you never intended the thread to be an open discussion of good music, but merely a place for you to assert what you consider to be the top ten?

I'm also bummed because I love talking about books, art, and music. I was excited to share some of my favorite bands with someone who clearly has good taste, but who is perhaps unfamiliar with more recent musical acts. It seems silly to deny yourself the chance to find some great new music purely from misunderstanding the intended tone of my post. Maybe from now on you'll always consider Neutral Milk Hotel to be "the band that loser from the forums likes." That would be unfortunate. They really rock.

I guess my hope is that you'll somehow see this, or someone will share it with you, and you'll unblock me. Or at the very least, someone will pass along the word that I'm sorry to have offended you. I look at threads such as yours as a chance to have a lively, but friendly, debate. Often, exploring disagreements can lead to bigger insights into the subject under discussion. I should have taken greater pains to make that goal clear.

With warmest regards,

Masmai

P.S., Seriously, do yourself a favor and listen to Neutral Milk Hotel.

Man, I really don't like the Beatles.  Yuck.

A not uncommon opinion! What are you into?

I hope my polite apology isn't seen as crawling. I'd love to make ammends with boring, but I don't particularly care if I'm never unblocked by someone apparently so easily offended.

EDIT: And I also assume he can't read my post, and I kind of secretly hope this thread about him grows to dozens of pages while he noodles around on the forums unawares.

Can he even see this, though? Also, why is it such a big mistake? If he even tries to lord over me, I'll just mock him - I think it would be a bigger mistake to fear how he might respond.

I mean the guy included a Foreigner album in his top ten.

Quite the ominous warning. Bring it on, I say!

Man, all this is doing is getting me psyched for a flame war.

But right now I'm all like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emjc4dKvK58#t=0m41s

The guy is totally nuts.

The OP should thank his lucky stars mylifeisveryboring blocked him, I hope he blocks me too.

I guess I do thank my lucky stars. 

Being blocked by "Mylifeisboring" is not at all uncommon.  Consider it a badge of honor.

By the way, the answer to Messi or Maradona is, of course:

Maldini. 

      " the guy included a Foreigner album in his top ten".   NO!  That's a Cardinal sin in some quarters.

Why has America been unable to produce a decent Metal band? Please dont attempt to proffer Guns 'n Pansies, they were a pop band or Metallica for they too were wussies.

Aye made in Scotland from girders! - canny drink the stuff myself though.  Did you ever get Garvies softdrinks? Their cola was amazing and so was their limeade - sadly they stopped making soft drinks. :(

Wow I am reading that some granny used to fill the wee blue bags with salt, by hand!

You take that back, sir.

Death metal would not exist were it not for Slayer. 

Is that too light for you? Here's some Death, Insect Warfare, old school Mastodon, Dream Death, Pig Destroyer, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Baroness, Speedwolf, and Vektor. 

Okay yeah he's crazy.

European metal is a little weak.  Just saying.  You've got Motorhead, I'll give you that...but after Metallica was inspired by Motorhead and Priest and Maiden, they basically took over the genre and carried all the other european bands that came before them like Diamondhead and Mercyful Fate, etc. on their coattails.  

Modern metal is garbage.  Basically, once Pantera came out it all started going downhill with all the soundalike bands trying to see who can have the most demonic, guttural sounding singer.  Pretty pathetic when you step back and look at it.  German metal is all guys with horribly sore throats singing in marching cadences (wonder where that comes from?).  There are a few bands that were okay that came out post-Metallica era...Ministry was pretty good.  If they had something new to say or were not just copying crunchy guitar riffs, then they were worth something.

Slayer was good, but that was just Los Angeles trying to catch up to the metal scene after their lame Motley Crue/Poison glam band mania drove Metallica up to San Francisco in the first place ;)...Slayer still had the glam thing going, too.  There was no reason for them to be rocking the eye makeup and carrying upside crosses, etc.  Hard to avoid, I guess...it's almost impossible for anything to emerge from LA that is not primarily image or appearance driven.

I respectfully disagree with both of these statements. My hand reaches across the Atlantic to give the horns to quite a few European bands (Electric Wizard are probably my current favorite, even if trve fans might consider them hipster metal).

I do agree that a large swath of modern metal is garbage, most especially the more well known acts (and I refuse to even acknowledge nu-metal or anything with a "break" as actual metal). But if you look in the right places you can find some incredible bands. I think Vektor is one of the best metal bands I've laid ears on, for example. Check out the above link to them that I provided when you get a chance. They have a killer blackened thrash sound that's as heavy as it comes.