One of the great things about music among many, is to go back and listen to music that you considered "masterful." And to hear how well that music has held up over time. For me, that is a description of a masterpiece, that it still sounds great or better. I don't pay attention to the so-called music "critics." If I like something, I will make that determination. If music speaks to me in a connected "emotional" sense, I appreciate it all the more. The melodies and lyrics are a document created by the artist. To achieve an audience to love that "document" seems to me, is part of what the artist is trying to accomplish, and in doing so never to compromise their art, just to appease a record label. This is what I see, feel,and want to share and if you don't get "it" tough shit. In thinking about this for the last couple of days, this is what I think AIC were about. And Novembers Doom is now. Speaking of connecting emotionally with a song, when I first heard "Dark World Burden" I was floored. It was as if the song was about me. True art with no fuckin' compromise, AIC was like that for me.
