"It doesn't matter how crappy it is, if it sells then it's highly regarded."

There's crap and there's crap; that experience is ultimately personal. I do not like either Horse With No Name or Stairway to Heaven. They are as far as I'm concerned absolute shite. But I do like Beach Baby and Listen to the Band. I've met people who now think I'm an idiot because I see the material that way. All four songs were monster hits way back.

Go Your Own Way has one of the greatest guitar rock-solos of all time, and the feelings it evokes in me recalls We Shall Overcome (done by Pete Seeger at Carnegie Hall) on his We Shall Overcome album. Music has always been intensely personal to me; it's one of few things that allows me to glimpse the fervour of people who truly believe in a Higher Being of some sort.

Some musicians have communicated directly with angels: Stravinsky, Mahler, the deaf guy who taught us all that disabilities can be surmounted and that the doing so can inspire even the least among us. As a consumer of music/song lyrics/melodies, I love genius and do my best to appreciate it.

Justin Bieber is a creation, but the young man has ability. Kinda like Pinocchio. I have no idea that the music industry is an actual industry although it seems to be such. I do have an idea that some folks have tried to tie up a piece of the market and choke whatever they do not see as beneficial to their interests. That said, regardless of one's musical proclivities it's possible to appreciate music 'outside' one's comfort zone, or someone else's comfort zone.

Midnight Blue is from Beethoven. As a 'rock' song it's awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bhoukHsSyG0 That's where art meets the world, and music marries itself to the best humans can accomplish.

In the words of the prophet/profit, fuck 'em. Like what you like, because ain't no one else gonna like it on your behalf.