I think it's all a matter of balance.
If a forum is full of people who just want to quote Meat saying thank you and CHSIB then it's going to all get very bland very quickly.
Something like a Stepford forum (although, with site staff like us, you'd think you were already there
).
It would be boring for us and of no use to Meat whatsoever.
On the other hand I agree that if Meat can expect support and enthusiasm from anyone he should expect both those things from members of his fan forum.
As a fan, i'm prepared to buy Meat's album without hearing it because I trust I will like it.
I've liked the vast majority of his past work and the chances are that I will like this too.
He's got a good track record, and if a horse had that good a record i'd bet on it.
I can't say that this is best since Bat, that would be silly as i've not heard it, but I can't bash the album either for the same reason.
That would be equally silly.
But I believe him when he says that he believes it's his best since Bat.
It's implied that he says that about every album, but the only album I recall hearing him say that about was CHSIB, and that wasn't a bad album.
I am sometimes surprised by things I read on this forum.
Doing something like blatantly accusing Meat of lying and questioning his integrity is IMHO (and no offence to anyone here) not something I would think of a fan as doing (unless they went to the Mark Chapman school for fandom).
If you dislike someone that much, why be a member of their online community?
Not that I think there is a solution to the problem.
In a perfect world all the yes men would go have their own forum, all the hatters would go form their own forum, and leave the normals here for a bit of interesting yet not offensive convo.
That would work if it wasn't for the fact that some people have their own opinion and the irrisistable urge to share it with every corner of the internet
