[carole]

Originally Posted by TheDoode

Hey Guys,

Mind if I vent? I didn't think you'd mind

Okay, on the back of Meat's "Something I read..." post I decided to check out some other forums (I'm a total forum noob, never use them, only a member of this one). I wasn't thrilled with what I found. And I definitly didn't join any of them. And here's what I'm talking about:

I don't think the concept of "fan forum" is clear to some people. And I don't think half of the people that post realise how it must feel to receive such a mass of negativity, when you're an artiste striving to do something good and the second it hits the outside world (if not before) there's all kinds of criticism from people who don't get it, and who should know better. The anal nit-picking, the mundane over-analysing... it's gone way too far.

From the artiste's POV a new album/single/video is something that you're putting your entire soul into, man. Can you imagine what an enourmous drag factor that must be? To have your 'fans' question your every move, second guess your intentions, take your words out of context and read between the lines and add in a little artistic license of their own? Everything doesn't have to be cynical.

The amount of positivity and high spirits that an artiste needs to take with him to go out and promote something like this, and be confident, and electric, and everything that we expect to see of any artiste promoting a new album/tour/whatever is phenomenal. And here's the point:

We should be the one's fuelling that fire. The one's cheering him on. It should be a feverish, thrilling time, rife with anticipation and the unknown. It should be about positive speculation. It should be about hopes and dreams and fantasies of what might be. We're the one's at the finish line with the champagne and the six foot banner!

I want Meat to succeed, and I want the album to be an amazing success - I mean, of course I do, hands down, I love Meat's music - and I want Meat to be happy with it. And I want everyone to like it. Of course I do. Not everyone WILL, but I WANT them to. And if they don't, hey, no big deal. But as a fan of this man and his music, I WANT it to succeed beyond his wildest dreams. I want it to be brilliant. And so should you.

Isn't that how it should be..?

Yes that is how it should be, and I guess in a perfect world it would be. Meat gets enough criticism from the 'outside world', the media and such, and doesn't need it from his fans too. But he does accept constructive criticism and takes it on board. There is a big difference between constructive criticism and attacking him and his integrity and accusing him of lying. I'm relatively new to the on line fan world, having only had a computer for a couple of years, and at first it was a bit startling to read some of the negative, and sometimes hateful things that get written, and not belonging to any other fan site have nothing to compare it to. It goes without saying I want this album to be a huge success for Meat and I believe wholeheartedly it will be. I love Meat's music too and have done so for 30 odd years now.

Carole