Don't get it

Is there such a thing as foolish, blind loyalty?

These are the contexts of which I am thinking about -- like buying an album simply out of loyalty to whatever your favorite group is -- following an athletic team simply because of some uninformed choice when you were in second grade

Why shouldn't things change and evolve -- why can't people change things around without looking like a bandwagon jumper and someone who is a front runner -- why do certain bands release maddeningly off stuff, and why do some bands not venture far from the formula

I don't exactly why I give sideways glances to people that I know have changed allegiances to teams just because they are now the winning team -- perhaps they have it right in a way though -- I mean, what's so fun about cheering for a team that is at best mediocre -- everyone goes, oh, so when they get back, it'll be much sweeter -- so fit me with a RedSox apparel, too *shakemyhead*

In the most non-judgmental way possible, I find it really hard to believe that all of a sudden so many people here in the middle of the Pacific have become SO INTERESTED in two teams in the Northeast -- that's just bogus to me on some level -- I mean, everyone wants to support the champion -- but that's kind of lame to me in some way

Well, I was thinking that the low stress front running sports fans have it probably in the right place -- in other words, it's entertainment -- and there's nothing really entertaining about watching a bad team -- hey, change teams like you change underwear -- no problem, no stress, it's easy

In music, it is purely about entertainment -- I know that personally my allegiances have moved around -- to the point now, that I really am just a fan of music in general and not really of a handful of bands

Don't get me wrong, I still would see a handful of bands and support them out of some kind of loyalty (and more nostalgia, than anything else)

I have always wondered why bands just can't go out gracefully --why do they always have to go out thrashing and screaming -- why must we be subject to cover albums, or albums by one or two of the original lineup passed off as fitting the name, the concept, the history, and the essence of certain bands

I must admit that the majority of the groups and musicians that I have followed throughout my life -- well, they really have no good ideas left -- and maybe I'm getting old, but I tend to like their older style out of nostalgia -- and yes, I would rather have a Masters of Puppets 2 better than a St. Anger (for example)

Not that I want the songs to sound the same, but I think that every successful band has a formula, a foundation, or base sound -- and if they can get creative off of that, that's cool -- I came to this thought while re-watching Slayer's Still Reigning DVD -- they really haven't ventured too far from the Reign in Blood sound

Now, RIB is nothing like say, Show No Mercy which was really raw and thrashy, or Hell Awaits which was just the godfather of all apocalypse music -- but that's the sound the band is most comfortable with

I think AC/DC is kind of the same, and I can think of a few other bands -- actually a ton of them in the hard rock/metal genre -- so if you don't venture far from it, you don't get called a sellout -- yet if you don't venture far, it runs the risk of getting old, too

In the final analysis, I'm just a fan -- I'm less judgmental than I used to be about many of the things that I have written here -- I do find that at the very least people buying championship apparel of teams that they have no clue about beyond this championship year --- is probably good for the economy

And with music, it takes so much to build up to icon status -- there's so much music that I can think of that I like, that the bands were minor footnotes in rock history -- I guess a part of it is that icon status is difficult to watch die slowly and in an ugly way