The Republic of Progarchy is, all in all, a very happy, positive place. I think most of us here would rather talk about the albums that we love rather than the ones we dislike. And, as Brad Birzer has said many times before, it is better to talk about the good, the true, and the beautiful than to lower ourselves to that which is not beautiful. With that said, I think many readers wish that we would be a little more objective in our reviews sometimes. Allow me to explain why I don’t particularly like to write negative reviews.

Art is not something that can be easily judged. When it comes to any art, music included, most artists put their all into what they create (I exclude the majority of modern pop, techno, dubsteppy crap, along with the garbage Nashville considers country these days). Therefore, as a reviewer, it is difficult to harshly judge something that someone else has put so much work into. It just doesn’t seem right to ridicule their labor and effort.

As a bit of an artist myself (I dabble in watercolor, along with charcoal portraits, amongst other media), I know how upsetting it can be when someone who doesn’t understand how much work you have put into something unfairly criticizes your art. (I can think of one instance when I almost socked somebody, but he deserved it for other reasons too, hehehe. Thankfully, I think I’ve matured beyond that. I simply called him a Cretan instead… went right over his head.) If you have honestly used your talents to glorify God in your art, whatever the medium might be, who is anyone to criticize it just because they don’t like it?

There have been several newer progressive albums that I have listened to that many of my fellow Progarchy authors loved that I think were not very good. That does not mean that the albums were inherently bad. It simply means that I didn’t like them. It is very very easy to criticize something that we don’t like, which is something that most people who know me will tell you that I am excellent at (Connor Mullin, no need to verify that). I could go on and on about how much I didn’t like an album, but in the end, what good does that do anyone? All a negative review does is discourage the reader from checking out the music for themselves to see whether or not they like it.

However, I do think there is a time and a place for a negative review. Take Brad Birzer’s recent negative review of Anathema’s latest album, Distant Satellites, for example. Now I don’t particularly like Anathema as a band – too quiet for my taste. But Brad believed that this latest album wasn’t up to Anathema’s normally high standards. If a band fails to reach their full potential, then I think they should be called out on that. My art teacher in high school was never afraid to tell us when our work sucked (his own words). He knew we had potential, and he refused to accept mediocrity. As reviewers and consumers of music, we should also refuse to accept mediocrity.

In the end, my point is we should not criticize an album just because we don’t like it, if the artists did indeed put their all into their work. I’m not a huge fan of U2, but I can appreciate what they have done for rock. I don’t have ACDC tattoos all over my body, but I can appreciate their profound influence on music without criticizing them (I actually enjoy ACDC every once in a while). I think all of my fellow Progarchy authors are at their best when reviewing something they like. Maybe our only fault is being too enthusiastic sometimes, and maybe we could tone it down a bit. But, I don’t think I will start negatively reviewing albums I don’t like just because I didn’t enjoy them. That would not be fair to the artists, to myself, or to you, our awesome readers.

Just my two cents.