Post #227890 by Thomas on Fri, Apr 21, 2006 12:58 PM

Wonder if you have an opinion on such songs as Coast of Carolina; Altered Boy; Lucky Stars; Happily Ever After (Now and Then); Remittance Man; Cowboy in the Jungle; Quietly Making Noise; Boomerang Love; That's What Living is to Me; They Don't Dance Like Carmen No More.

Songs like these are why I find Buffett a worthwhile artist on the whole. His many critics here on TC tend to cite the same few songs of his from 30 years ago. Fair enough, but it does make for kind of a circumscribed and repetitive discussion.

It's fine to form an opinion of an artist based on a tiny sample (say 1 or 2 percent) of his or her body of work -- our time is limited, and sometimes it's good to just say, "I don't think that's for me" and move on, leaving the other 98-99% of the stones unturned. But if, I say if, in all honesty you can only name, say, three or four songs by a songwriter who has recorded many hundreds over the years, it might not hurt to temper your negative rants with the acknowledgment that you are basing your criticism on a superficial understanding of the whole.