Originally Posted by seanbrutus
This right here. I really enjoyed Come Tomorrow for what it was, and really enjoy these sessions for what they are. I find the peak behind the curtain very entertaining, but am not about to get upset that I didn't get exactly what I wanted. I know the band makes dumb decisions sometimes, but I don't think Come Tomorrow was one of them. It's not a bad album, and it honestly helped me out when I needed it. The sessions show some promising ideas and some of my favorite potential tunes, but hey they could have ended up on a future album. I don't pretend to know what the band is thinking now, and I hope they see the leak as something positive, but I doubt it.
The thing is, negativity begets more negativity. When we feel entitled to the leak and angry things didn't turn out how we wanted, there's a backlash that I'm sure the band feels. In turn they grow more negative towards the fans.
It's a vicious cycle that I feel has been going on since TLWS. We want what we can't have and feel entitled to it; then we get it, and it makes us upset that we didn't get what we wanted. Meanwhile, the band feels disrespected by the very people who claim to love them. In turn the band loses faith in it's fans ability to have some grace about what the albums are, and we get mediocre efforts as a result.
Let me say again, I'm glad to have both CT and TBS. If I want to hear a fully produced Can't Stop, I'll listen to CT. If I want to hear an old school DMB version, I'll listen to the leaked take. It's all apples and oranges to me. The band makes differing versions of the same tunes every night, so why would I consider this situation any different?
We have a plethora of new music by what many claim here is one of their favorite bands, and at every turn someone who claims to love them bashes them, berates their choices and at the end of the day I can see why Dave is tired. Yes, I'm not defending his choices that are sometimes interesting in what makes a good album versus what doesn't. But I will defend his reaction to OUR choices. I mean do you guys like being in an abusive relationship? I'm sure there's a section of the fanbase he feels this way about at this point. No matter what he does, it isn't good enough, and in the rare instance he thinks it is, we hate on him for it.
All that being said, I'm not perfect and I jumped at the chance to listen to the leak. I will donate my money to Bama Rags, and honestly we should all try to do something to that effect. We need to let them know we give a damn. Even a kindly response on their FB or Twitter or whatever. Sometimes all it takes is a "we're sorry this got out, but we want you to know that we love it, and we are grateful for all the music you HAVE given us, even if some of it you didn't intend to."
If we make this leak and album tour a positive one for them, maybe they will regain some confidence in US, and want to put their best foot forward. Of course we are entitled to our opinions and if you thought CT sucked, that is totally fair.
But the amount of bashing I see here everyday is tiresome, and it just leaks over into the fandom and into the shows. I don't think DMB needed a resurgence, but I sure do think the fandom does. We can be a hostile bunch.
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