Monday, January 03, 2005

Is the Advanced Theory Elitist?

I got into a conversation about the Advanced Theory over the holidays with someone in my family. To him, it sounded elitist, which I think is not quite right. It is true that there is an appreciation for an elite artist, the Advanced genius, but that does not preclude the enjoyment of artists who are not Advanced. In fact, I think if you believe in Advancement, you are able to get pleasure--without guilt--from music that you would not have considered if you didn't believe in it. For instance, without the theory, I couldn't enjoy "Long Cold Winter" by Cinderella as fully as a I do. Of course, this album isn't great, but I really do like a couple of songs on it. Were it not for the theory, I would have dismissed "Long Cold Winter" without hearing it, which is the worst kind of elitism. I'd like to add one more time that "overt" does not mean something is bad, and you don't have to become Advanced to be great. Everything the Velvet Underground did was Overt. So is "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars." If Lou Reed or David Bowie never became Advanced, they would still be geniuses.

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