Re: On Katemas 1996: TSW & TRS

[engjs@cc.newcastle.edu.au (James Smith)]

Andrew writes:

> In the recent discussion about the relative "rank" of  the albums of Kate
> Bush, [...] the very enterprise
> is either 
> a disproof of the merit of the entire subject under review or a proof of the
> inanity 
> of the enterprise itself.

It's certainly impossible to rank them according to quality, but it is
possible to rank them in order of preference, which is what is being done.
Hence the poll for third best album is choosing the one that most people
would place at number three on their preference list, which has little to
do with its actual quality.

There's a bit of a contradiction in terms here. Kate's work has never been
intended primarily to have mass apeal, and many people are attracted to it
because of that. And yet they want to categorise her music by that same
quality. :-)

Jim
-- 
James J Smith             | One of the biggest obstacles to the future
Faculty of Engineering    | of computing is C. C is the last attempt
Newcastle University      | of the high priesthood to control the
engjs@cc.newcastle.edu.au | computing business. It's like the scribes
--------------------------+ and the Pharisees who did not want the
masses to learn to read and write.                  -- Jerry Pournelle