I think we'd all be a lot better if we didn't have to defend our opinions. I listened to the album four times now, and nothing is grabbing my attention, therefore I am not particularly enjoying it. It is when people force others to analyze the music, try to put their finger on what they don't like, and defend their opinions that the counterarguments start to take the original premise too far or over extrapolate that these arguments happen. If someone, black_floyd for instance, misses the heaviness, he's allowed to. In my case, I like Damnation and other non-heavy music from other bands, so I don't think that is the issue for me. When I try to quantify what I don't like about it because "I don't like it" isn't an acceptable answer to people who like it or feel the need to defend Mikael, I trying to point to something that I honestly have not put my finger on. In the interim, my official stance on Pale Communion is, "All I know is that when I listen to it nothing grabs my attention and makes me want to listen." I hope you enjoy the album, and I honestly hope I come around on it too, but seeing that I still feel the same way about Heritage as I did when that came out, I don't see that happening.
I agree with you. However, while I mostly hate discussions in which everyone tries to prove everyone else right or wrong and am very reluctant to engage in these discussions, I do enjoy discussions which have the sole aim of trying to understand
why people have a different opinion from one another. My purpose in the discussion about Heritage and Pale Communion has never been the former, but rather the latter. Let me give an example.
If someone states that Heritage and PC sound like 70s prog rock, I accept that. I even agree on that. However, if someone states that they do not sound like Opeth albums, I don't quite understand why that person thinks that. Rather than trying to prove
that they sound like Opeth albums, I prefer to explain
why I think they sound like Opeth albums, i.e. by stating examples of where I think the music sounds like classic Opeth, and discussing about what makes them not sound like typical Opeth albums.
To sum it up: I don't have anything against people who don't like Heritage or PC, and I don't mean to try to prove them wrong. I do, however, enjoy discussion about why some people like these albums and others don't like them. If you don't want to do that, that's fine
I don't mean to attack anyone's opinions, and I don't think I did. But if someone feels I've done that, please tell me