There is a reason why critics make a living (is it a good living? I don’t know …) and Rob Mitchum’s take on Ben Fold’s latest work is a fine example of it.

I am a Ben Folds devotee. Can lip-synch to most of his songs, love the smarty-pants remarks delivered with dilettante scorn, and was just googling around for references to Ben’s latest attempts to bypass the music industry machine by releasing his work via iTunes.

Well, I came across this article which wasn’t at all about the topic I had in mind, but demonstrated that reading well-informed, articulate reviews has a place in our (weekly?) routines.

It tears my musical god’s work to pieces, putting a clearly negative view out there, which I care not -and could not- disagree with. All of a sudden, I realize that an artist’s evolution is a delicate metamorphosis which sometimes never quite turns into the butterfly we want it to, since the potential is at times a better dream to hold on to.

I still love Ben’s music, but being critical never stopped anybody from true love, did it?