Critics have been in the forefront of the list's traffic recently, for obvious reasons, and there has always been much vitriol directed at these members of the 4th estate, who, let's not forget, are being paid good money to watch films, listen to records and so on - so not too much sympathy for them!
However, the ones who have a proper sense of their own importance (or lack of it) serve a useful purpose, I believe; and the ones who can really write can brighten my day in the same way as can great writing from any other type of journalist: a felicitous turn of phrase, or a heartfelt vote of confidence for a great record, film or whatever; or a harsh-but-fair skewering of some zillionaire's vanity project - all these can make for refreshing reading. If anyone is interested in investigating a truly BRILLIANT and unique critic, check out Nancy Banks-Smith, an undeclared national treasure, who does telly reviews for the Guardian. She can make me laugh out loud, and is never gratuitously nasty about programes or programme makers. A link below shows a good sample of her style, and I believe it works as good writing even if you didn't see the programmes (which I didn't). http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv_and_radio/story/0,3604,850170,00.html Back to music and films, there are a few phrases from reviews that have stuck in my mind over the years, and which have, in their small way, contributed to the enrichment of the written word. Some of my favourites, slightly paraphrased from memory, but correct in their essentials: [of Fleetwood Mac] - "As a British blues band in the 60s, they redefined the limits of how many times Elmore James's Dust My Broom slide guitar lick could be shoehorned into songs with different titles." [of Kevin Rowland's first solo album , The Wanderer] - "We can tell Rowland has mellowed, as the words 'baby' or 'darling' occur 50 times and the phrase 'middle class bitch' only once." [of Roy Scheider] - "His face is now so leathery that when he dies I hope it will be possible to turn him into a handbag." [that was Charles Shaar Murray] [of Pierce Brosnan, in a late 80s film, possibly Taffin] - "He always carries a whiff of the miniseries about him." Azeem in London NP: a fantastic compilation called "Exploratory Music from Portugal" from Songlines magazine, which I found in a second hand shop for all of two pounds
