| Maturity is a terrible disease, and relieves most of us of the ability to think of any particular band as infallible. If there are no infallible bands, then it’s hard to have an all-time favorite, a single band whose every move seems to glow with its own inner light, and whose work appears to the idolatrous eye like the ongoing scaling of an infinitely high mountain whose heights prevent others from even attempting the climb but whose dizzy altitudes seem only to encourage the objects of our adulation. Everybody makes mistakes; everybody; Pulp was the best band for a minute or two, but then they made This Is Hardcore and were no longer burdened by best-band status. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are still the best live band in the world, as far as I know, but Cave’s infallibility ended with the release of Tender Prey, which didn’t suck but broke with his tradition of always making an album that outdid its predecessor. Slayer were the best band in the world until their schtick got old. And so on, and on. The only way to stay the best band in the world is to break up right after your moment of triumph. |