There’s no use in arguing over which music is ‘better’ than other music. The point of art is to instill an emotion within the consumer of the art. Paintings aren’t created to be critiqued–they’re created to move their viewer. Music isn’t written to be discussed–it’s written to affect its listener. In both of those proclamations, I want to emphasize the singular being in each circumstance: the viewer; the listener.

In my experience, the artist themselves is the only party being catered to during an act of creation. I believe artists, in their various forms, are the most selfish and isolated humans on Earth, regardless of who they are and how they act outside their craft. Subsequently, I believe the consumption of art is, at its basest level, an extremely intimate and individual experience. Sure, you can go to a concert and feed off the energy of a crowd or the atmosphere of a venue. In the end, though, the lone connection between you and the musician on stage is the only outside force to affect you.

Only you have access to what’s going on in your own mind, and you’re the only one who can identify what you’re seeing or hearing means to you. It’s this notion that keeps us even-keeled on the subject of art and, in particular, music, and why there is no way to quantify its quality in any way beyond frivolous fandom.

The same thing can not be said for musicians, however. Musicians can ABSOLUTELY be rated objectively, and, as you can imagine, I’m going to do that now. Jimi Hendrix was, is, and always will be, the greatest guitar player of all time. Let me explain.