Die Hard Fan

What makes people behave this way?

Insecurity. The need for affirmation.

Is it good for anybody?

Probably not.

Joy Division Sucks, they were a cut-rate version of Black Sabbath.

let the carnage begin...

not sure about the politics, but watching stuff like 'FANatic' on Channel 4's T4 is quite amusing (I imagine MTV might do something similar), where excitable fans get to meet their idols.

being a die-hard fan is neither useful to the fan or to music. it also makes any decent critical discussion of the artist impossible

Fanatic=Incredibly funny yet also depressing show.

Love for a particular artist to the point of obsession. Bizarre all consuming obsession. It's fucking odd. And the obligatory "it helped me through a difficult time in my life, my brother was mangled in a train wreck and your music helped me realise that life is so magnificent and there are places that *sob* we never can reach till we die, and I know he's never coming back but I went home from school every day and listened to "Come on Over" till my love for your albums swallowed up any ounce of personality I had left". And Christina or whoever just sits there looking "emotionally affected". and then there are the questions they ask. So completely inane and stupid. If I ever want to know 3 outfits my favourite artist would bring with them to a desert island then shoot me and dissolve my body in acid. And then they leave and start turning cartwheels on the floor or breaking down crying because it's the best die of their sad sad lives. It should be called Lunatic. See what I did there.

Being obsessive about someone and defending that person's talent to the point of absurdity are not the same things.

I will happily admit there is an artist I obsess about (when I find the time) and which has IMHO a 100% track record of great records, albeit with the odd duff track. I expect a lot of ILMers are a bit obsessive about at least one act. But I recognise that there are always going to be people who disagree. So I avoid talking about said artist on this board.

I'm with Ronan on Fanatic -- it can be horribly macabre and depressing, as well as being funny. It's just downright sad that these kids devote so much time to someone else who will never give a damn about them.

Does this include the belief that Julian Cope is just having a laugh with Brain Donor, and still could toss off a fab pop song without a backwards glance, if only the best part of the joke is insisting that Brain Donor, and Brain Donor only, is what he's all about now?
If so, i'm all for it, and going to stock up on discounted face paint today for the rest of the year, even if i'll be damned if i will playing Love, Peace, & Fuck all that much... except "Get Off Your Pretty Face"... that's great... Those who adopt lifestyles based off songs and artists are more than a little disturbed, and would likely find something else to obsess over if they didn't have that music. I thought it was fantastic that there was a guy around here that a few years ago, was still obsessed with Billy Ray Cyrus, to the point of dressing and acting as he thought Billy Ray would.