Hello Anka, your message was touching.
The Big Art, as you say, is often a Big Art because it is big. This art deserves its succes, like the huge Pablo Picasso's last exhibit in Paris that broke all records of audience.
The Who are also a big band in the history, they deserve all the admiration. The problem is not the Big Art, but the public and the way we use the art.
For example, the german poet Goethe has many statues and they celebrate his birthday. "This year is his 200th birthday year." He's a great poet and writer, but we must not forget that many other poets exist. It's not Goethe's fault, we just focalise on him and don't see the others who also exist.
It's the same today whith the cinema. While american blockbusters blow all away, the public doesn't even know that many other movies exist. I'm not talking about quality, but about knowing what exists. While a "Star Wars" gets a huge success all around the world, other independant american movies are not known and seen, and what about movies coming from Europe, Asia or all around the world?
The public is the problem.
Ask yourself: why do you love something that everybody loves? You can adore Picasso, Goethe or Star Wars. But, is it because your really personally love it, enjoy it? Or is it because they are the most known artists or works? Because everybody knows it and loves it?
They deserve to be appreciated and loved, but do you really know them?
Someone saying that The Who are a real band is right. But someone saying B'z is a bad band and you should listen to a real band like The Who is wrong. I listen to Bob Dylan and B'z, the first is one of the biggest artists of the 20th and 21th century. And I know why I love what he does, not just because many people say he's good. So I know what I'm talking about. And I listen to B'z too. It's absolutely not incompatible.
So, Anka, your description about your feelings when you listen to B'z is a fine description. B'z has something to do with joy and happiness. I can't explain it exactly. Honestly, I can't say that B'z is the best band of the world, and such an affirmation would be kind of stupid. Who could really say: This band, here, is the best of the world and in all history?" (we let that question to the fans of The Beatles and the Rolling Stones)
Okay, B'z is not the best band in the world. But first, it is certainly one the best in Japan.
Ah, problem, they have to listen to something else than english-american music... So, if the critics are about the country and the language, these are no critics, these are just nothing. Many good bands exist everywhere in the world, rock music is'nt just a question of english-american culture.
Second, B'z is a perfect compromise between commercial and artistic music. Not commercial in the way that they please the audience with ultra formated songs (like other Japanese bands and singers, Ayumi Hamasaki & co...), but commercial in the way that their commercial strategy is perfect. They know when they have to release something, how to sell something at the right time etc. But that's nothing today in Japan that is an ultra commercial country.
And even if B'z songs are often used in dramas and TV commercials, you will never see Inaba and Matsumoto in something else than music. They never played in commercials, TV series or movies (unlike supermarketmen like KimuTaku from SMAP).
Their music is a large mix of influences and their own creativity. Their melodies are unique and magic, even if Matsumoto borrows sometimes some known guitar riffs here and there. Inaba's voice is more than unique. It's one of the best in Japan today, and the point is that Inaba can sing. All Japanese singers cannot sing like he does (but that doesn't mean their voice is bad).
Third, they stage performances are incredible and fantastic.
Okay, you can say you don't like B'z, but first you have to recognize these qualities. B'z is one of the biggest bands in Japan, and they deserve it, like Picasso and Goethe, for example. If some people don't undestand why, they have to recognize B'z qualities, even if they don't like them.
Then it's a matter of taste.
So, Anka, I think you must stay cool with your friends (or not friends) laughing at you for loving B'z. I would say: listen to all they listen. Try to understand why they like it, why they admire the Big Art. Well, try to know all they know, and make your own judgement. Then you can say to them: "Okay, you listen to that, I do, you like it, I do. I love B'z and that's not a mistake. Now it's your turn to try to understand why B'z is such a huge band and why I feel so happy listening to it."
But it can be a long process. You have to give a lot of yourself to understand the others, and maybe they won't understand you. But if you tried to understand them and got no "payback", let it go.
