Slammed If You Do . . .

Right! How dare Garth try to do something different, something new, something unusual? (“Garth Shows Up at the Wrong Dance,” Sept. 28) Music critics hate it when singers try to do that, don’t they? Oh, waitaminnit--actually, music critics are always demanding that singers do that. The most common slam music critics use is that a singer’s latest work is just a tired retread of the last thing they did. So, to quote Robert Hilburn’s article, “Just what is going on here?”

I get it. No matter what a successful singer like Garth Brooks does, Hilburn is going to slam him anyway. Nice job, being a critic: You just let people work their butts off trying to make music for us and then slam them whatever they do. How dare Garth Brooks do something daring and different and make music that actually makes people feel good, and even get a Top 10 hit off of it? The nerve!

VIK RUBENFELD

Santa Monica