Mikele wrote:Honestly...
..I think Rick knows he was just lying on that one. It's a clever made up answer, that's cool for the fans to hear but I don't drink it.
I think you're right. To some extent, it's a compromise in the end. Anyone is going to know what the fans want, and the artist knows that once the song is out there, the fans make of it what they will. It's also the reason the artist is "happy" to play this song live even though it's been performed at every concert for the past 30 years and they are sick to death of it. Sometimes, they truly feed off the fan reaction and enjoy it--sometimes they are up front and honest and say that, given the choice, they would never play that song live again.
As far as new material goes, you have to please yourself first and foremost. Otherwise, it's going to sound like a pale copy of what was done better before, and the fans will pick up on this in an instant. There are limits that you shouldn't cross (ie not straying TOO far from your sound), but you have to be enthusiastic about your own material before you can expect someone else to feel the same way.