Although he died in 1982, Lester Bangs is still considered America's best rock music critic. The release of the collection "Mainlines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste," provides an opportunity to take another look at Bangs' work. Andrew Leonard argues in this Salon article that Bangs was a great critic because he cared about music. According to Leonard, "Lester on Black Sabbath is a revelation, Lester on punk is magisterial, Lester on Jamaica is a tour de force of brutal honesty. " In this Slate article, Sasha Frere-Jones says Bangs was a great critic because he was both passionate and skeptical about music.

Was he really that good? Decide for yourself. You can read Lester Bangs' article about Black Sabbath here.