In the world of journalism, there are many conflicting opinions.  While one writer may favor something and share with the world his fondness for that particular item, another writer oftentimes comes along and debases the very same thing, criticizing it and condemning it down to its very core.

Such is the case of the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class.

Why it was only last week that Dan Neil of the LA Times went off on a tirade, professing SUV drivers to be nothing more than "selfish rotters" and chastising Mercedes for even considering producing a large SUV. This weekend, a mere two days later, we have another opinion, courtesy of Royal Ford of The Boston Globe.

What's Royal Ford's take on the new Mercedes GL? I think the title is pretty self-explanatory: "Mercedes' big SUV: It's about time."

How's that for a contradiction?

Although Ford doesn't feel the world needs another large luxury SUV, he does believe the Mercedes brand needs one. According to his article, a company study found that one-third of Mercedes owners also own a large SUV built by another manufacturer, and more than a quarter of those who used to drive the Mercedes M-Class have opted to switch to another automaker's jumbo-SUV.

If the numbers indeed are correct, sales of the GL may end up being quite impressive.

In the end, Ford pointed out much of the same in his GL article. Smooth, quiet, stable, safe... the typical things you've grown accustomed to hearing in other GL reviews.

I won't go into details seeing as how you've probably read enough of your own GL stories, but if you just can't get enough or you missed the other reviews, you can check out Royal Ford's full article over at Boston.com.