judging from the other music threads we seem to have people with good taste. that being said, everyone has some quirks. here's a thread to share.

john lennon's solo work is better than the beatles catalogue. like, a lot better.

bob dylan is pretty overrated

sandinista is the clash's best album

no one writes a better opening than bowie

abba is really good, even the stuff not on greatest hits albums

the man from utopia isn't a bad zappa album

smile was a better album when it was all guesses as to track order and homemade bootlegs

Bono graduated, and did exceptionally well, at the university of being a complete twat. In addition to this, U2 bore the arse off me. Write a good song. And people, stop praising the edge. His "riffs" are as forgettable as a starter i had at The Railway Tavern when i was 17. I can't remember what it was, or whether i liked it or not. I might have been 18 actually. Or was it the dessert?

James Blunt is cockney rhyming slang for what he really is.

Jack Johnson should experiment with some distortion. And write some memorable songs.

Michael Jackson should not be doing his upcoming UK tour, for reasons i am not sure of. I'll get back to you on that.

Prince has lost the plot.

After digging out their debut album upon writing about it in another thread, i have forgotten how good Counting Crows are. Or at least how good the first two albums are. And they are one of the best live bands i have ever seen (I saw them on the Recovering The Satellites tour).

I agree with the above post concerning Bob Dylan. I also have my own reasons for being a bit annoyed with him for inspiring all these whiney faux-American Dylan-soundalikes that frequent the Tin Angel in town. Grrrrrr. *shakes fist*

Goodness. That feels better. Thanks Nefud. *climbs off soapbox*

I'd agree with Dylan being overrated too, and David Bowie does write a better opening (and middle and end) than anyone else.

U2 are tediously boring, and you're right about Blunt (although that's not exactly an unconventional opinion)

But Nefud, John Lennon's solo work is nowhere near as good as the Beatles. The Plastic Ono album and Imagine are really good, probably better than Let it Be and 'with the Beatles' say (the Beatles' worst) but overall there's no competition.

As for my own unconventional opinions, hmm...

Michael Jackson, as you mentioned him, is hugely overrated. He is (or was) obviously massively popular, but that's no reason at all for critical acclaim that he doesn't deserve.

Foo Fighters are better than Nirvana. Much more varied, and heavier (though neither are very heavy metal)

But Nefud, John Lennon's solo work is nowhere near as good as the Beatles. The Plastic Ono album and Imagine are really good, probably better than Let it Be and 'with the Beatles' say (the Beatles' worst) but overall there's no competition.

 the thread title says "opinions." his solo stuff tickles my dick more. i'd rather listen to walls and bridges than sgt. pepper. or his tracks on double fantasy than magical mystery tour. or whatever. i expect exactly zero opinions to be changed in this thread. :)

Foo Fighters are better than Nirvana. Much more varied, and heavier (though neither are very heavy metal)

i absolutely agree with this, though i do think the growing nirvana backlash is a bit silly.

Foo Fighters are better than Nirvana. Much more varied, and heavier (though neither are very heavy metal) 

 I agree with this and would like to add that I was much more into Alice in Chains (and still am) than I was into Nirvana.  I barely listen to my Nirvana albums but listen to Alice in Chans all the time.

Also, if I haven't mentioned before, Coldplay is the worst band EVER!  I can't stand them.  I did try to tolerate them about 10 years ago or so and just couldn't.

Whiney male music is like nails on a chalk board. i.e., Sugar Ray, Dashboard Confessionals, Coldplay.

I agree that Bob Dylan is overrated.  He has a few good tracks but if I can't understand what he is saying, how will I even know if he is a "lyrical genius"?

Stevie Ray Vaughan went too soon.  His voice and guitar had soul. 

Christina Agulara has a voice on her and I truly believe that she will be around long after Britney implodes. 

The Violent Femmes are a very underrated band.  Their music has it all, sex, drugs, religion, death, you name it.

U2 was good back in the 80s but now they just need to go away.  I really don't like anything after Joshua Tree.

Coldplay, Fall Out Boy, Radiohead are all overrated and all their songs are unmemorable.

Prince is a musical genius.  I've seen him in concert and own most of his cd's.  He can play tons of different instruments, sings well and is a great songwriter.

Without John Lennon, The Beatles would have sucked!  His solo stuff was waaay better than Paul's.

Aerosmith used to be a great band before they completly sold out in the 90's.

Michael Jackson had two really good albums (Thriller, Bad).  The rest of his solo music was mediocre at best.

Alice Cooper is an underapreciated lyricist.  Most people who aren't fans, only know Schools Out and Poison, which may be his two worst songs.  There are a lot of bands who wouldn't be here today without his influence.

Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera's voices make my eyes bleed.

Chris Cornell has one of the most underrated voices in all of rock.

what would you recommend as far as good alice cooper and prince albums for someone who never really got past a few radio singles?

The beatles are one of the most over rated bands ever.

Queen are/were terrible. Just rubbish.

 Used to agree about Dylan, until recently when i got into the magic

Black people dont make good music anymore (except for DJ's/electronica eg felix da housecat, stacey pullman)

There are no good modern 'bands'...there are only 'blands' LOLOLOL . but sersiouly, most popular/pop alternative music released in the past 3 years is either irritating or instantly forgettable. (yes im looking at you kings of leon)

Queen are/were terrible. Just rubbish.

 if you ever needed proof that cooped posts while drunk, it's right here.

Queen are/were terrible. Just rubbish.

 if you ever needed proof that cooped posts while drunk, it's right here.
 Queen are underrated (criticially). I think they are a great band. From Queen II to News of the World are classic albums. And they vary the style of song so much more than someone with the Greatest Hits would be aware of (though I'm not accusing you of that, Cooped). Fair enough, after The Game they lost the plot really, but there are still decent songs even then.

Early Radiohead is inferior to later Radiohead.

Later, self-conscious and arty U2 is way more interesting than early, earnest U2, and I include Joshua Tree in the latter category.

The Ramones suck.

I saw a Coldplay concert in 2003 and they were really good.

Bowie's Glass Spider tour was cool.

INXS was a pretty good band for quite a few years.

I think noise counts as music, but I don't enjoy Merzbow.

The Ramones suck.

 i keep trying so hard to love them, but nothing happens

Queen are underrated (criticially). I think they are a great band. From Queen II to News of the World are classic albums. And they vary the style of song so much more than someone with the Greatest Hits would be aware of (though I'm not accusing you of that, Cooped). Fair enough, after The Game they lost the plot really, but there are still decent songs even then.

 Fair enough, not really delved too deeply into their albums, but i think a lot of the hype surrounding them and their better known songs is ridiculous.

And oddly enough, that post before WASN'T a drunk post!!! 

Plus- Besides Joshua Tree, U2 suck suck suck.

The Ramones- erm, so so at best. They sound like an amateur band, but i guess that is the appeal?

The Cure used to be amazing...Seventeen Seconds, Faith, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me and Disintegration: wonderful. Everything else, ermmm...

Fair enough, not really delved too deeply into their albums, but i think a lot of the hype surrounding them and their better known songs is ridiculous.

 if you ever get a wild hair and decide to give them a real shot, a night at the opera is really good.

r.e.m. on the whole is really good, and if they had died in a plane crash after automatic for the people they;d be remembered as one of the best bands of all time

pink floyd's good/bad album ratio is REALLY embarassing

the doors somehow manage to be overrated and underrated at the same time, it's pretty breaktaking

The Ramones are a 'cool' band to like at the moment, but they are really very average.

Radiohead's first album is poor. The Bends is good but kind of boring. Everything since is great.

What album do you think Bowie lost it at? I'd say Heroes, though Scary Monsters is a good album.

if bowie ever really lost it, he got it back later so it's kind of moot

though his latest one is just beyond awful, i already forgot what it's called

if bowie ever really lost it, he got it back later so it's kind of moot

though his latest one is just beyond awful, i already forgot what it's called

 Reality is his latest (last?).

Which post-1980 Bowie albums are worth listening to? 

outside, buddha of suburbia, hours, heathen (at least)

pink floyd's good/bad album ratio is REALLY embarassing

the doors somehow manage to be overrated and underrated at the same time, it's pretty breaktaking

Now that I have Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, and Wish You Were Here, what else should I bother with?

The overrated aspect of The Doors is pretty much due to the widespread deification of Jim Morrison by Oliver Stone and college students. But the fact remains that they wrote a lot of bluesy pop numbers that make me happy.

So do you have to smoke pot or drop acid to like Pink Floyd?

It should be against the law to not like Mark Knopfler.

what would you recommend as far as good alice cooper and prince albums for someone who never really got past a few radio singles?

 As far as Alice is concerned, I would start with some of his early stuff :"Love it to Death", "Killer", or "Billion Dollar Babies".  He has so many great albums, of course "Welcome to my Nightmare" is a must as well.  He did a great one he co-wrote with Bernie Taupan which is really good, about a short stint he did in a psycho ward, to treat his alcoholism, called "From The Inside".  Out of his more recent cds I'd say "Brutal Planet" or "Along Came a Spider."

Prince is another one that has a lot of awesome music.  Obviously people know about "1999" and "Purple Rain."  Some of his best work is on these albums: " Dirty Mind ", "Sign O' the Times", "The Black Album", "The Symbol Album", "The Gold Experience", and "Chaos and Disorder"- which has some good guitar work on it.  If your gonna get just one you should get his "The Hits/The B Sides" 3cd set.

And here I was thinking that Dire Straits was something older people put on when they wanted to rock out.

pink floyd's good/bad album ratio is REALLY embarassing

the doors somehow manage to be overrated and underrated at the same time, it's pretty breaktaking

Now that I have Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, and Wish You Were Here, what else should I bother with?

The overrated aspect of The Doors is pretty much due to the widespread deification of Jim Morrison by Oliver Stone and college students. But the fact remains that they wrote a lot of bluesy pop numbers that make me happy.

 meddle and animals, there's some other decent stuff but that's really all the high points

that's part of the problem with the doors, but they clearly pioneered the territory up their own assholes long before oliver stone or college kids