Say something Nice about ILM's usual suspects.

"Beautiful Day" was a good single also. It's uplifting, almost like a postpunk Boston in a weird way. The guitars shimmer and Bono's off-key rambling is more effective than that of any indie slacker.

U2 was probably an improvement on postpunk because they weren't miserable all the time and weren't afraid to be a rock band. They managed to be serious without being glibly cynical. It's also impressive that they haven't shied away from sonic experimentation even on their most popular work. If they weren't so popular and enduring, the Edge would probably get much more respect than Keith Levene or Bernard Sumner even from the dourest British music press hipster. He's certainly more versatile and accomplished.

Bruce Springsteen is handsome in the "Dancing In the Dark" video.

46. Clash - London Calling London Calling
39. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

also, thats supposed to say London Calling, not London Calling London Calling

(Actually Bruce may well have)

I cannot listen to "The Magnificent Seven" without achieving perma-grin.

U2

I absolutely love singing along with their songs whilst completely hammered.

Musically, 'Zoo Station', 'Thunder Road' and 'Janie Jones' are all great ways to start an album.

I admit, I always hate this argument. Someone could be the nicest person in the whole person and still be completely and utterly horrific when it comes to any more of artistic expression. In which, good on ya, but I won't have yer stuff in the house.

Take note, Billy Joel.

Fair enough, Ned, I wouldn't normally use it to justify actually listening to their records. And I'd rather listen to an utter c*nt like Jerry Lee Lewis than, say, Tracy Chapman. But as nickalicious says, it is the say something nice thread.

So can you find something begrudgingly nice to say about Bruce to go with your U2 and Clash comments?

U2 -- I like that they forever established Red Rocks as a premiere venue.

Bruce Springsteen -- I like that he continues to excite and involve his audience; but mainly for Little Steven's role in The Sopranos.

Springsteen is...a bad rock musical for people who don't really like rock and roll or something, I hate him.

I also hate U2, except for the song "Even Better Than the Real Thing."

It's incredibly nice not to have to listen to him. :-)

One could also hate the music, you realize. Or have I missed the 'you are born unto the human race, therefore you are genetically programmed to like Springsteen' dictum?

Well, Westlife I've never heard, and Coldplay, well, their music doesn't inspire nausea in me, so that's positive.

Sigur Ros, now there's a band I'm full of positive things to say about. Instead of prattling them all off, I'll just say I'm quite looking forward to seeing them live next month in LouEVIL.

He's up against the wall when the time comes.

He and Elton John's absurdly expensive-concert-ticket is playing in my town tonight. Woo hoo!

(I'll be rehearsing. Thank goodness.)

Disagree. Remarkably, I lost an important bit of my virginity with U2's "So Cruel" in the background, and now whenever I hear it I go all odd.

Wow, I can count the number of people who wanted to know that, on no hands.

sorry, buddy, no can-do re this request. can't do it w/ westlife 'cause i've never heard a note of their music. clodplay is boring and derivative. and sigur ros is so beyond-the-capacity-of-language awful that they're almost evil.

i unreservedly love the clash -- though i don't listen to them an awful lot these days. i esp. love their fucked-up take on reggae -- their version of "police and thieves" remains one of my all-time favorites.

re U2: used to love the eighties stuff when i was a teenager in those days; i still don't hate it (and props to sundar re "new years day") but i also don't listen to that stuff an awful lot any more. achtung baby and zooropa are masterpieces. the more i think of it, the only completely and irredeemably awful U2 album is rattle and hum (a/k/a boring and dumb) -- though the "am i buggin' ya?" spiel is admittedly good for a smirk.

re Springsteen: the only three of his records i unreservedly love are the wilde, the innocent, and the e-street shuffle, nebraska and tunnel of love. i sorta like greetings from asbury park -- i am fond of the ten-pounds-of-potatoes-in-a-five-pound-bag approach he had to singing and lyrics that he had on that one and e-street (the latter is funky as a mofo). the rest i pick and choose -- "born to run," "candy's room," "the river" are great singles. ultimate "i respect him and his music but don't necessarily like his music" artist.

Really, the same goes for the Clash. It's just that the negative remarks tend to stick out in the mind.

also known as 'prattle & hmm', shuely?!

i was wrong, and i changed my mind ... i now like coldplay. even though they aren't very original. but they're nice and i like their music.

And I like the Clash a lot too... Magnificent 7, train in vain, a bunch of the album tracks on london calling, white man in hammersmith palais, etc.

Achtung Baby, on the other hand, surprised me all over over again. Very good album. Bono turns the self-righteous down to almost zero and the bad rhymes down to a totally tolerable 4, and lets the production, riffs, and melodies do all the work. It's not like it's deep or anything, unless you're aching to hear that love is for sharing, sex is dirty, and Bono is "ready." But damnit, I was able to listen to the record and actually *like* it. A breakthrough U2 day for me.

Bruce Springsteen:  "Dancing in the Dark" is a glorious moment for the '80s, both song- and video-wise. "I'm On Fire" is one of the most spine-tinglingly gorgeous songs around. "Glory Days" is a fantastic sing-along song. When I was a teenager, I adored "Tunnel of Love".

The Clash:  Combat Rock is awesome. "White Man in Hammersmith Palais" is awesome. "Lost in the Supermarket" is awesome. "Janie Jones" is awesome. "Guns of Brixton" is awesome. "Clash City Rockers" is awesome. Need I go on?

U2:  I used to be a huge fan of theirs. The Unforgettable Fire was one of the albums I played most often back around 1992 - 1993. I was always bothered by how every single music criticism I read concerning them seemed to be full of adoration, but at the same time my # 1 favorite musical artist (need I mention... ?) was constantly getting slammed by these same critics, but I never really let that stop me from being a fan of theirs up until sometime late last year, when I saw that even those music writer-type people (including people from around here) who will swear up and down that they love Duran Duran don't really seem to love them when it matters, and I kept on seeing nothing but adoration all over the damn place when it came to U2, so I stopped listening to them full stop. I haven't picked up a single U2 album in about a year. And I would like to love them again, but that would mean I would join a chorus I don't want to be a part of.

Oh wait.