Say something Nice about ILM's usual suspects.

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.