A Few Unpopular Opinions
Just music, I promise…
Mick Jones > Joe Strummer - Nothing against Joe, I just think Mick is what made the band. Joe wanted to be someone he wasn’t, Mick knew who he was and was okay with it.
Don Henley and Glenn Frey’s music after the Eagles > Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s music after the Beatles - I know if you didn’t hate me before, you do now. And, I know, this is basically saying Don Henley’s solo work is better than either Beatle, but let’s not forget “Smuggler’s Blues”, “Holiday Road”, “The Heat is On” and “You Belong to the City”
Chuck Berry is over-rated - I know Chuck and Little Richard and the hip guys to name check while Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Dion have pretty much been forgotten by popular culture but every Chuck Berry song sounds the same (as this guy points out).
Faith No More > The Red Hot Chili Peppers - First off, Faith No More has a guy who can sing. RHCP might be the most over-rated band of my generation. And much like Chuck Berry (and others), Kiedis has a predilection for under-age girls.
Brit Pop > Grunge - As an American, I know this will go over like a lead zeppelin, but grunge falls apart pretty fast after Alice in Chains (in my opinion). I really like the Melvins and Mudhoney (if you consider them grunge), Soundgarden was good, Pearl Jam made 2.5 good albums (Ten, Vs., & Vitalogy), Nirvana had some decent songs… but Oasis and Radiohead alone could win this one. Add The Verve, Blur, Pulp, Elastica, Ocean Colour Scene and then the bands who started at the tail-end of it: Travis, Stereophonics, Doves, and Coldplay and it’s a no-brainer.
Megadeth > Metallica - I really like Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and …And Justice for All, but Lars can’t drum. After the Black Album, literally everything they have made has sucked. Megadeth on the other hand, have been very consistent. Highs weren’t as high, but the lows were nowhere near as low. Plus, having had a couple interactions with Dave after my friend’s cancer diagnosis and death, he’s a sweetheart and I’d much rather hang out with him than I would Metallica (except Robert Trujillo, who I would love to meet).
That’s it for now. I’ve been enjoying Stereophonics’ 1999 record, Performance and Cocktails, a favorite of mine since 1999 and the days of talking to girls in chatrooms about the record on AOL. They’re a criminally under-appreciated band in the States. One last anecdote before I go…
I just watched the Counting Crows documentary on HBO the other night and I was reminded of when I saw them at Deer Creek in Noblesville, IN in 2000. They were doing a double headliner show with Live and my friend Brad worked for X103. Brad got us into the pre-show meal and meet & greet before the show. The only guy who showed up was Ed Kowalaczyk from Live. I was wearing my Performance and Cocktails t-shirt I got in April of 2000 when I saw them open for the Charlatans at the Vic in Chicago with my friend Anthony. Ed saw the back of my shirt and came up to me and started gushing about Stereophonics. We talked about them and the record for about ten minutes before he moved on. Super nice guy and Stereophonics is a band, that to this day, if you meet another fan in the States, you know you’re in a pretty cool club together.
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and wishing everyone a wonderful and blessed 2026.
Jeremy