#11 Everyone Wants To Be U2, But No One Wants To Admit It.

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Top 5 best chick bands of all time:
1. The Breeders
2. Bikini Kill
3.L7
4. The Gore Gore Girls
5. U2

Really though, I don't understand how U2 got to the point that they are at. Being the biggest band in the world that is. They have some good songs and are obviously very talented, but how they came to have such a fanatic and nearly suicidal fan base who's numbers can be counted in the 10os of millions is completely beyond my capacity to explain. They're not that good. I can name all the songs I like by them on about 7 fingers and after that the rest of their collection is a little contrived sounding for my tastes. I suppose that comes with the territory of being the worlds greatest pop/rock band, but they also have this perplexing label of Alternative Rock that radio DJs and music critics like to toss around in association with their sound; which boggles my mind and makes me feel like I'm on crazy pills. When I think of Alt Rock I literally think of the first 3 band on the above list plus- The Pixies, Foo Fighters, and Nirvana (who I know a lot of people like to label as GRUNGE as if they were the ONLY Grunge band ever, but after listening to Mudhoney and L7 its hard to find many similarities in the styles of other Grunge musicians that also resonates in Nirvana own style. Nirvana is, and alway has been, a machine on to its self in my opinion and really didn't do much to effect Grunge as a style of music out side of the mainstream medias impression of the genre... but thats a story for another time, anyway...), U2's sound strikes me as the ultimate in marketability and chock full of commercial advertising potential. Its non-offensive, smooth and devoid of any abrasive edges, and most of all boring *ahem* I mean very relatable. I don't see anything alternative about a band that everyone can relate to. If everyone likes them, which they do, I don't see anything alternative about that.

My judgment of a band as either good or bad usually teeters on their originality and their ability to surprise me; U2's sound and style are highly predictable though, leaving me to deem them as mediocre at best (especially for how popular they are). To sum up this rant though: U2- not my favorite band. Why? They’re not very good, especially for how insanely poplar they are. They confuse me because they are placed in the same class as many of my favorite bands but share next to nothing in common with them. (if your a pop band, be a pop band, don’t horn in on others turf). And last but not least, if three bands are introduced to the American poplar media from across the pond at any given time, one of them will sound almost exactly like U2. Which is a damned shame considering all the good stuff the UK has going on right now. Of course if they don’t sound like U2, they will almost inevitably be compared to Radiohead, which is just as bad. Why don’t you just race an Olympic track athlete against a 3^rd Grader and then tell the 3^rd Grader that they’re awful and can’t come out to ice cream with the rest of the family because they lost. Honestly, why do that to the poor kid.