Well, Bono, is a horse of a completely different color. I think it's a combination of his in your face rhetoric about world hunger or AIDs or Africa or something (who can keep track with the trendy celebrity issue of the day) and the fact that the last album sucked that has sullied U2 in general. If it was Larry Mullen Jr, it might matter less, but Bono is the voice of the band and it's hard to listen to anything they make without wanting to punch someone (particularly bono) in the face. It'd kinda ruined U2 for me.

That being said, Unforgettable Fire is still in my f10 of all time and Joshua Tree is right up there.

If we judged artists primarily based on their personal lives and political stances, we might find reason to reject 99.9% of halfway decent acts out there. Ask yourself some questions. Does it sound good? Does it make you think? Is it creative? Did it/does it mean something to you? It's hard to be objective when emotion is really at the core of good music, but you gotta try.

Let me re-phrase, you can dismiss whoever you want for whatever reasons you want; I just think you are punishing the whole because you dislike one part and thus it is not totally rational. I cannot stand Robert Plant, but Led Zep is still a legendary band for their homage to American blues, their songwriting, Page, Jones and Bonham's musicianship, their influence on music, touring, recod companies, their showmanship etc. U2 is not to that level, but has components of a legendary band and certainly has been influential outside of Bono on music, the recording industry etc.

VU is a good call for REM.

Why can't I dismiss U2 because of Bono? He's their front man and I can't stand him as a person or as a singer. And as we found out on South Park he really is just a big piece of shit.

As for REM's influences I would say they listened to a bunch of Velvet Underground. Also I see some Talking Heads in them.

Glad to see Sign O' The Times get some props. It was a little under the radar for him compared to others but I think it catches him at his creative peak.

I just listened to Sign O' The Times for the first time in a couple of months and, while there are other Prince albums I like better, this is such a wonderful treat.

Sorry, leif, but to dismiss U2 because of your bias against Bono is weak. Joshua Tree is great, but War, October and, my favorite, Boy are awesome too. I have a MFSL gold of Unforgettable Fire and, man, that is fantastic groove. I agree the last 6 albums represented a huge jump of the shark, but it is very hard for a band to stay focused & relevant at that level.

REM has grown on me over the years. I used to detest them after loving Murmur, but they got me back with Automatic for the People which is a sublime masterpiece IMO. I have a challenge for folks: usually when I listen to music I try to name influences they are paying respect to etc. REM does not listen to music apparently; I cannot for the life of me name one influence consistently applicable. I dare anyone to name one.

I think Pop is bad for sure and I just watched a PopMart Tour video of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" and I was so freakin' embarrassed for them. With that said - I think "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" was a terrific album but it doesn't hold up to their past. War is still a great album if you consider that "early".

Oh I'm a big REM fan and I think UP is seriously underrated. (Reveal is an embarrassment though.) It's just that I couldn't pick any REM album over the ones I have on my list. I secretly even like Out of Time if you remove Kate Pierson's songs. How do you think Michael Stipe feels when he sees the Shiny Happy People video? Does he just want to forget it ever happened?

One thing in REM vs U2 is that the early REM stuff is still good while the early U2 stuff sounds really dated. Overall, REM is a much much more innovative band than U2 ever was. And when U2 tried to become innovative, we get shit like Pop and that unos dos tres quattorze bullshit. U2 really should have quit after Zooropa.

Well - guess I have some defending to do. First off - I understand the disdain for Bono - but Joshua Tree stands on its own.

To me - every single REM album from Chronic Town to UP! is tremendous (haven't been a fan of the last couple). But to me - Green has that spot in my heart of opening my eyes to music.

Sign O the Times demands your respect Vin! ;) I think it catches Prince at his highest levels of creativity. It's a double album with rap, rock, & great R&B. You get the entire Prince spectrum in one album (although 1999 & Purple Rain aren't far behind). I think I may change up my list though to have only one album per artist. I don't know why I kept more Radiohead albums off if I was to cave and put more than one per artist. I'll be changing shortly.

I HATE bono with a passion. Still, Joshua Tree is a great album. It's almost as good as The Unforgettable Fire. Both were created before the ridiculous persona Bono created for Achtung Baby, which I think does not stand the test of time at all. Sign O the Times is a head scratcher for me as I did have that album (on cassette!) and didn't even bother to upgrade to CD.

I don't have an REM album in my tops either, even though I love the band. To me, they don't have one definitive album, except maybe Automatic, which I wore out in college. New Adventures in Hi-Fi is probably their best work though.

Siamese Dream is a solid choice.

i have to agree with leif, bono is grating. i'm no U2 fan, but i guess i gotta respect the fact that millions of others love them, right? either way, the fact that you have TWO U2 albums and TWO REM albums brings down my rating for this list. i think you are in need of a serious music history lesson, steve. props for pavement, though.

leif - you gotta be able to separate the musician from the music sometimes. Bono is grating but these guys resurrected rock in the 80's. They and REM had a profound impact on me getting into music growing up.

The two U2 albums really hurts my opinion of this list. I've always just really disliked U2, mainly because I can't stand Bono.