I was in love with Eric Johnson's first couple of records - he's a great guitar player - but now when I listen, the songs seem soooo awful.

I only owned Ahh Via Musicom and I totally agree, there's just something a bit too sterile with his production and end result. Though I remember reading the guy had an impeccable ear and was a super perfectionist - as in, he could tell when a battery was starting to lose charge in effect pedals / length of cables based on just playing a few notes. SUPER NITPICKY about his tone, which on one hand was great for establishing a base level of quality, on the other though, it kind of makes everything sound plastic.

i've got that album and still love "Cliffs of Dover"

the rest of it sounds like some shred version of the Police

Nice. I remember having the tablature for Cliffs of Dover in a magazine for a long time before getting the cd. Finally being able to hear that intro solo after only being able to 'read' and imagine what it was supposed to sound like was pretty mind blowing hahaha

I also recall liking Song for George quite a bit, nice little acoustic ditty.

The Who is the main one for me. I used to listen to nothing but, however now it's the opposite. I listen to everything but the Who. I'm kinda disillusioned from that rock-stuff, I worked in a rock-oriented music store that had all those classics playing all day and when you don't entirely love rock music it grinds you down

And of course I went through a Beatles phase. Not gonna give a reason for not listening them though, pretty sure people would want my head on a stake haha

I also don't listen to Sigur Rós, a big post-rock band, as much anymore. Used to listen to them a ton. Though I will put them on every so often so I guess they don't fully qualify for this thread

Yeah, I agree with that. A collaboration U2 released within the past year also is good (technically, it's just Bono and The Edge with Reeve Carney). But in between, a whole lot of mediocrity (fittingly "Magnificent" is good).

Also, speaking for myself, I used to like bands like Poison, but now look down on many of the songs I once enjoyed.

Green Day...

Mars Volta are amazing. I'm gonna go one further and say i still enjoy Vampire Weekend also. Sure its a ripoff of every ska chord with simple pop leanings, but its nice to listen to something simple once in awhile. If Dream Theater was the last band left standing during an apocalypse, i'd dive off a cliff.

I actually used to really like Jay-Z back in the hay but because I heard of his crappy things, as a result that I don't care for Jay-Z like I used. I still listen Jay-Z but now it is rare, I mean really rare.

pearl Jam