uhh, Freebird. I'm from Louisiana...but then, does anyone actually play it besides Lynyrd Skynyrd & Ben Folds anymore? Speaking of-did anyone see he got married recently?

I must confess I'm entirely not sick of "Sweet Home Alabama" and could probably listen to it for another 30 years and still not be sick of it. Weird I know, right?

I also stand by "Bittersweet Symphony," but I must voice my nuh-uh to the Smashing Pumpkins. But I wasn't wild about that song when it first appeared. So there's that.

Built to Spill played "Freebird" in the past. And My Morning Jacket played it in Elizabethtown. Maybe I'm the only one that saw that movie and actually wanted to remember it. Freebird's a great one, nonetheless.

Oh I hate "Freebird" more than just about anything ever recorded. "Sweet Home Alabama" too. But I DO NOT hate Lynyrd Skynyrd, which I have a hard time reconciling with my conscience. Yes, Watergate (still) bothers me, but my conscience doesn't.

If SHA didn't have the line "In Birmingham they love the governor, we all did what we could do," I might not hate that song as much as I do. Since the governor they were referring to was Geo. Wallace and he gave the band tons of honorary awards that they were all too eager to accept, I think that song is racist. I don't, however, think that liking a song that is morally objectionable is a problem in and of itself (I like a lot of mysogynistic hip hop, for example).

"Freebird" I just think is irredeemably bad. Sorry. I know people love it, but I just don't get it. Anyone who shouts it at a show to be "ironic" is an asshole. Unless it is a Lynyrd Skynyrd show. Or any other band that actually plays "Freebird".

"Call Me the Breeze" and "Gimme Three Steps" kick ass, though.

I grew up on classic rock, so I love most of what the Rolling Stones, the Who, etc... did. I don't have any guilty pleasures in terms of music (to me, Girl Scout cookies are guilty pleasures).

I thought I loved "Freebird" till I actually played it again a couple years back and tired of it easily. "Gimmee Three Steps" and "Sweet Home Alabama" are terrific though.

Funny Jon just posted this, as I just came back from new record store Swerve downtown with, yes, a Grace Jones album, but also two Fleetwood Mac albums from their sweet $2 bin. And they are the Live album from the TUSK tour and the MTV-overplayed MIRAGE, which only rate three stars from mainstream rock critics. But damn RUMOURS sounds soooooooo great on the iPod I could not resist these pristine slabs o'vinyl.

HATE HATE HATE for bittersweet symphony.

I do love the Bittersweet Symphony -- and I will NOT change the station (and likly sing along) if a famous John Cougar Mellencamp song comes on.

I am seriously bored by "Melt with you." And any Eagles / Don Henley song makes me absolutely furious.

I guess I don't listen to the radio enough to notice these things (minus Red Sox games on WRKO over the interweb, which in that case, "Sweet Caroline" makes the list) ...

However, I see enough TV to be pissed off that UPS uses "Such Great Heights" to tell me how they can ship packages. It is getting up there with "Lust for Life" being used to hock terrible cruiseline vacations. Enough already ...

(ignore this space)

I like most things by REM c:

What got me into Fleetwood was their more experimental, girl-less early albums, so I was hesitant to get into stuff like Rumors. But yes, after sucking in some pride, i gave Rumors a shot and realized how amazing it is on vinyl (and 320 bit-rate on iPod).

Rumours is fantastic.

The Strokes - Last Nite

Jimi Hendrix - Little Wing

While not the most "rockin'" songs they get played way too much.

Green Day "Good Riddance (Time of your Life)"

Nirvana "About A Girl" from MTV Unplugged (I don't understand why the big rock stations play the hell out of this song.

God, I hate everything Eagles as well. Worst. Band. Ever.

And, since I'm into punk rock and all, I know I'm supposed to get all silly about Black Flag, but I can't stand that band. Not really an overplayed rock band, but an over-worshipped one.

Wait, is "Do You Realize" really that overplayed? That is a fucking sweet song.

all things JOURNEY

"Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer, forever and always.

I'll admit a love of 'Boys of Summer' by Don Henley especially in the summer cruisin' with my windows down and my sunglasses on...

Also 'Losing my Religion'...or anything by REM.

Speaking of Summer-oriented songs, "Summer of '69" has been stuck in my head ever since I heard it in a bar on Saturday.

Bittersweet Symphony=totally good

Van Morrison, whether it be "Domino" or "Moondance".

One thing that I think would determine the tolerance level for hearing overplayed rock songs is the amount of mainstream radio one has been exposed to over the years. I haven't listened to the radio since working construction in the early 90s and even then it wasn't long enough to grow a hatred for anything (save for The Eagles*). I ... don't ... drive. That factors into why I still like a lot of the popular music now I rejected listening to when I was growing up, buying tons of punk and alternative rock.

Black Flag was one of those bands you had to see live, in my opinion, after "Damaged." It was about letting the rock back into punk, a real dangerous energy as well, and beyond those horrible "loud fast rules" songs most bands were trying to make a hardcore career by (and Bad Brains dominated on to begin with). I enjoy albums like "Slip It In" to an extent, but rarely find myself playing them (especially as compared to "The First Four Years"). I understand your feelings about them being overrated though, The Grim -- I don't like their music any better personally than the less respected Circle Jerks and I think the first five years of DOA kicks everyone else's asses besides the Bad Brains.

* - Well, LIz, I'm sure you've noticed a resurgence in appreciation for The Eagles lately, especially among young indie rock kids. There seems to be an undercurrent of embarrassed love for them among some older rock critics too. I think in the next two years you will see a reissue overhaul of their EARLY records, and a desire from many people to "give them their due, in spite of original critical backlash and radio saturation." (Aligning them with Springsteen and other "American" rock stylists.) Thing is, with me, I sort of like the "Hotel California" decadent period which is not cool to like, because at least they were being honest about being coked-up morons. But I still don't like it that much (I would never buy a record of theirs, ever). But I'd bet anyone here $20 that in a few months a lot of people will be "coming out" with love for when the band first appeared, ripping off Gram Parsons, etc., as memories of their pomposity fade away.

Chris @ 22: Here's Robert Christgau on the Eagles (from his 1973 book Any Old Way You Choose It):

The Eagles--Glen Frey, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, and Don Henley--are the tightest and most accomplished rock band to emerge since Neil Young's Crazy Horse. The usual compilation of credits--Poco and the Burritos and the Stone Canyon Band, Bob Seger and Linda Ronstadt--does not mean the usual compilation of disgruntled sidemen doing battle with their own well-deserved anonymity. The difference is partly chemistry--the Eagles are an organic group, not a mixture of musicians--but mostly raw talent. These guys can execute. Not only do they all sing and compose, which is nothing new--they're good at it.

Another thing that interests me about the Eagles is that I hate them. "Hate" is the kind of up-tight word that automatically excludes one from polite posthippie circles, a good reason to use it, but it is also meant to convey an anguish that is very intense, yet difficult to pinpoint. Do I hate music that has been giving me pleasure all weekend, made by four human beings I've never met? Yeah, I think so. Listening to the Eagles has left me feeling alienated from things I used to love. As the culmination of rock's country strain, the group is also the culmination of the counterculture reaction that strain epitomizes.

Ha! Thanks, Chris! That's why I love the Dean of American Rock Critics.

One excellent thing about mainstream hits, especially for me, from the 70s and 80s is.. whether I like the song or not, I can rely on keeping me awake on long road trips because I can sing along to every song. Alone is better, because then no one has to know that I know all the lyrics to REO Speedwagon's Take it On the Run...

God, if I didn't hear "Don't Stop Believing" in a bar, as an ironic cover, a karaoke pick, or as any girl's ringtone ever again I'd be happy.

Black Flag was one of those bands you had to see live, in my opinion, after "Damaged." It was about letting the rock back into punk, a real dangerous energy as well, and beyond those horrible "loud fast rules" songs most bands were trying to make a hardcore career by

So long as you actually saw them live during this period and aren't just saying something you've heard repeated a billion times before, I'll take your word on it. I've seen a couple bands live that were pretty good live, and obviously biting off Black Flag's ideas in huge gulps, though their records suck, so that makes sense on a theoretical level.

As for bringing the rock back to punk rock, I dunno. They were doing that, but, really, were fighting off a trend that Black Flag itself was largely, though not solely, responsible for helping get off the ground. I don't really like hardcore, so I know this is coloring my judgement, but that's still a negative net gain for punk, if that makes any sense.

Yeah, I saw Black Flag live -- in Hollywood 1983 and I worked security for their Spokane show in 1985.

I didn't care for most hardcore for years -- I am VERY picky about metal (and resented its influence on later American punk), and don't like hardly any of the meathead thrash that came up in the NE after 1985 -- but could make you a few very choice hardcore mix tapes you'd be surprised to enjoy. Some of it is just great rock, and the art-damaged stuff can be really thrilling too.