<> Your comments were so provocative that I decided to go back and relisten to my FF album, and I found that, in fact, it was a hollow imitation of Gang of Four and decided to strike it from my top 20 entirely. I feel like such a fool! I was really a sheep to listen to Spin when they told me to buy this. Oh, actually, wait. None of that happened. <> I can't help but find it odd who is calling who a curmudgeon here? <> Jeff, I think we've CONSISTENTLY seen comments like these from you, attacking almost every band who's achieved even a modicum of mainstream success (save Fountains of Wayne). Most of us have been on this list for years. We're not buying that this time we somehow missed your intent. I really couldn't care less if you like Franz Ferdinand--that's not the point. You can hate them all you want, and loudly proclaim that on this list, if you so choose. Others have without garnering such attention. But when you start to belittle the tastes of so many others here who legitimately DO like them, and furthermore claim that *WE*--educated music consumers all--are somehow sheep who fell for hype, well, then you shouldn't be surprised that you're getting attacked. Like many people on this list, I've heard hundreds and hundreds of new records this year, and bought/acquired close to 150. Of those, Franz Ferdinand landed comfortably at #6, a position I stand behind. I find it interesting that David Bash and Bruce Brodeen, who've probably heard more records than anyone else on this list, don't feel the need to chime in and say that the world's suddenly in the shitter because "Take Me Out" is all over the radio. They either like it or they don't, and the rest is beside the point. They'd rather focus on what they did enjoy. It seems to me a bit like sour grapes because The Well Wishers (or the Spinning Jennies before them) aren't doing nearly as well. And I understand (even if I can't directly relate) how frustrating it must be to lead an indie band with all the best intentions and find that you aren't as recognized as a band who were lucky enough to get the kinds of promotion/attention that you couldn't. I really do mean that... it sucks to pour your heart into something and get less attention than you feel you deserve (and I know, because I HAVE had severe disappointments in my own career in that way). But the reality is that many of us DID hear or read something that made us want to check out Franz Ferdinand, enough of us DID then buy the record, and enough of us (here's the kicker) really, legitimately liked them. This is not a comment on anything other than that we liked Franz Ferdinand. It doesn't mean "I like Franz Ferdinand... so Brian Wilson sucks!" Maybe a positive write-up in a shiny rock mag would convince us to check a record out (though even that is less likely than a shining recommendation from a fellow list member here), but it is NOT going to make us place said record in our year-end top 10. That is a position that is earned. And for all the bitching how "major labels ignore OUR music!" that all of us (myself included) participated in from 1998-2002, it seems odd to me that it only gets louder now that majors ARE actually signing and promoting some of "our" music again. I'm not sure why you can't just understand that NOT EVERYONE on this list shares IDENTICALLY overlapping tastes (audities represents probably one of the widest pallates I've ever seen amongst a group of like-minded music fans, and I LIKE it that way). That is why people like Stewart and myself take umbrage when you go off like this--because we know damn well what we like, and resent being told that our likes/dislikes are "right" or "wrong". --Jason