I actually have to go ahead and disagree with the assessment of Dead Letter Office - I think the cover of "Toys in the Attic" is pretty fucking awesome. Actually, I think unlikely Aerosmith covers are pretty kick-ass in general (see also: The Breeders, "Lord of the Thighs").

Agree that PI is the best b-sides comp in terms of playing like an actual album, although I have to say if he'd saved an album's worth of songs off The Aeroplane Flies High and released them as an album, he could've easily had another really solid record.

Rag and Bone Buffet also features a BBC version of "Scissor Man" that's even better than the original, and since that's my favorite XTC song, that comp has become one of my most indispensable XTC records. Also gotta give it up for "Looking for Footprints," which somehow wasn't mentioned in XTC Song Stories and thus…

"I Keep Mine Hidden" is absolutely awesome, as is "Wonderful Woman" which might be their most underrated/underappreciated song.

Werdsmiff, I'd completely forgotten about that one. That is officially the #1 most accurate article in terms of describing my life.

Also, as a small-time freelance music critic, I can't believe I forgot this one: http://www.theonion.com/con…

Oh god, where to even begin
http://www.theonion.com/con… - even though none of my friends are married yet, don't act like you're not like this when your friends break up with their significant others.

One-armed pushups
I would've preferred Palance bust out his "Yesterday there were Kings here" speech from Contempt.

The original, much faster version of "Found Out About You" is totally boss. It is definitely worth checking out for anyone in this thread expressing Gin Blossoms sympathies.

I had always respected Ebert
but when I read his review of Expelled, that Ben Stein-helmed abomination, that respect grew into undying love.

The definitive way to hear "You Get What You Give" is at an ice-skating rink, toward the end of the school year.

Really though, the biggest thing I remember from this period in terms of pop culture and music was the constant correlations being made between nu-metal and school shootings. Parents and politicians worried that shock rockers like Merlin Manson and Corn were corrupting the youth of the day, who were generally guilty…

UNLOCK IT

I was 14 in 1999
This column should talk about how these songs soundtracked an entire generation's adolescence, as well as an entire generation's constant fear of school shootings.

willmmmm posts all his comments from an Iraqi prison cell since he did the same thing to George W. Bush.

http://fling.ytmnd.com/

1997's most quintessential song is definitely "The Impression That I Get," but its greatest contribution to music is White Town "Your Woman," easy.

(that noise WZ makes after the line "His hair was perfect")

No love for "Veracruz," "Frank and Jesse James," or "Accidentally Like a Martyr"? Dude had some pretty good songs.

I want to talk about my love for the fact
that every comment thread on this article seems to devolve into chaos.