Also, they did record the best Christmas album this side of Vince Guaraldi, so that's a point in their favor.

Tull: Yes and Yardbirds
Did you put Tull between Yardbirds and Yes because they started off trying to sound as much like The Yardbirds as possible, and then switched over to trying to sound exactly like Yes (with crazy flute solos in place of crazy keyboard solos)?

Saddest theater experience
I once found myself in a multiplex without having paid, and I saw that the new Robin Williams movie "Being Human" was just starting. I was young and naive enough that I thought it might be good for a larf, so I went in.

When I saw the Spielberg quote I thought, "how have they not been sued?"

I always need someone to remind me that it's a holiday, and I'm from the United States. So don't feel too bad.

Teardrop (Jose Gonzalez)
Did anyone notice that the montage in the middle of the episode was set to an acoustic cover of the same song they use for the theme to House?

Iron Butterfly
Ordinarily I'm on the opposite side of the fence from you on the albums/free tracks issue. I greatly prefer the full album experience to listening to a bunch of stray tracks. I'll listen to a couple filler tracks on a great album, and I'll throw away a mostly bad CD outright rather than keep one or…

Speaking of Manchester's Finest…
You've got no James? I know you like Eno, so what gives?

I usually find that when a performer comes out and commands everyone in the audience to get on their feet or start clapping along or some bullshit, it's because the performance wouldn't make them want to do it otherwise.

Holy Fuck
You got rid of Holy Fuck?

Top 500 Songs
So these are the top 500 songs:

Simon vs. Bob Marley
How can Simon respond to I Shot the Sheriff by saying that no one should ever touch Bob Marley? Has he never heard of Eric Clapton?

Baba O'Reilly
Baba O'Reilly is one of my favorite songs, and cutting it up like that is one of the biggest crimes against rock I've ever heard on Idol. A truncated version of Bohemian Rhapsody makes more sense. The minimalist instrumental intro alone is half of what makes the song great, and rushing the ending like…

early/late period Diamond
Neil Diamond was the only pop artist my mom liked, and I grew up on him. It's too bad that he remained so popular after he turned on his heartlight. He's got this rep as the master of cheese, but back in the '60s when he was a hippie he wrote some of the best pop songs ever.

Best line:
"Don't be officious. You're not yourself when you're officious. That is the curse of a government job."

Okay, I stand corrected on Fugees and Gogol Bordello. Consider them withdrawn.

Missy Elliot—Supa Dupa Fly
The Orb—The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
Portishead—Dummy
RJD2—Deadringer
The Stone Roses—The Stone Roses
The Streets—Original Pirate Material
Tenacious D—Tenacious D
Toy Matinee—Toy Matinee
The Traveling Wilburys—The Traveling Wilburys, vol. 1
Tricky—Maxinquaye
UNKLE—Psyence Fiction
Warren…

Here's a few more…
Badly Drawn Boy—The Hour of Bewilderbeast
Bebel Gilberto—Tanto Tempo
Cranberries—Everyone Else Is Doing It…
Crystal Method—Vegas
Derek & The Dominoes—Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Dido—No Angel
Dio—Holy Diver
Dire Straits—Dire Straits
Electric Six—Fire
Fugees—The Score
Gogol Bordello—Gipsy Punk
Goldie—Tim…

The best thing about Michael going home…
…was how he went out into the audience to do his closing number, so the rest of the cast couldn't push each other over racing to be the first to hug him during the closing credits.

Most ambivalent moment of the night
Fergie singing while John Legend accompanied on piano was a definite surreal experience. My brain kept fighting between "Sweet, John Legend" and "Oh God, change the channel, it's fucking Fergie."