Your comment implies most of these bands became popular.

The guys from !!! are in bed crying right now.

I was a huge Britpop fan back in the 90s, so I know the Struggle. I think the reasons it was ignored in the States are complex. Partly, it was just that the music had absolutely zero chance of going mainstream during that period - the rock scene in the States was equally vibrant (though diminishing) and sounded…

"Blur? They can put a rock beat over anything and get it stuck in my head."

Welcome to the Indie Landfill. Population: Meh.

Pretty much the same, here. I know about half of these bands, but there are some on this list getting fawning praise that I've never heard of in more than a passing mention. And the difficult thing is, I don't know if the list is just wack or if I've just been out of touch that long.

Yeah, I tried really hard to resist Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but she captured me in the end. Highly recommended.

Foo Fighters are what they are - the one good Post-Grunge band left standing. Everyone I know who adores the Foos in 2015 is either someone from my age bracket (mid-30s) who never moved on from grunge or someone older than me who ignored grunge the first time and is just now getting around to it.

Basically they have one great album in the 00s - All That You Can't Leave Behind - and that one came at the very start of the decade. At the time, that record felt like U2 might be getting their groove back, but in retrospect, it was a shift toward the commercial formula you describe.

My main takeaway from this list is… yeah, how the fuck DO we classify the Gorillaz?

Wait 10 years and a band called Scabrous Sound-Storm will be on the list for the 2010s.

I'd put Sleater-Kinney on the list for The Woods alone.

Hmmm.. it's funny. I've always had a contentious listening relationship with the Strokes - they write some good little tunes that I enjoy, but I always felt they were punching above their weight with all the critical fawning. Expanding the boxing metaphor - I feel if they'd come out with "Is This It" ten years earlier…

I'm fairly certain I'm in the highest percentile for pop culture weekends, for I just saw Stevie Wonder perform the entirety of Songs in the Key of Life. Some weekends you sit around and jack. Some weekends you hear Stevie Wonder and India Airie sing together on Another Star.

Corey Glover as Judas? Ok. I'd pay to see that.

I don't feel pop songs are despicable. Especially not The Sign, which is totally great bubblegum pop.

The imaginary 1994 version of the AV Club is aghast at this rationale for not knowing the Breeders. Chart performance? Are you shitting me?

…or just watch Life of Brian again.

In 1995 - peak teenage music snob year for me - I played "Brown Eyed Girl" at a school event and it went over ok. Polite clapping. Then I played a few bars of a Green Day song and everyone erupted. I mean, that's how it is with teenagers, man. Nothing's changed at all.

Thumbs up for the Letter People and Going Quackers, you waddlin' crazy guy.