After my introduction to New Wave music in the early ’80s I began avoiding what is now called “classic rock” as much as I could. I got tired of hearing the same 100 or so songs by the same 40 groups over and over. Well recently I let my guard down and listened again, for the first time. Here’s what I’ve found:

Led Zepplin: Overplayed so much that there are grooves cut into the CDs but actually, they weren’t that bad.
The Who: As pathetic as I remember them. Roger Daltery’s voice is as annoying as I thought it was and the lyrics to 99% of the songs are as pedantic as I recall.
Rolling Stones: Mixed bag. Some of their stuff is good and some is garbage.
Cheap Trick: Snuck them in because I liked them in the ’70s. They’re not bad. Not formulaic, that’s for sure.
The Eagles: Hotel California was pretty much it for me. I don’t like country music and country rock doesn’t help. Which leads me to the next one…
Lynard Skynard: I spent two years in North Carolina (properly pronounced “Norf Ka-lina”) in the early ’80s so Freebird remains overplayed for me even though I haven’t heard it since. It is confirmed, I still hate Lynard Skynard. Two words: Red, Neck.
Aerosmith: I never really got to hate Aerosmith, just a few of their songs. I still hate those songs but overall they’re okay. One good thing came from Aerosmith: Liv Tyler. She was way great in Lord of the Rings.
Alice Cooper: Formula music for sure. But now a days I hear he’s golfing with RC Sproul so that makes me like him.
Boston: I liked them when they first came out and I still don’t mind them, they’re just way overplayed. They had an original sound and the music went somewhere.
Foreigner: Blagh. I can’t believe I used to like them. Jukebox Hero? Eeeewww. I must have been young and impressionable to enjoy that.
Rush: Geddy Lee’s voice on the early albums was annoying, but the music and lyrics worked. As the albums came out, it got better and so did the music. I think they peaked with Signals, but they’re still doing some good stuff. Never hated them.
Pink Floyd: If I never hear another song from The Wall, that’d be okay. I like Floyd, even their early stuff. I’m just sick to death of The Wall. Animals is my favorite.
Fleetwood Mac: Tough one to call. Stevie Nicks has an annoying voice that works on a few songs. Most of their stuff is okay. Loved Tusk. I guess they’re still okay. Besides, Mick Fleetwood was on Star Trek: The Next Generation so that makes him okay.