They said favorite, not every band you've ever liked ever.
I have to say a little more to justify them, 'cause my taste in music sucks ass generally...
<b>The Smiths</b> - Ancestral in some ways to Radiohead or any other whiny alternative band, they are most probably one of the bands your favorite whiny alternative band listened to when THEY were in high school. They are toxic in large doses due to a high self-pity content, and have a few flop songs in their catalog, but when they hit a good song, it was <i>heavenly.</i> They have no less than three best-of compilations to try, plus one rerelease album (Louder than Bombs) with about a zillion songs on it. Try: Shoplifters of the World Unite, Panic, Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want, What Difference Does It Make? (They had a lot of long song titles.)
<b>U2</b> - They've done so many varieties of pop and rock that somewhere, sometime, in their catalog, you'll probably find at least one song you like. My drug of choice is the scratchy rock of Achtung Baby. Try: The Fly, Elevation, Stay (Faraway, So Close!), October.
<b>Depeche Mode</b> - They do moody electronic pop. They've been doing it a really, really long time. They've gotten quite good at it. Their singer's voice is godly. And at least on most albums, so is their production. Next to the Smiths and the Cure, they are THE band for moody people. They also have a best-of out, split into two halves; I'd recommend the latter one first, as the first is soaked in that plink-plinky early '80s synthesizer. Ultra is also a gorgeous album, and not as dark as their arguable masterwork, Songs of Faith and Devotion. Try: I Feel You, Stripped, Photographic (Some Bizzare [sic]) Mix, Enjoy the Silence.
<b>Erasure</b> - Depeche Mode on Prozac, with a bit of gender-bending thrown in. Literally separated at birth from DM (DM's first songwriter left the band to eventually form Erasure), they kept the early 80s plinky style and mixed it with angelic harmonies about true love and mysterious strangers to make a sugary sunshine sort of electronic pop. If you like J-pop and don't mind hearing it sung by men, you may want to give them a spin. Their album I Say I Say I Say got me hooked; it's a very solid set of songs. Try: A Little Respect, Home, Fingers & Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day), All Through the Years.
Runners-up:
Morcheeba
REM
Barenaked Ladies
Ben Folds with or without the Five
They Might Be Giants
Thank you.
