Albums by Vampire Weekend and MGMT are both very good.

Erm... I am quite sure I outlined 2 reasons in my post.

And their stands the flaw in your argument. Do you really think the criminal suppliers will just pack it in and up sticks, move on to something new? You are making the big assumption that all addicts will react kindly and positively to the goverment taking measures to reduce their dependency, also what about those not 'on the books' where will they get their fix? Or will everyone just stop taking hard drugs once this generation passes?

Change doesn't neccesarily mean change for the good. look at the kind of albums being released in 2000 and compare that withh 2002. Heaps of bands just simply wouldn't have been signed up and given the platform to release albums if it wasn't for the success of 'is this it'

I agree on the Stones. Not to sure who you are refering to as 'real bands' around 2001 though, my memory of music around then is of a fairly grim time of either English Bed-wetters (travis, Coldplay etc) or American garbage (Papa Roach, Korn etc), whether you think 'is this it' was the second coming, or whether the strokes were just trendies pushed by suits is irrelevant, after the Strokes the focus was shifted in a whole new direction, see the pandemonium that The White Stripes were greeted with by all sections of the British media (remember theywere on their third album then but only broke after the Strokes), following Is This It there was a massive influx of new bands, some good some garbage, from all parts of the globe, therefore changed music. You musn't associate change with good, in my opinion Nirvana changed music though there success spawned some pretty dismal bands, that doesn't meen they didn't change Music.

It depends what you define as changing music, The Strokes, without question, opened the door for a huge number of bands at the start of the decade, therefore influenced what type of music was pushed forward by labels. Whether said bands were any good or what the strokes did next does not matter one jot, that's what happened of the back of them.

It was a ludicrous statement Flopsy. I suggest you remove the spade from your hands.

CSS really are superb , their self titled debut was probably my favourite record of 2006, I really would recomend them to anyone unfamiliar. January really was crammed full with good releases, from the good the bad and the Queen, Jamie T, Klaxons, The Hold Steady and the view who are a great band now but I really can't see a future for them past say their second album. Also after meaning to buy it for months, I recently- finally- purchased Return to cookie mountain by TV on the radio, it is a superb album I think anyone who is a fan of the Arcade Fire would like this especially.

I've always thought Pearl Jam come across a tad humourless, it seems a common trait amongst most American Rock Bands. I just wish they'd lighten up abit, it all just looked rather sensible to me.

England's Dreaming by Jon Savage is an excellent book

I own his two solo albums and of course piper at the gates of dawn which is an excellent album, but is that really enough to be labelled a genius. What fascinates me is how Syd regulary gets the title genius, yet you never here Roger Waters or David Gilmour spoken of in such a manner. Syd was mad, and that's just it he was genuinely mad, that is, a man with serious mental health issues.Yet Syd is heralded as a loveable madcap, good old Syd the man who poured mandrax on his hair and played a show.

Why exactly was Syd Barret a genius.

Agree about styles, how he managed to book 7 players in a game without any tackles of any note and devoid of controversy and incident is beyond me. Mr Styles is gaining a reputation for liking his notebook abit too much just ask Sylvain Distin.

But surely you can differentiate between What Chelsea have done with their astronomical outlay compared to say what Arsene Wenger has achieved on a relative shoestring.

Well Chelsea spending spree over the last few years dwarfs anything Jack Walker ever spent. I see Chelsea as a club without a heart and their quest for domestic dominance rather pointless given the ridiculous advantage they hold over everyone else.