Battle of the Bands of My Youth

I will definitely admit that U2 wrote and recorded some of the greatest songs in the history of rock music ("One", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", "Sunday Bloody Sunday"), but growing up they didn't really mean that much to me as a band. And to their credit, they've managed to keep it up, with some great stuff recorded this century, too. But I've never LOVED them as a band. R.E.M., on the other hand, was a band I felt comfortable with, probably due to their (perceived, at least) distaste for fame (the anti-Bono, in other words). I like that you can't really understand what their songs are about (and that they are willing to admit that they don't know, either), and everything they did felt so organic and warm. Automatic for the People was one of my first albums on my permanent Top-5 list, and one of my most enduring memories from high school is being 16, having just gotten a car, and driving around listening to "It's the End of the World As We Know It" (on cassette) over and over and over again.

Inspiration here.

For a gorgeous version of a beautiful song featuring Michael Stipe and Bill Berry from R.E.M. and Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen from U2, check this out.