Been thinking a bit recently about the extent to which external factors (weather, time of day etc) influence musical appreciation and how certain types of music are particularly suitable (or unsuitable) for specific conditions. As usual, these are very much personal responses but here are some of my more unexpected findings:

- Dub reggae is just the job for very late-night driving

- I’ve been a fan of The Fall for most of the last 30 years but I’ve always found it near-impossible to even think about listening to them when its hot outside.

- Strangest of all, although I normally can’t stand it, a bit of Thrash Metal can sometimes sound good first thing in the morning. Quite invigorating (for about 30 seconds anyway). A bit like a cold shower I suppose.

Any other suggestions for unexpectedly good/bad situations for types of music?

Songs which make you smile, cheer you up a bit, make you feel the world is a slightly better place after hearing them. Here are my 3 suggestions - a bit poppy, a bit mainstream but they work for me:

I Wish - Stevie Wonder
Mmm Bop - Hanson
Hot Love - T. Rex

Its obviously quite a personal thing (many may disagree with the Hanson selection I guess). Interested to hear other feelgood song suggestions...

Four band members, four singers, four songwriters: sharing the lead vocals and song credits pretty much equally. All equally good. No obvious band leader.

10cc

Any other examples of such in-band egalitarianism?

Reading through recent threads, it is clear that the Word readership is a broad church, with examples of praise (and criticism) being given to pretty much all artists, from all genres. There is however one band which seems to unite Word readers in universal disapproval:

Coldplay

I don't think I've seen a single word of defence for Coldplay on this site (they've come in for a bit of a shoeing on some recent threads in fact). Personally I'm neither up nor down about them but I'm not sure why they seem to be disliked so much. Is it largely due to their general popularity/ubiquity? Is anyone willing to come out in their favour?

On the other side of the coin, a few acts seem impervious to criticism on this site - Richard Thompson; Nick Lowe. Anyone want to disagree with this consensus of praise (I don't!)?

Watching the re-runs of The Sopranos on More4 the other night, I noticed something which I missed the first time round:

In the hospital scene, Ralphie approaches a consultant and says "Please allow me to introduce myself". ["Hullo?" I thought...]

In a later scene (at the Bing or something), Ralphie is heard to say "Pleased to meet you". ["Hmm.." I'm thinking]

THE CLINCHER: Ralphie visits Father Phil to give his confession, who then says "Were you there when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and pain?" [!!!]

So its official - Ralphie is the Devil incarnate. And, brilliantly, this is the first episode that we actually feel some sympathy towards him!

Marvellous stuff. And in every episode there are about a dozen moments of brilliance like this. Are there any other serious challengers to its status as Greatest TV Drama Ever?

Occurred to me the other day that I don't think I've ever witnessed a real live drum solo. This may be due to my gig-going starting a bit after their heyday, or it may just be that the performers I've seen over the years tended not to go in for that sort of thing. (Incidentally, I obviously don't include "let's meet the band" 15 second showcases as "drum solos"; nor does 45 minutes of Evelyn Glennie bashing and tinkling various bits of percussion really count either). Anyway, I'd be interested to know:

1. Is anyone out there still regularly doing drum solos? If not, when did they (ie the drum solos) actually die out?

2. Were they ever any good, musically speaking? Or was it all about the experience and "being there"?

3. What's the longest drum solo anyone's experienced? Anything over 10 minutes would be impressively daunting...

Members of the Much Maligned Club must be near-universally reviled, to the extent that the negative reaction to them and their work is knee-jerk and Pavlovian. Yet strip away the outer layers of ordure and opprobrium and some jewels may be revealed. Examples:

1. CELINE DION
Is she really that bad? Nothing wrong with her voice. Her most-hated song - the one from Titanic - is actually okay in a celtic-tinged-power-ballady kind of way. Are the extreme negative vibes she attracts not mainly due to the facts that she is (a) very successful and (b) not even remotely "dark and edgy"?

2. CONCEPT ALBUMS
Love these. Just love the idea of collections of themed songs, sometimes with characters poppping up in several of them. Doesn't matter that the music isn't always all that great - the mere fact that a song exists which tries to express the character of Anne of Cleves, on electric piano, is surely cause for celebration.

3. ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER
Say what you will, he had a way with a tune. Jesus Christ Superstar is a seriously good piece of work, one which remained with me even when I was up to my neck in punk. Love the way he gives Judas all the best tunes and makes him out to be not such a bad guy after all, just a bit misunderstood. Also does the whole operatic quite well, with proper leitmotifs and everything. Better than Townsend's effort I think.

4. POWER BALLADS
From the vantage point of 20 years after their heyday, these seem to have acquired a sort of heartbreaking innocence, like that of a slow-witted giant whose only desire is to bring people together, lighters aloft, singing feelgood words of love and solidarity. Sometimes, the songs are just good: T'Pau, Foreigner, Toto, even the one from the coke ad sung by that woman called Robin wearing a top hat. "What's not to like" as people seem to say these days.

In summary, I strongly believe that merits can be found in almost everyone and everything, if you look hard enough. Anyone wish to rise to the challenge of "Simon Cowell: The Case for the defence?" "An Appreciation of Hair Metal?" "Jeffery Archer - Not Such A Bad Guy?" Or are some people completely beyond reassessment and redemption?