You Be The Judge: Ultimate Guitar's Best And Worst Bands Of 2007
author: UG Team
date: 12/24/2007
category: features
rating: 5 / votes: 236


It’s official: There is indeed a thin line between love and hate in the rock world. If the results of the Ultimate Guitar’s poll for the best/worst band of 2007 did anything, it showed us that the most respected bands out there also tend to be the most despised. Avenged Sevenfold was a slam dunk in terms of winning the title of best band, but they also scored almost the same amount of votes at the other end of the spectrum. After perusing the message boards we knew that Avenged Sevenfold would ignite some passion, and the votes that the band received (275 for the best category, 249 for the worst) indicated we have quite the divided audience.
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M. Shadows and the boys weren’t alone. There were several bands that received nods as both the best and the worst, and it’s very likely that most of you could already guess a few of those. The most pathetic showing came from artists that were immediately deemed as worthless (sorry Guns N’ Roses and The Killers) and banished to the “worst” column. To our surprise, a lot of the “worst” bands haven’t released anything for quite some time. There are a few grudge-holders out there, apparently.
So which bands were an utter disgrace to the state of rock? Who came out being the saviors? The results aren’t too shocking, but there will probably be more than a few people who will feel the results are blasphemous. If that happens to be you, don’t hold those feelings of loathing back – get to work on the message boards. By the way, if you love Fall Out Boy, get ready to defend their honor.
The Best

01. Avenged Sevenfold - 275 votes
The band might not have made it through the year unscathed (their latest album earned 1 out of 10 stars by Rock Sound – yikes), but there were plenty of voters who deemed the self-titled record far better than any of their previous efforts. Of course, when you look at the numbers, it was still a close one.
Whether you wrote scathing reviews of their latest album on the message boards or have found genius in every track, you proved that Avenged Sevenfold evokes emotion – and that’s not such a terrible thing.

02. Foo Fighters - 187 votes
Dave Grohl remains one of the most likeable musicians in rock today, and it also never hurt that he came from one of the most idolized bands in history. But the Foo Fighters have never had to rely on anything other than their own music to win audiences over, and that fan base has continued to multiply since its 1995 debut. Their newest offering Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace stepped away from the rock a bit, but it was actually the low-key moments that left the biggest impression. Grohl stayed true to his word and wrote the instrumental track Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners for the album, which served as a tribute to 2 trapped Australian miners who asked for iPods with Foo Fighters songs while waiting for their rescuers. Any rock star could have written a mediocre, assembly line song as a tribute, but Grohl managed to craft a beautiful acoustic number that stands out as one of the best on Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.

03. Velvet Revolver - 146 votes
With the exception of vocalist Scott Weiland’s DUI arrest, Velvet Revolver can reflect upon this year with satisfaction. The band has yet to gain the success that Guns N’ Roses or Stone Temple Pilots had during their glory years, but Velvet Revolver has attracted its own steadfast fan base regardless. Libertad was not the perfect work of music mastery we might hope for from the likes of Slash and Weiland, but it still was a testament to the riff god that Slash is and always will be.

04. Machine Head - 140 votes
After going through a period a few years back where they couldn’t find a label to take their demo, Machine Head is now the epitome of success. There are few bands that could top the highs that vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn experienced this year. The band landed a coveted spot on tours with Megadeth and Lamb of God, the single “Aesthetics Of Hate” received a Grammy nomination, and The Blackening CD made the top-5 lists of several publications. Even with a little bump in the road (one word: Disney), 2007 could easily be Machine Head’s strongest year to date.

05. Radiohead - 132 votes
While not helping amend the environmental crisis or battling major label monopolies, Radiohead vocalist Thom Yorke has managed to still find time to be musically prolific.
Whether he’s recording with Radiohead or pursuing a solo venture, Yorke has served as not only an idol to fans, but an inspiration to peers in the industry.

The Worst

01. Fall Out Boy! - 442 votes
I’m almost beginning to feel sorry for Pete Wentz and the boys.
Fall Out Boy won the title of “worst” band by a landslide, beating out everyone from Britney Spears to Nickelback.
Whether it’s because of their teen idol status or the so-so album Infinity On High, the guys in Fall Out Boy offended on many, many different levels.

02. Linkin Park - 276 votes
The “M” word oozed out of Linkin Park’s latest record Minutes To Midnight, and we’re not talking about “metal” or “Mike-Shinoda-as-the-focal-point” (okay, that’s more than one word). No, unfortunately we mean the often-feared “maturity.” To be fair, maturing is not the most horrible thing in the world, but when the music leaves your fans bored, we’ve got a problem. Linkin Park still has flocks of dedicated listeners, but vocalist Chester Bennington possibly pushed the limit when he decided to explore his sentimental side this time around.

03. Avenged Sevenfold - 249 votes
And we once again return to Avenged Sevenfold. Conversations on the UG message boards were heated over Avenged Sevenfold this year, with the band’s new self-titled record as the focal point. Did M. Shadows ruin his voice by having vocal surgery? Has the band completely forgotten how to write music? You pondered all the hard-hitting questions, and more comments were still being added the last time we checked. But for as many discontented customers as there were, don’t feel too sorry for Avenged Sevenfold. The majority still felt they kicked more ass than anyone else on the music scene today.

04. My Chemical Romance - 246 votes
Like Green Day’s situation, it’s been a while since the band released The Black Parade, and My Chemical Romance has somehow continued to piss off legions of music lovers everywhere. The band spent most of 2007 in a touring frenzy (minus the time off for food poisoning), but vocalist Gerard Way did make time to set the record straight about one particular subject.
To put it succinctly, Way stated back in September that “emo is a pile of shit.” As entertaining as his statement was, the UG readers’ comments were even more enjoyable in a different, brutally caustic kind of way. By the results of the poll, it looks like there’s quite a few who believe Mr. Way is in denial.

05. Green Day - 136 votes
Green Day hasn’t released an album in a little over 3 years, and yet people are still pretty riled up about whether or not American Idiot was worth all of the hype. The record won favor with radio listeners, but old school Green Day fans weren’t so sure the band still had the creativity or punk attitude to warrant all of the accolades.
Vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong added to the dissatisfaction a few months ago when he referred to the current music scene as “stagnant.” After his statement found its way into the media, many found it puzzling that a man who writes power chord-driven songs could really help solve the stagnancy problem.
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