With respect, 3 completely different sounds, from 3 slightly different eras, and only one band that can be described as ‘hard rock’. I love all 3, but I don’t think it’s surprising that anyone would like 2 but dislike the other.
My own contribution is Belle and Sebastian; I like them in theory, I like the people that like them, but so far I can’t help feeling there is something incredibly icky about them.
You’re definitely not the only one. I see a bit of merit of U2 songs like Sunday, Bloody Sunday but most of it sounds uninspired, poppy, and most of all boring.
And while Bono does do some pretty good things, I still see him more of a pretentious Oprah wannabe stroking his own ego than a person who generally cares about people worse off than him.
Well, a Southern man don’t need him around anyway.
Funny story. I was in a bar and some old Rush song came on. Some 20-something girl next to me was like “ugh…you gotta love this American rock music.” all sarcastic like. So I’m like, “actually they’re a Canadian band”. At that point she gave me some snotty look that said “I hate that I want to sleep with you”.
Hey, I like all that shit.
The only thing about Nickleback is that they are such a generic Post-Grunge Alt Rock sound. Candlebox, Collective Soul, Creed, Daughtry, Fuel, Lifehouse, Live, Matchbox Twenty, Puddle of Mudd, Tantric, Third Eye Blind, Three Doors Down, Three Days Grace, etc, etc.
With U2, do people like/hate classic 80s Angry Irish Band U2? Joshua Tree Soulfull Americana U2? Early 90s Actung Baby Electro U2? Or post Y2K Mega Band U2?
For those of you who hate Dave Mathews, you might also dislike John Mayer and Jack Johnson. (SNL did a spoof on this with The Mellow Show hosted by Jack Johnson with guests DM and JM).
Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. I grew up listening to lots of folk and traditional music, so it’s not like I’m unfamiliar with ballads and the like. I like a lot of their contemporaries like the Dead and various folk rock acts of the era. Still do to this day.
I’ll also grant that both musicians are damned fine songwriters and lyricists.
But oh, do I detest them. I can’t tell you why, but I do. I like Tom Petty, so it’s not like the nasal voice is the only thing. I just don’t want to hear them perform their songs. Ever.
Indie fans are supposed to like:
The Arcade Fire
The Decemberists
The Mountain Goats
The Constantines
The Black Keys
Scissor Sisters
…but I can’t stand any of them.
Radiohead. Well, I don’t hate them, but I don’t really like them. I think a lto of it is the awful voice. I do admit I like a couple of their songs. But I sure don’t get all the love for them at all.
I can’t stand the Grateful Dead.
There, I’ve said it.
As much as I should love it, given that I fit fairly well into that culture… I hate their music 
Michael McDonald version of The Doobie Brothers.
Steve Perry version of Journey.
Fleetwood Mac.
Rage Against the Machine. I like Audioslave
I’ve tried to like Pink Floyd. I really have. Bought Dark Side of the Moon and everything. But no matter how many times I try their material, I just can’t help but think magoo. Comfortably Numb is the only tune of theirs I really care for… I hate this too, because as influential as they are, I just don’t care for their music. I appreciate them as artists and definitely recognize their talent, but their sound is just not for me.
You can just give all your Pink Floyd to me. Along with Jethro Tull I think they’re the best band ever to walk the planet.
I don’t know if I should like Dave Matthews Band, but I don’t. I guess I’m in the perfect demographic (white, mid-20’s) and I like bands that might be called similar (Guster, for one,) but not DMB, and I think I know why…the fans.
I realized it last week when I was hanging out with some people from work at one of their apartments. She put on a DMB mix CD she made, and her and another coworker proceeded to “hippy-dance” (best way I can describe it…they were on their tiptoes, and, in their own words, "swimming while picking apples) for HOURS to it while the rest of us just tried to ignore them and do something else. They basically acted like they were at a DMB concert in her living room. And the whole time, whenever one of us would say “can we listen to something else? No one else here likes Dave Matthews Band” they would get IRATE and say,
“What?! You don’t like DAVE?!! Dave is awesome! I’ve seen Dave 20 times and I’m seeing him five more times this summer! You just don’t know. You have to go to a concert and just feel Dave and what it’s like to be there.”
Oh, well excuse me, I didn’t realize he was a close, personal friend that you’re on a first name basis with. Do me a favor…next time you go to one of his concerts, try not smoking pot or taking any other drugs, and then come back and tell me how great it was…I have a feeling it won’t be as good.
I’m going to second Tool. I should like them. They have everything going for them, but I seem to be the one guy that just doesn’t get them.
Oh… and for the OP:
What has nine arms and sucks?
Def Leppard
(BTW- I find the Leppard a guilty pleasure 
)
BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!
Am I going to hell for laughing this hard at this?
I used to be with the OP on the Smashing Pumpkins, but one summer (1997), my opinion of them completely flipped. Corgan’s lyrics can certainly be overwrought and adolescent, but he makes up for them with monster riffs, perfectionist arrangements, and such gorgeous songs as “1979,” “Today,” and “Tonight, Tonight.” Siamese Dream is one of the best albums of the 90s.
But anyhow. I can’t think of a single band that I should like that I actively hate. The biggest hole in my taste is that I am completely at a loss for understanding the brilliance of Hüsker Dü. I mean, I like the Dead Kennedys, the Pixies, Fugazi, The Replacements, Sugar, Bad Brains, Sonic Youth, etc. Try as I might, I just cannot understand their genius. I have no doubt it’s there, it just doesn’t resonate with me.
I’m with you on HD. I haven’t heard enough by them to hate them, only one album, but I expected it to be a mixture of the bands you listed, especially the two I bolded, but it sounded like the Replacements minus the humor trying to use Sonic Youth’s equipment. I’m told it was just a bad album by them but I haven’t been able to find another in the used CD bin for me to give another listen to.
Yeah, that goes for me too. And I know plenty of fans who talk about how many shows they’ve seen, and their concert plans, and which versions of what song were the best - and none of that stuff bothers me. I can do it with the best of them, although unlike some I have the good sense not to do it around other people who are going to find it tedious.
And for all that I still hate Dave Matthews fans. It’s irrational, I don’t know why, and I don’t care.
Well, sure. He has the exact opposite of a good singing voice. But when he sings about worn out women hanging out in shitty dives because they’ve given up, you know he’s been there. I saw him at the Bridge School concert last summer. Some people were there to see John Meyer or Metallica, but then Waits took the stage and cast his black magic.
White Stripes.
I generally like bands that take a unique approach but not in the case. I do like Jack White but Meg? Please put down the drumsticks and walk away from the kit.