The Pit thread made me discover this thread and this thread made me discover Coldplay. I actually like it, although it seems to be quite “mainstream”. I like music driven by melody, but I also like grunge style songs. I don’t see a reason to choose between them.
As of Lennon’s solo career … boring??? No way. “Imagine” alone is perhaps the best song ever recorded by one of the Beatles members, with or w/o the band.