> I feel moderately confident in
> saying that rock has been at best treading water since
> then. Luke's U2 and REM are OK, Nirvana wasn't bad,
> but I haven't heard anything in the genre that has
> gripped me with the force of early Elvis Costello,
> unless it was Dylan's return to rock with his recent
> band.
Nick Cave? I guess he's not as well known in the US as the rest of the world, but his recent stuff (IMO) is at least as good as anything he has written since his solo career began, nearly 20 years ago.