My thoughts.
1. Actually, both
MOP &
Weathered are 6x platinum in the US. I think it's perfectly fine to dislike a band b/c you hear it too much. It's like, if you've got a girlfriend, but she's always around, or always calling, always texting, always IMing you. You just want to hang out with your buddies for a bit, or have some time to yourself, but you can't. I think it'd be okay to break up with her, no?
2. I couldn't agree more. Pretty much any reference I hear to Creed sucking is people who were annoyed by or just flat out hated Stapp. I think the fact that he pretty much contradicted himself only fueled that fire even more.
3. I'm not so sure about Christianity having a negative effect. Bands like P.O.D. and Switchfoot, although more overtly Christian than Creed, don't receive negative press like Creed did/does, and do generally seem well-respected among the "secular" music community. Furthermore, I've a few friends who are nowhere close to being "Christian," and have commented on how surprisingly good some Christian bands are (Anberlin, Blindside, etc.). I imagine there's no shortage of non-Christians (or non-practicing Christians, whatever that might mean) on here who appreciate P.O.D., Switchfoot, Underoath, Demon Hunter, 12 Stones, Blindside, etc., etc., etc.
4. I agree about the post-grunge sentiment. It was kinda cool back when
MOP came out. It peaked, I think, between '99 (
HC's release) & '01 or '02, but the market became inundated with copy-cat (second-wave) bands. The Calling, Default, Nickelback, 3 Doors Down, Puddle of Mudd... most are generally looked down upon by critics, even if they're decent bands in their own right (well, not Nickelback or Puddle of Mudd lol). For a humorous parody,
check this out.