There's no getting around it: 1998 was the weepiest, corniest, most emotionally over-the-top year of the decade. When people look back at the decade and talk about how terrible rock music was at times, this is "the times" they're probably talking about. The lightweight pop rock was in full swing, and while most of it was inoffensive (and a handful of it was actually incredible, despite what curmudgeonly old critics say), about half of it was pretty awful. Exhibit A: Goo Goo Doll's "Iris," a song so mushy and bland that it was written for City of Angels, the only movie that could take the premise of Nicolas Cage as a guardian spirit and turn it into something that early-period Meg Ryan would feel comfortable starring in. It's not just that "Iris" is a bad song, it's that it really kicked off a string of solid rock bands cashing in on the "power ballad" sensation that grunge worked so hard to wipe out in the early part of the decade. Soon Aerosmith was following suit with "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing." It was only a matter of time until "With Arms Wide Open" came to destroy the world. Thanks for nothing, "Iris." Honorable Mentions: Eve 6 - "Inside Out," Third Eye Blind - "Jumper," New Radicals - "Get What You Give," Kenny Wayne Shepherd - "Blue On Black"
