Yes he/they are/were THAT bad.
Exhibit (a) - The song 'Real World'. The music? As boring and as middle of the road as you could possibly try to be. I don't even know why I or anyone would need to point that out, music made specificaly so that a Celine Dion fan can say "yes I like some rock music actually". Lyrics below. Try explaining how it is not complete and utter shit, and why Rob Thomas & Matchbox 20 should ever have been left to record anything again, and explain exactly why he shouldn't be banished to somewhere where he can happily put yellow tags on rain drops....
Seriously, try to defend this:
I wonder what it’s like to be the rainmaker.
I wonder what it’s like to know that I made the rain
I’d store it in boxes with little yellow tags on everyone
And you can come and see them when i’m...done, when I’m done
I wonder what it’s like to be a super hero
I wonder where I’d go if I could fly around downtown
From some other planet, I get this funky high on yellow sun
Boy I bet my friends will all be...stunned, they’re stunned
(chorus)
Straight up, what did you hope to learn about here
If I were someone else, would this all fall apart
Strange, where were you, when we started this gig,
I wish the real world, would just stop hassling me
I wonder what it’s like to be the head honcho
I wonder what I’d do if they all did just what I said
I’d shout out an order, I think we’re out of this man get me some
Boy don’t make me wanna change my...tone, my tone
(chorus)
Please don’t change, please don’t break
The only thing that seems to work at all is you
Please don’t change, at all from me
To you, and you to me
(chorus)