January (Rolling Stone, on his fellow Grammy nominees): "Anything but [John Mayer's] 'Daughters.' It makes me cringe ... With Green Day, all I can think about is them singing about masturbation 10 years ago, so I can't take them seriously ... I've heard all [Velvet Revolver's] singles, and I can't remember one of them ... LL Cool J was awesome when I was, like, 16. I don't know what happened ... [Usher's] 'My Boo' is the worst song. It's just terrible."
January (Rolling Stone, on Kanye West): "He makes me ill. I wanted to love him so much when he first came out. He has this sweet voice, and there's a cuteness to it. And then you see him in interviews and he's like a lion. It just ruined the whole package for me."
May (MTV news, on Sam's Town): "This album is one of the best albums in the past 20 years. There's nothing that touches this album."
July (AOL Music, on public spats with Fall Out Boy, The Bravery and Panic! At the Disco): "I'd like to take it all back. These people are just doing what they want to do, just like I am. I'm actually a nice person, and I love people. I just am opinionated, and sometimes jealous. It's not something I'm proud of."
September (The Observer, on Radiohead's Thom Yorke): "He should feel grateful that he's been given the gift to write pop songs—which he needs to write again."October (Entertainment Weekly, on Sam's Town): "Sam's Town is it. It's gonna be the one that keeps rock 'n' roll afloat. And I can say that 'til the cows come home."
October (The Word, on Green Day's American Idiot): "I saw it as a very negative thing towards Americans. It really lit a fire in me ... I just thought it was really cheap. To go to a place like England or Germany and sing that song—those kids aren't taking it the same way that he meant it. And he [Billie Joe Armstrong] knew it."
Spencer Patterson