as to the "cold" sound in studio, I don't lay the blame at solid state but digital. Analog caught more of the "real feel", the atmosphere that engineers still tried to tame down. But since I see a performance as a snapshot of who the performer/band was AT THAT MOMENT, it was OK with me. If I went for heavily produced music, I could see the desire for the clean sound. "I want the sound of heavy air...." Yes, tube amps are fabulous, as are Leslie cabinets..even hooked up to mandos and fiddles (Michael Kang). I once got into a conversation with Steve Kimock about his tube amps that lasted two hours.
i dont like most of the new music. because i dont see the ttalent in any of it. there maybe (im not saying there isnt) in a few cases. i like the white stripes a lot and the chili peppers are mainstream i spose. But when I here ppl tlking about how "punk" good charlotte its pretty funny. imagine what sid vicous or kurt cobain would have said.
Oh yeah, another great "mainstream" band are The Dandy Warhols. They don't get much radio play at all, but they are signed to one of the so-called "major" labels, Virgin, I think.