On a related to the OP note, considering how perfectly playable the The Strategic Review bard was, the fact the PHB bard was turned into a disaster of mechanics is a travesty. Most of the other classes in the PHB work fine inside the confines of rest of the game, but bard and monk aren't just exception-based design, they are playing a whole different game that is vaguely compatible with the AD&D rules. That would be a trend for Gary especially in Unearthed Arcana (the cavalier has negative levels?!?) as more and more of his classes actively declared war on the base game rules.
The biggest reason I find 2nd edition superior to 1e is that it forced classes to actually obey the rules. Maybe it's something in my hardwiring, but things like bard being a class you get by breaking the multi class rules, monk getting no benefits from it's ability score modifiers, cavaliers starting with negative XP and can raise their physical scores, and thief acrobat being the original prestige class, upsets my brain. (To be honest, 2e didn't go far enough in the streamlining. Looking at you, druid XP chart).