Now that Apple has loosened some of the restrictions for app development, some developers have created alternatives to the standard iPhone/Touch music player app.  Here are the best prospects I found:

PocketTouch
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pocketto … 88457?mt=8
Amp Music Player
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amp-musi … 65479?mt=8
TapTunes
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/taptunes … 45698?mt=8

PocketTouch looks the most promising, as it allows you to control music playback via gestures without looking at the screen (something the default player should have been designed to do from the start).  But I'm assuming you can't access it from the lock screen, which would hurt its functionality a bit.

Anybody tried any of them?

I've been using iTunes for 5~6 years, now I have to agree it sucks, since it recently automatically rates all the tracks of one album. For instance, once I just gave one track a 4 and another a 3 for Nier, all the tracks of the album are now given four stars... wtf.