Wonder no more! Two years ago I did a 9-month contract in Java. I have used Java for consulting gigs going back to 2000. I honestly expected it to be a pleasure to work with this most recent time in hopes that things were usefully boring. That was not my experience.
Strong disagree. This is exactly what most of the Java world is like: well understood and reliable. I wonder if people who say things like you did actually use it for their day jobs, or rely on things people using other technologies claim in their blogs.