Having initiated and participated in various arguments about that genre of music called rock, I have a very opinionated list of what songs can ruin my day. I have reconsidered and listened again to some of the songs which I listed as being the best rock songs, and only one of them makes the cut as being the worst too, although a lot of readers would disagree with me.
Thanks to the rock music of the 80's I didn't have a very tough time in making this list, since most of them easily make this list, but top 20 stinkers is the name of this game.
20.'Again': Lenny Kravitz
Lenny after some brilliant performances like the adaptation of the Bill Withers song'Ain't no sunshine', 'Rock N Roll is dead', 'American woman' brings out this made for Valentine's day song which repeatedly keeps saying about his long-lost love. Lenny move on and give us a break. But the waitress in the video was something.
19.' Stairway to Heaven': Led Zeppelin
This was a less of a stinker compared to some of the other songs on this list. I know, I've listed it on my top twenty rock songs(a list which I am seriously reconsidering), but this crowd-pleaser is like Robert Plant says'an awful wedding song', citing it as one of the main reasons why Zep is not regrouping.
18.' We didn't start the fire': Billy Joel
Billy Joel randomly read some archival newspapers, dropped some famous names and put in some random electronic beats in this hash of a song which went on to win a Grammy. There was actually no real meaning to the song, only that it sounds cool with the bass turned all the way up, but awful rap sounds cool too on a setup like that.
17.' Moses': Coldplay
Coldplay have to be one of the most overrated bands of all time. I normally listen to this rendition, when my insomnia is at its worst and need to drop off to sleep right at my desk. A mindless droning song from a group who make zombies look like they are on Starbucks double shot.
16.' Rhiannon': Fleetwood Mac
I've always thought that Fleetwood Mac's best album was'Rumors' and this song just proves me right. The only other decent album they have brought out in recent years is'Say you will' thanks to collaboration with some of the best session recording artists of this time.
15.'Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da': The Beatles
My ace in the sleeve to disappoint all the Beatlemania junkies who repeatedly keep saying that the Beatles never wrote a bad song. This kind of trumps over'Yesterday' because it is simply more awful than that mush song.
14.' Horse with no name': America
This song glorified the drug habit of the hippy, but this is no'Cocaine' instead choosing to banally speak about being through a desert on a horse with no name. A mindless song from a group who didn't know when they were high.
13.' Love me Tender': Elvis Presley
A made for Hallmark song by the King. If I had a penny for everytime I was requested to play this song by dreamy-eyed couples, I would be a millionaire.
'Jailhouse Rock' was energetic, but this song feels like Elvis wrote it when he was not able to bong due to barbiturates.
12.' Dream On': Nazareth
Just when I thought Nazareth was maturing like wine, they bring out this mush about the pain of a couple separating and how you need to be optimistic about your dreams of a better tomorrow.
11.' Gimme All your love': ZZ Top
ZZ top begins a list of truly horrendous songs from the electronic keyboards and drums based songs of the 80's . Just when you thought polyester and cologne died with the disco era. The guitar sounds like it was played by one of the actors in'Revenge of the Nerds'
10.' Black Sun': Soundgarden
Soundgarden had some truly brilliant compositions with very fast guitar riffs and great synchronization of the guitars and the drums. But then they bring out this meaningless song about a cosmic aberration of the sun asking it to
'wash away the rain'. I thought you always dry the water, hell when you are high on mushroom you make songs like this.
9.' Walking in Memphis': Marc Cohn
From the annals of'Christian rock'( a term which I have yet to fully understand) comes this truly horrible celebration of mixing that Southern brand of Christianity with a blend of country, folk and rock thrown in.
8.' Wherever you will go': The Calling
The Calling were labeled as the resurrectors of rock with their lead vocalist billed to be the next Jim Hetfield due to the vocal similarity. This comparison must've been made when Metallica went mainstream(read castrated) because he sure isn't anything of the Hetfield during the underground days of Metallica.
7.' Be my Yoko Ono': Barenaked Ladies
The monotonous riff on the acoustic guitar was supposed to make this song look smart and appeal to the general musically-challenged public who makeup a large segment of the market for CDs. The song is horrible and the lead singer really needs to hit the gym for marketing the group to an even wider market: teenagers.
6.' Some guys have all the luck': Robert Palmer
A favorite of all the'plastic' and'mindless' stone deaf zombies who still think that disco was the greatest thing to happen to music. A compromise between the rock of the 70's and the club hoppers of the 80's produced this monstrosity.
5.' All I wanna do': Sheryl Crow
The first time I saw this video, I immediately slotted Sheryl Crow into the genre of wannabe Bob Dylan singers. Now she actually needs to wear hot pants and prance on the stage to sell her concerts. What has rock stooped to!
4.' I would do anything for love, I won't do that': Meatloaf
Meatloaf seems to have degenerated from bad to worse over the times, composing this absolutely horrible song, which I remember got a lot of airtime on MTV(or was it Channel V) when I was a teen. Enough to turn me off MTV for a lifetime.
3.' Hotel California': The Eagles
Recently Don Henley confirmed the fact that he hasn't improved after the Eagles split and'Hotel California' even though a crowd pleaser is sadly a simply corny composition an idea vehemently argued by my friends in Bangalore. Well, suit yourself guys, but when you collaborate with the likes of Trisha Yarwood, you got to be seriously thinking about where you stand in the rock pantheon.
2.' Mr. Roboto' Styx
A club-favorite which cashed on the Jap-bashing of the early eighties. The sound is so plastic and the lyrics absolutely awful, which makes me think that Styx secretly made a deal with the karaoke club owners in Tokyo, to make the song easier to sing for patrons.
1.' With arms wide open': Creed
I was absolutely horrified when an eighteen-year old cousin told me that her favorite was Scott Stapp of Creed. Well, guess leather pants do have an effect on pre-teen and teen girls. One site couldn't have vocalised my thoughts better when they said the sentence for Stapp should be'twenty years of playing Meatloaf covers and a lifetime ban on wearing those leather pants. Stapp is what you get when rednecks want their own grunge heroes'. Creed confirms that they are the Britney Spears of rock with this composition.
