SPIN has released a list of "The 50 Worst Songs By Otherwise Great Artists".
Says Bob Guccione, Jr.: "Most music is crap. But then again, as science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon once said, when asked why so much science fiction was garbage, 90% of everything is crap. So it’s only really news when a great musician or band puts out a turgid stinker. And they do. You don’t know if they know, or know and don’t care, or if they are just U2 and know, don’t care and deep down don’t believe it anyway.
And maybe, twisted alternate universe thinking, it’s a sign of greatness that a performer/band appears on a list like this, because it means they’ve been around so long at the top that the law of averages trips them up and even the gods make a mistake. At least, if they weren’t great, we probably wouldn’t have noticed…
This list is not meant to be mean spirited! Really! Admittedly, it is not entirely generous, or very forgiving, and could be, in spots, construed as less than kind. We’ll cop to that. But, honestly, it’s not cynical. We hate cynical. No, this is cold honesty. That’s valuable, right? Don’t we get enough bullshit in our daily diets to once and a while crave, need, a dose of truthful criticism?
There’s no Sting on this list because, seriously, what do you think we are, savages? We don’t murder low hanging fruit. And it was important in creating this list to be objective and distinguish between really awful recordings and songs we just don’t like. We rejected a trove of those.
There was no consensus here — everyone involved is disappointed to see at least one song on this list and thinks someone got it wrong. But life is harsh. The truth will set us free, yes, but it’s going to hurt sometimes..."
Among the songs on the list are tracks from Nirvana ("Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol", #44), Van Halen ("Why Can't This Be Love", #43), Eric Clapton ("I Shot The Sheriff", #41), Red Hot Chili Peppers ("Love Rollercoaster", #38), Frank Zappa ("Valley Girl", #34), Judas Priest ("Prisoner Of Your Eyes", #25), The Who ("Squeeze Box", #21), Pink Floyd ("Seamus", #17), and Megadeth ("Crush 'Em", #7).
Check out the complete list at SPIN.com.
