10 terrible songs that ruined great albums
No one said making an album is easy; if it was, everybody would do it. Writing a song on its own is hard enough to write multiple and put them together into one body of work to sound cohesive without being repetitive… it’s not an easy task, to say the least.
And yet, it’s something that many artists have not only done but excelled at. Some albums are more culturally relevant and popular than any other piece of art in the world. The likes of To Pimp a Butterfly, Abbey Road, and It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back are not only considered great music but societal milestones.
Then, of course, there are bad albums. These pieces of work don’t just fall short of the mark but are so far behind the mark they’re mistaking it for Paul. Granted, these works can also be entertaining in their own right; in the same way, it’s hard to stop watching a bad movie, and it can also be hard to turn off a bad album.
The most frustrating pieces of music are when the good and the bad merge, making something you enjoy but hesitate with whenever you listen to it. This usually comes in the form of excellent albums with one lousy song. They might not completely render the album unlistenable, but they do make it so that whenever you listen to it, despite enjoying it, you can’t escape the feeling that that one lousy song is steadily getting closer.
This list will consider some of the terrible songs that manage to ruin otherwise fantastic albums.
Terrible songs that ruin great albums:
‘My World’ (Use Your Illusion II – Guns N’ Roses)
When Guns N’ Roses released the Use Your Illusion albums, it felt like a real milestone for the band. They had proven they could tackle aggressive and upbeat rock on Appetite For Destruction, but with Use Your Illusion, fans saw what Slash and the band were really capable of. The tracks were long, operatic in their structure, and unafraid to dabble in various styles. Each band member thrived on both albums, but the second instalment is slightly let down thanks to the presence of ‘My World’.
‘My World’ was Axl Rose’s attempt at making industrial music. It turns out the frontman was a big fan of Nine Inch Nails and wanted to give making that style of music a go for himself. What happened was a complete disaster that stands out on the album like a sore thumb with a nail sticking out of it. Rose must have known the song wasn’t up to scratch, as he didn’t even tell his fellow bandmates the track would be included; that was just an unpleasant surprise for them when they got their copies of the record.
‘Some Girls’ (Some Girls – The Rolling Stones)
On the well-received Rolling Stones album Some Girls, the title track nearly let the whole thing down when it came close to prompting a civil rights movement. The Rolling Stones have never been strangers to discussing sex when writing songs, but their line in ‘Some Girls’, where Jagger proclaims that “black girls just want to get fucked all night”, was seen as a step too far for many.
Jessie Jackson, the American civil rights leader who worked with Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity), took particular umbrage with the song and campaigned against the glorification of sex seen in the lyrics. Mick stood by his comment, saying that it was a parody of people who hold those attitudes, but with the banned cover and controversial song, there is generally just a bad taste left in the mouth.
‘Yellow Submarine’ (Revolver – The Beatles)
Revolver is considered by many to be The Beatles’ best album. Released in 1966, the album was the band’s final outing before they retired from live performances. Thanks to the range of musical styles that The Beatles used in putting this LP together, it is a piece that highlights the band’s ingenuity and shows people why they are considered such excellent songwriters. However, it does come with a red flag, or should we say, a yellow one…
There are a lot of reasons why ‘Yellow Submarine’ was seen as controversial. Firstly, it coincided with John Lennon’s comments that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus, which meant a lot of radio stations were hesitant to play it. Additionally, some people thought that it was code for drugs. However, the main issue with the track is that it isn’t very good. Its catchiness somewhat coincides with the likes of ‘Gangnam Style’ or ‘Baby Shark’, in that just because it is famous and instantly recognisable doesn’t mean it’s a quality piece of songwriting.
‘Perhaps Vampires is a Bit Strong But…’ (Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not – Arctic Monkeys)
Arctic Monkeys’ debut album felt like a very significant moment in music. It’s rare to have albums made post-2000 that feel like they will impact the course of music, but with their debut, that’s precisely what the boys from Sheffield did. They had a poetic way of describing working-class life that also came backed with the energy of a northern nightclub, and after that, the world was theirs to conquer.
Despite songs on the album following a similar pattern, they remained individual and exciting. That goes for everything except ‘Perhaps Vampires is a Bit Strong But…’ The track is by far the weakest on the album and sounds more like the formula you would put into a computer to generate Arctic Monkeys rather than an Arctic Monkeys song itself.
‘XXX’ (DAMN – Kendrick Lamar)
Kendrick Lamar has been one of the most influential musicians of the modern age. His albums not only display an excellent rapping ability but also bring with them an interesting narrative and a political message. His debut good kid, m.A.A.d city spoke of growing up lower class and the perils that come with it. To Pimp a Butterfly was a political thriller that spoke of mental health and societal issues, then DAMN. seemed to collate everything into a trap-heavy masterpiece.
The song that lets it down slightly is ‘XXX’. It starts well, with Kendrick Lamar rapping out the constant contradiction he lives in as someone who would murder to protect his family but also preaches peace and gun control. Where it falls down is when U2 are introduced into the mix. Bono’s ability to sing about political and societal issues comes across as patronising rather than informative. His vocal observation on ‘XXX’ sounds less introspective and more like the self-righteous gently tutting in a corner. Unfortunately, Lamar’s introduction of U2 on this song doesn’t pay off, but that happens when you live life close to the edge.
‘Bad Habits’ (Everything You’ve Come To Expect – The Last Shadow Puppets)
There are a lot of questions that the universe holds that we will never know the answer to. What is the meaning of life? Where do we come from? Where are we going? And why the hell did The Last Shadow Puppets release ‘Bad Habits’ as the first single from Everything You’ve Come To Expect?
The song is undoubtedly the worst on the entire album and arguably on both Alex Turner and Miles Kane’s respective discographies. It sounds as though a riff has been written, and whilst the two think of lyrics, they have inserted placeholders in the rhythm they want them to be sung in. Non-sensical gobbledegook is screamed over a bassline as Miles Kane declares, “Deep trouble / red lollipop / pale faces / oh right.” When the album was eventually released and turned out to be excellent, it was a pleasant surprise, but there is still this stupid, shouty, angry three minutes that make no sense and should never have been made.
‘Rocky Racoon’ – The Beatles (The White Album)
The Beatles’ self-titled LP (commonly called The White Album) is arguably the band’s best record. Recognised for its versatile style, the songs on the album beautifully encapsulate genres such as folk, country rock, the blues, ska and proto-metal. Of course, when you embrace your experimental side on an album, some songs might not be met as well as others.
‘Rocky Raccoon’ was written by Paul McCartney while studying transcendental meditation with Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan, who also contributed to the track. The song is more of a parody of the Scottish performer than anything else, which doesn’t fit well with the rest of the album. McCartney even acknowledged this in a 2008 interview, saying, “I was basically spoofing the folksinger. Couldn’t you guess? Would I have gone to all that trouble about Gideon’s Bible and all that stuff?”
‘Frankly, Mr Shankly’ (The Queen is Dead – The Smiths)
The Queen is Dead was the third studio album from The Smiths. The band had already made a massive name for themselves, but this album indeed shot them into the musical stratosphere, as its shocking title and versatility were met well by fans and critics alike. The album spent 22 weeks in the charts and is considered one of the best pop albums ever written.
Unfortunately, the track ‘Frankly, Mr Shankly’ falls flat, thanks to its ambiguous lyricism and tired feel. Marr and Morrissey wrote it during a ‘marathon’ writing session, so maybe the creative juices weren’t flowing as well, but the amount the song has been read into highlights just how non-sensical the words in it are. It is commonly believed the song is about the band’s desire to leave their record label, Rough Trade, which is hinted at when they reference “bloody awful poetry.” Rough Trade head, Geoff Travis, said that line was poking fun at a poem he wrote Morrissey one day.
‘Black Star’ (The Bends – Radiohead)
The Bends is the second album by Radiohead, which further cemented the band’s position as some of the most innovative musical minds in the world at the time. There was a lot of ingenuity in the album’s production, and singles such as ‘My Iron Lung,’ ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’ and ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ are still considered some of their best work.
In the same way some bands are too ambitious with what they try to do, Radiohead had the opposite problem with this song. The plain nature of ‘Black Star’ doesn’t live up to the ambition of the rest of the album. The guitar is straightforward, the fade-in is unnecessary, and it is commonly called the worst track on The Bends.
‘Haitian Divorce’ (The Royal Scam – Steely Dan)
Because of Steely Dan’s unique and dedicated approach to songwriting, they have a lot of fantastic songs, but they also have a lot of terrible tracks to go with them. The Royal Scam is generally a pretty solid album, but the inclusion of ‘Haitian Divorce’ really brings it down a few pegs.
The track tries to embrace reggae, but given Steely Dan has never been a reggae band, it comes across as amateur and lacklustre. The only good thing about the song is the harmonic guitar solos, but they feel so out of place that they even contribute to the tune’s underperformance.
