Love the artist, hate the song

Springsteen - Adam Raised a Cain, Real Man, (to name two)

 

Enter Sandman, Wherever I May Roam, The THing that Should Not Be, Seek and Destroy - Metallica
Working Man - Rush
Working on a Dream, Lonesome Day, Two Hearts - Springsteen

 

Everything after Permanent Waves - Rush

 

Ebony and Ivory and I Just Called to Say I Love You -- Stevie Wonder
Emotional Rescue -- Stones
Queen of the Supermarket -- Bruce

 

Silly Love Songs and Let 'em In -- McCartney

 

Zep's "Stairway To Heaven", Clapton's unplugged "Layla" and everything Rod Stewart has released since Tonight I'm Yours are the first ones that come to mind.

 

Choosing from my favorite well-known artists ...

The Beatles -- Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite. Really a lot of Sgt. Pepper's is mediocre by their standard.

Rolling Stones -- Sympathy For The Devil. Overrated and ponderous. Also, to echo Buck, pretty much everything since Tattoo You. And there's a bunch of Stones' songs that I'd rather never hear again -- It's Only Rock 'n Roll, Miss You -- that aren't bad per se, but have been overplayed into the ground.

Led Zeppelin -- Whole Lotta Love. Stupid song that doesn't really "rock" at all. And the freak-out in the middle was probably horribly dated by about 1972 or so.

Bob Dylan -- Most of his early acoustic folk stuff. I know that may sound like the stupidest statement every made on music, but early Dylan just doesn't speak to me at all. From the mid 60s on is when I get on board.

The Who -- Magic Bus. Stupidest fucking song ever. I don't think I've ever met anyone who likes this song.

Elton John -- Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. George Michael's cover doesn't help. Hate the arrangement, hate the sentiment in the song, hate the way Elton sings it. Hate.

The Clash -- Janie Jones. Sounds like it's being sung by some death metal parody version of The Clash. I'm also cold on London Calling (the song, not the album which is outstanding).

And among artists I don't consider favorites ...

I'll say it. Most of Bruce Springsteen's catalog leaves me cold. I don't dislike Springsteen at all, I respect him, but he's just ... blah to me.

There's some really good shit. I really like pretty much everything I've ever heard from Darkness On The Edge Of Town, 10th Avenue Freeze-Out and some of his stuff since, but I don't listen to Springsteen and break into heavenly Hosannah's like many do. I don't really get him.

 

Damn, Springsteen getting dogged out a lot on here. I'm not a huge Bruce fan, but this kinda surprises me.

 

I'm going to limit this to popular, respected songs because otherwise I'd have to cite all of Load and St. Anger, at least.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: "Cover Me," "I'm Going Down," "Tunnel of Love"
Jay-Z: "Hard Knock Life"
Nas: "Nastradamous"
The Beatles: "Come Together," "Yellow Submarine"
Metallica: "Nothing Else Matters"
Michael Jackson: "Liberian Girl"
Stevie Wonder: "I Just Called To Say I Love You"
Led Zeppelin: "Black Dog"
Radiohead: "High & Dry"

 

Agree on Sgt. Pepper, with the exception of something like "A Day In The Life" and "With A Little Help From My Friends" it sounds horribly dated and for something that is supposed to be the greatest rock album ever, it doesn't really rock.

U2's "The Sweetest Thing" - more like The Shittiest Thing.

 

I love that you said that about "Miss You." I haven't really cared for it in many years. Then, recently, my son heard it on the radio. He's 3. He won't stop singing it. It's so fun to see someone like that come to something brand new. Just his unmitigated love for this 35-year-old song that everyone else is tired of, it's fun to watch ...

 

I'd never argue that Sgt. Pepper is even The Beatles' greatest album (that's Abbey Road or Revolver to me), but it's definitely among the most influential. The string and orchestral arrangements, densely layered vocal and guitar tracks and conceptualization are things that had never been attempted in popular music before.