I just don’t get why anybody would voluntarily listen to The Piano Man. Billy Joel is guilty of a lot of sins, but I think that is the worst of them.
It’s classic. And thank you – that was the A-ha song for me when I read this thread. Fucking terrible, IMHO.
Yeah, few songs get more classic than Smells Like Teen Spirit. I mean, it pretty much heralded a seismic shift in popular rock music in the US. I can’t think of too many songs that have more cultural significance. It’s not Nirvana’s best, but it’s a fantastic song. I just can’t believe it’s been over 20 years.
As for the OP, I’m really having difficulty coming up with anything. “American Pie” is probably as close as I’ll come. I guess I’m not a huge fan of “Free Bird,” either. But they’re good songs, and most every other song in this thread I at least like, if not love.
Smells Like Teen Spirit is also #9 on Rolling Stone’s 500 GOAT list. Fucking piece of shit.
These threads always crack me up to end. I love(d) American Pie. Still love Hey Jude. Freebird rocks. Rikki Don’t Lose My Number takes me back to my childhood more than any other song. Summer of 1974, nine years old, first year of collecting baseball cards and the long summer of not spending every day with my best neighbor friend because his parents had separated. So spending it with new friends. That song drips with nostalgia for me and I cherish it every time I hear it.
And Don’t Stop Believing was my favorite song my senior year in high school.
But no offense taken. I hate the Boston Celtics. But really, I don’t hate them. 
Why on earth did they land?
Just open the door a smidge…
Yeah, what Manduck said. Actually, I’ll add Billy Joel to the (almost) Anything He Does list. Judging by his lyrics, he’s a cynical, condescending prick who looks down his nose at nearly everyone. The uptight society girl who has a lot to learn, the pathetic schlubs who frequent piano bars, vapid music fans who should appreciate him forever, the virginal schoolgirl who should just f**k him already, a bad date who had the nerve to get too drunk the night before, a lowly cop who just wants a Cadillac-ac-ac-ac-ac…
I saw Bob Seger’s Old Time Rock and Roll mentioned. I loved that song a long time ago, but since oldies stations have crept up into the 1980s on a regular basis, I have heard that song so many times I could vomit if I hear it somewhere where I cannot escape easily.
La Bamba by Richie Valens, and the blander version done by, I think, Los Lobos. Don’t know why exactly.
Color My World by Chicago. Loooooooooooonnnnnngggg drawn out repetitive boring open to a sucky song that’s not worth waiting that long for.
Interestingly, that the song is only, exactly, three minutes long. Time flies when you’re having fun. Not so much otherwise.
/I like that song myself.
For the win! I couldn’t agree more. I hated it the first time I heard it and hated it even more when I realized they stole the song from some obscure band and never credited them. LZ can burn in hell for all I care.
Rock you like a Hurricane. I never liked the song to begin with. But, every time I hear it is either at a sporting event or else in a dive bar when some asshole grabs a pool cue and plays air guitar.
Have you ever actually listened to Pet Sounds? If it sounds the same as the other Beach Boys stuff then, well, I don’t know what to say. I do like the Beach Boys in general, but Pet Sounds is in its own little world. The orchestration and arrangements on that album are nothing short of breathtaking. The way the instruments are layered to create new timbres/textures, the use of unconventional instruments, the subtle rhythmic twists and turns, etc. That album is just rich sonically and fun to get lost in. For my money, it’s probably the best arranged and orchestrated pop/rock album I’ve ever heard. And the songwriting is top-notch. There’s only one love song for me that challenges “God Only Knows” as being the greatest love song ever written, and that’s George Harrison’s/The Beatles “Something.”
Any tune can become torturous if force fed often enough; thank you, Clear Channel, etc.
Most offerings by Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and The Scorpions will forever be unlistenable for me. Nearly everything else that falls in the “classic rock” category is tolerable if I haven’t heard it in a (long) while.
That. And The Boys of Summer.
Joy to the world.
A lot of songs mentioned in the thread.