Even the most critically acclaimed and best-selling albums in rock history generally have at least one or two songs that listeners don't lovequiteas much as the rest of the record. Sometimes a song seems out of place, other times it's just not up to the same standards as the rest of the tunes...but whatever the reason, fans often find themselves skipping over certain less-than-stellar offerings from their (otherwise) favorite bands.
That's whyRolling Stonedecided to rank 50 of the most "terrible songs on great albums" in 2025...and the tunes that made the list are guaranteed to have plenty ofmusiclovers nodding in agreement, while others will surely be filled with indignation at seeing their personal faves slammed.
Some of the opinions on the list are hard to argue with, to be fair. In fact, in several of the cases, the artists themselves didn't even like the songs; for example, #50 went to the Beatles' "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" fromAbbey Road, whichJohn Lennonopenly admitted to hating.Bob Dylan, meanwhile, seemed to blame co-writerJacques LevyforDesire's "Joey," about the mobsterJoey Gallo, which took the #32 spot. ("Jacques Levy wrote the words," he said in a 2009 interview withBill Flanagan. "Jacques had a theatrical mind, and he wrote a lot of plays. So the song might have been theater of the mind. I just sang it.")
While it's generally considered one of the most perfect albums in rock history (and continues to be one of the most profitable),Hotel Californiaby the Eagles also came under fire for a specific track: "Try and Love Again," ranked at #12 on the list.
While late bassist/singerRandy Meisnerwas, as the article put it, a "man of many talents" (prime example: his lead vocals on "Take It to the Limit"), some fans apparently feel his songwriting skills weren't on the same level as bandmatesDon Henley,Glen FreyandJoe Walsh.
"And these guys were operating at their absolute peak whenHotel Californiacame around,"Rolling Stonepointed out. "This was Meisner's last album with the group, and they included his country-rock tune 'Try and Love Again' on the second side. It's the only dud on the otherwise perfect album."
"Dud" or not, it seems there are plenty of fans who like "Try and Love Again" just fine: At the time of this writing, the track has 23,567,302 streams onSpotify. By comparison, the song "Hotel California" has 2,106,918,000, but you know what they say...you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.
Related: This Legendary Band Had the Bestselling Classic Rock Album of All Time — Here's Their Net Worth Today
This story was originally published byParadeon Feb 8, 2026, where it first appeared in theNewssection. Add Parade as aPreferred Source by clicking here.
