10 Hard Rock Songs That Almost Killed Great Albums

Every genre has the albums that are the benchmarks for the respective styles of music. Whether it be Thriller by Michael Jackson with defining pop or the Ramones ushering in the punk movement with their debut, there are only a few records that come along which could be considered foundational for a genre going forward. Hard rock is no exception to this rule...as long as you remember that no record is flawless.

Despite these records being some of the greatest in their field, there is always that elephant in the room that no one really wants to talk about. These less desirable elements can come down to a bit of filler or just a goofy little joke tune, but they just tend to feel out of place on these albums. Compared to the mission statement that these records set out to achieve, these songs come off as either lifeless or just a bit of cheap runtime to pad out the rest of the album.

Either way, there's not really a good chance that any of these tracks will make anyone's favorites list from their respective artists. While the rest of the album might hold up, songs like these are what skip buttons were made for.

Any kid who was into heavy music around the turn of the century has some inherent connection to Linkin Park. Even if their brand of nu metal was a bit more user-friendly than something like Korn or Fear Factory, you still couldn't avoid the amazing choruses across songs like In the End and One Step Closer. Though Hybrid Theory is one of the most successful metal releases ever, that doesn't mean that every track is a barn burner.

As you get to the midpoint of the album, Runaway comes on feeling like just your average Linkin Park track. While the group's approach of two lead vocalists was a unique trait for the time, most of this song feels pretty stagnant in the track listing, as if this were a B-side that happened to make the final cut. In fact, there's not too much terribly wrong with this track except for the fact that it is sandwiched between some of the more beefy cuts on the record like Crawling and In the End.

For what it's worth though, if you're looking for some good old fashioned nu metal, this still is able to get the job done, with a chilling piano pad and some pretty competent lyrics about leaving home. Certainly not a bad track, but also not able to compete with their musical older brothers.