10 Music Artists That Won't Defend Their Own Songs
Hits to Be Ashamed Of.
When you start off making a song, it’s hard not to think of it as one of your musical children. It takes a lot to make a song ready for primetime, and it practically involves more than 100% to make it a classic or anything. That doesn’t mean that you have to be in love with how the track ends up though.
On every one of these classic songs, the band in question are more content to wash their hands of what they had done, thinking that it would have been better if these tracks were never released. That’s not to say that they think that all of these songs were terrible or anything like that. In fact, there’s a good chance that some of these musicians think that the song is really good, only to have it fall apart in the mix or resent their own material when they have to play it over and over again on tour. It might seem a little bit shallow to see them get so bitter, but you can really see where they’re coming from.
Writing songs involves making yourself vulnerable in a far more intimate way to your audience, so when it doesn’t come out the way you want, it’s more than just a disappointment. It’s an embarrassment to have to deal with, and every one of these artists have not stood by their legendary songs when the rest of the world got on the hype train.
10. Escape - Metallica
For some of the dyed in the wool Metallica fans, there's no real era of the band that exists outside of the '80s period. Before Bob Rock took over and turned one of the biggest thrash bands into the metal crossovers that we know today, they were already on top of their game, making long epic tracks about destruction, war, and the darker side of what life could offer. That didn't mean that they weren't afraid of selling out back then as well.
In between the sessions for Ride the Lightning, the band had everything set for a tight 7 track album, only to be told by their record company that they needed one more song added to the mix. Not being thrilled with going back into the studio, what came out of trying to write a hit was Escape, which is actually a lot better than any other kind of pop crossover that most other metal bands could do. Compared to the other songs on the record, it actually does its job fairly effectively, reaching for the kind of stadium audiences that Judas Priest were playing to around this time.
It would take a while before Escape found those stadium audiences though, with James Hetfield despising the song, calling it a rush job and never playing it live until they played Ride the Lightning in its entirety for its anniversary. Though the crowd might have enjoyed it just fine, you can tell by the look on James' face at the end that this is nowhere near his top 10 favorite Metallica tracks.