10 Hated Rock Songs That Are Actually Really Good

For the OG Metallica fans, most of the '80s material is the sweet spot where the band can do absolutely no wrong. In just 4 albums, the band took the thrash metal scene further than it had ever been before and set the benchmark for what other bands had to equal if they wanted to be heavy. And in between those classics, there's the song Escape, which is not technically supposed to exist.

When Ride the Lightning was first being put together, Lars got word from the label that they needed one more song to fill out the track listing, and they just threw together this song one day in the studio to make sure everything was finished. For years, James Hetfield has said that he hates this song, even wincing a little bit when they had to play it live for the album's anniversary. Looking back on it though, we should consider ourselves lucky if these were considered the table scraps from those sessions.

While hearing a Metallica song that's in a major key doesn't really feel right, most of the song is actually a nice tribute to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, even sprinkling in a bit of Thin Lizzy influence on the chorus. There's also the breakdown towards the end that is one of the heaviest moments in Metallica's pre 1990 catalog. While this might have been a mistake from James' perspective, the way everything comes together on this song can be chalked up to a happy accident.