10 Rock Songs That Artists Didn't Want To Record

It goes without saying that many artists tend to enjoy the type of music they play. I mean, how many people would be willing to say that they hate their material after having to labor over it hour after hour in the studio? Actually, you'd be surprised at how much material was never supposed to see the light of day to begin with.

Instead of being the labor of love that many may expect, there are tons of songs that artists would have preferred to leave on the cutting room floor. If you spent hours recording it though, why not put it out? Well, it's more complicated than just not liking the song. Some might feel like it's not the right time to put it out, while others may feel too connected to the song to actually release it into the wild just yet. Regardless, the powers that be twisted their arm and gave us some of the most underrated cuts of these acts' careers.

Whether it's a bold new sound for the time or just outright garbage, these certainly stand out as something unique amongst the catalog. Even though they may be streaming everywhere now, there's always that artistic side that would have preferred them to be held in secrecy.

One could argue that Quiet Riot were responsible for making the hair metal scene what it was back in the mid '80s. With a premiere spot opening the US Festival and an early incarnation of the band featuring guitar god Randy Rhoads, the blocks were all in place for them to be superstars if they had the right song. While they eventually found it in a cover of Slade's Cum On Feel the Noize, vocal Kevin DuBrow would have sooner taken an axe to the song.

Once these Sunset veterans got in touch with producer Spencer Proffer, he insisted that they record the Slade classic as a way of crossing over onto pop radio. For weeks, the band begrudgingly attempted to learn the song, only to have things derail when Kevin got pissed off. By the time they finally got to the studio to record the tune, DuBrow was fuming.

However, this one song ended up being the lynch pin for their album Metal Health to succeed, taking it to platinum status off the strength of the video rotation and relentless touring. If you listen closer, you can even hear that deep-seated anger as DuBrow shrieks out the lyrics. Even though they had their reservations, there's a good chance we wouldn't be hearing about Quiet Riot today if it weren't for this one song.