3 Classic Rock Tracks That Were Almost Too Hard To Record

The following three classic rock tracks are some of the most timeless songs to come out of the 20th century. Even music-enjoyers who weren’t alive to see these songs debut know them, decades after they were released. And, interestingly enough, these songs could have easily never existed. According to the bands that put them together, they were almost too difficult to record. Let’s look at why that was the case, shall we?

“Walk This Way” by Aerosmith

“Walk This Way” by Aerosmith could easily be the rock band’s most well-known song of their career, though there are a few contenders for that. However, “Walk This Way” was one of their first big hits, and it was not an easy song to put together. According to the band, Joe Perry’s rhythm for the song made it hard for the rest of the band to put the right lyrics together for it. Steven Tyler decided to add similarly rhythmic lyrics to the verses of the song, but they weren’t quite there yet. 

After going out to see Young Frankenstein in theaters, though, Tyler was inspired. In that film, Igor famously tells everyone he interacts with to “walk this way.” Inspiration hit Tyler immediately, and a song that could have easily been tossed out because it was too difficult to write lyrics for was born, complete with some of the most memorable lyrics in classic rock history.

“Refugee” by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

Around the time Tom Petty was putting together Damn The Torpedoes, he was a solid songwriter and musician. However, he hadn’t quite made it big yet. Couple that with a court case involving his label yanking his songwriting royalties, and you’ve got a recipe for a stressful time. It’s a miracle Petty was able to come up with “Refugee”.

And even then, during initial sessions, the band kept struggling to put the song together. They ended up recording over 100 takes of the song. Eventually, they got to the final cut. And that final cut is now a legendary Heartbreakers release. I’m thankful they didn’t give up!

“Animal” by Def Leppard

Mutt Lange famously couldn’t produce Def Leppard’s album Hysteria initially. The band was almost devastated, as Lange had made so much of their previous music sound even more amazing. And while recording “Animal”, the band’s rapport with new producer Jim Steinman wasn’t really there, and the band had to spend a lot of money to boot him from the project. At that same time, drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in an accident. Though, he bounced back in an incredible way.

Eventually, with so many cards stacked against Def Leppard, Lange returned. And the resulting record is one of Def Leppard’s most famous and successful works, including one of the most famous classic rock tracks of all time, “Animal”.

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