Sometimes, even undebatable charting hits tend to be divisive among fans. Plenty of songs from the classic rock era have been the subject of plenty of debates over whether they are excellent bops or downright flops. That tends to be the case for the following three divisive classic rock songs. What do you think?
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“I Was Made For Lovin’ You” by KISS
I’ve written about KISS on more than one occasion, and it still surprises me how divisive this rock band’s fans can be about the quality of different eras of their music. One song at the heart of much discussion is the 1979 hard rock disco-esque hit, “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”.
I can see why this song (and most of Dynasty) is such a point of contention among fans. It’s a mix of rock and disco during an era when disco was controversial. Honestly, I still like this song. But I also wasn’t a diehard KISS fan in the 1970s. Fans can be hard to please.
“Kokomo” by The Beach Boys
I’m going to be vulnerable for a moment. I hate this song. It doesn’t have anything to do with The Beach Boys. Honestly, I can’t stand “Kokomo” because it is so catchy that it is impossible to get out of my head after just one listen. I had to listen to it to write this list, and it is stuck in my head as I write.
Others hate this 1988 yacht rock classic for a different reason. Namely, some fans have complained that this song was basically Mike Love trying to perform like he’s still a 20-something young musician. It’s a very dad rock song, but what do people expect? Several dads wrote it.
“We Didn’t Start The Fire” by Billy Joel
Not going to lie, I loved this song as a kid. So, I was quite surprised to discover that some fans (and non-fans) of Billy Joel can’t stand this 1989 pop-rock hit. Shockingly, even Joel himself has said that he doesn’t particularly love it. There are a few reasons for that, the main one being the fact that the whole of the song’s verse is made up of two notes. It gets a bit repetitive and monotonous, and not in an earworm way.
“Take a song like ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’,” said Joel in a documentary. “It’s really not much of a song. […] If you take the melody by itself, [it’s] terrible. Like a dentist drill.”
Do you think these classic rock hits are flops or bops? Either way, one can’t deny that these songs were hits back in the day, regardless.
Photo by United Archives/Frank Hempel/Shutterstock
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