List of music considered the worst

The music listed here has achieved a notably negative reputation and been called the worst music ever made by a combination of reputable sources. Such sources include the music press, television broadcasters (such as MTV), radio stations and public polls.

To be reliable, these sources must consider a large amount of musical history and a wide range of viewpoints before judging a piece to be the worst. This subject can also include works that are notably considered the worst-ever in fields closely related to music production, such as album artwork and music videos.

Definition

Paradoxically, a piece of music needs to have been noticeable, popular or memorable to be deemed the "worst" ever. A piece that was unpopular and quickly forgotten is unlikely to top all-time public polls a few years after it was released. A piece usually needs to have had a high profile at the time of its release, such as an unexpected hit that was highly disliked outside of its fanbase. Or, in the case of established musicians or composers, an embarrassingly misjudged piece might eventually gain a "worst-ever" reputation among critics and fans.

A piece of music deemed the "worst ever" is usually either a repetitive earworm, a disrespectful cover, derivative work or posthumous release, an expensive flop, a failed attempt at avant-garde music, a joke or deliberately-bad piece of music (e.g. to annoy a record label), or otherwise creatively compromised.

Scholarly accounts of the "worst music ever" are rare. Most polls or critical lists are light-hearted in nature, especially in pop music. Magazines reflect the preferences of their readers, and if polls are influenced by too small a group of readers or critics, they provide unreliable results. Most "worst ever" lists do not aim to take into account all music ever created, but are limited to certain time periods, styles of music, and geographical areas. Furthermore, individual tastes can vary widely, to the point where very little consensus on a worst song can be achieved; the winning song in a CNN e-mail poll ranked less than 5 percent of the total votes cast.

There are a handful of scholars who have done more in-depth analysis of music perceived to be bad, including Irwin Chusid and Barry Hansen (better known by the stage name Dr. Demento). Chusid, in particular, has coined the term "outsider music" to refer to songs that are so far outside the mainstream that they are perceived to be some of the worst music ever written, although their raw, unpolished qualities have earned such songs and musicians a cult following.

Albums

Due to their longer playing time than songs, albums contain material that most people, apart from fans and professional critics, will not have heard. Therefore, "worst-ever" lists usually contain albums that many readers or viewers have not heard in their entirety, or the "worst" or most disappointing albums by well-regarded artists. An artist's actions or reputation might also influence the results. Such lists are harder to compile in the form of a public poll, unlike singles or music videos, which will usually have been heard or seen even by non-fans of the artist.

Philosophy of the World, The Shaggs (1969) 

Chris Connelly wrote for Rolling Stone: "Without exaggeration, [Philosophy of the World] may stand as the worst album ever recorded." Debra Rae Cohen of Rolling Stone called it "the sickest, most stunningly awful wonderful record I've heard in ages".

Lou Reed, who released Metal Machine Music

Having Fun with Elvis on Stage, Elvis Presley (1974) 

This album was a spoken word compilation that contained almost no actual music, compiled in a seemingly incomprehensible manner. It ranked #1 in Jimmy Guterman and Owen O'Donnell's list of the worst rock and roll songs in the 1991 book, The Worst Rock and Roll Records of All Time, duly noting the lack of rock and roll on the album. The Allmusic review of the albums states: "Some have called Having Fun With Elvis on Stage thoroughly unlistenable, but actually it's worse than that; hearing it is like witnessing an auto wreck that somehow plowed into a carnival freak show, leaving onlookers at once too horrified and too baffled to turn away."

Metal Machine Music, Lou Reed (1975) 

A deliberately "unlistenable" album, consisting entirely of guitar feedback loops, ranked #2 in the 1991 book The Worst Rock 'n' Roll Records of All Time by Jimmy Guterman and Owen O'Donnell. In 2005, Q magazine included the album in a list of "Ten Terrible Records by Great Artists", and it ranked #4 in Q's fifty worst albums of all time list.

Crash Landing, Jimi Hendrix (1975) 

Called the "Worst Posthumously Released Album" by music critic Jesse Thompson in Maxim.

Soundtrack to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Bee Gees with Peter Frampton and others (1978) 

A glam rock and disco Beatles cover album, named "worst ever" by Maxim in April 2000 – a top 30 list which mostly contained pop albums from the 1970s to '90s.

Thank You, Duran Duran (1995) 

A cover album, named the worst album by Q magazine in March 2006 – almost all 50 albums in this "all-time" list were pop and rock from the previous 20 years.

Songs

The following songs have appeared in media polls and critical lists as the "worst ever". Examples of such sources include VH1's "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever" and Blender Magazine's "Run for Your Life! It’s the 50 Worst Songs Ever!".

Because of the nature of the pop single that developed in the 20th century, most of these entries are five minutes long or less.

A consensus of critics and music fans is needed before a song qualifies for this list.

"I Want My Baby Back", Jimmy Cross (1965) 

In 1977, British DJ Kenny Everett named it no. 1 in the Bottom 30 after a public vote.

"MacArthur Park", Richard Harris (1968) 

Dubbed "the worst song in modern history" in Dave Barry's "Bad Song Survey", and popculturemadness.com's "List of the Worst Songs of All Time".

Paul Anka

"(You're) Having My Baby", Paul Anka (1974) 

No. 1 worst song as voted on by CNN.com users.

"Dance with Me", Reginald Bosanquet (1980) 

A disco song with lyrics narrated in the style of a British newscast (Bosanquet was a news anchor for Independent Television News at the time), was voted number one 1 in the Bottom 30 by listeners of British DJ Kenny Everett in 1980.

"We Built This City", Starship (1985) 

Ranked #1 in "Run for Your Life! It's the 50 Worst Songs Ever!" list in Blender Magazine, and "The 10 Worst Songs of the 1980s", Rolling Stone

"Heartbeat", Don Johnson (1986) 

Boston.com's Arts & Entertainment staff ranked this as No. 1 on their "Top Ten Worst Songs of All Time".

"The Millennium Prayer", Cliff Richard (1999) 

VH1 labeled this the worst number one record of all time after a poll.

"Who Let the Dogs Out?", Baha Men (2000) 

Number one on Spinner's "Top 20 Worst Songs Ever".

"The Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum)", The Cheeky Girls (2002) 

Voted the no. 1 "worst pop record" by Channel Four viewers in a poll broadcast in January 2004.

Songs that are immediately controversial or unpopular, such as "Baby" by Justin Bieber (2010) or "Friday" by Rebecca Black (2011), would not qualify yet, but might appear on such lists in future, if they are deemed by a high number of notable music journalists, or notable all-time polls, to be the worst, compared with songs from previous decades.

Others

Classical music media have run fewer "worst-ever" lists than pop, either for composers or individual pieces. There have been articles on the worst recorded versions and the worst classical album covers.

In film music in the United States, the worst song of the year is given the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song. This has existed since 1980, and parodies the Academy Award for "best original song". In the genre of musical films, according to the Internet Movie Database in December 2011, the lowest-rated musical to receive over 1,500 votes was the 2007 Bollywood production Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag.

Some publications have compiled lists of the "worst" music videos ever. Album cover artwork has also been subject to "all-time worst" lists.

See also

• List of songs considered the best
• Albums considered the greatest ever
• List of films considered the worst
• [[International musical horrors]
• List of television series considered the worst
• The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records