Best, Worst and Most Underrated Songs

On Nov. 8, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will induct its 2025 class. The list of honorees is impressive, featuring Bad Company, Soundgarden, Cyndi Lauper, the White Stripes, Warren Zevon, Chubby Checker and Joe Cocker.

Each of these acts contributed mightily to the sound of popular music during their career. They boast platinum albums, Grammy awards and legions of passionate fans.

Below, we’ve made our choice for best, worst and most underrated songs from each of the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees. While some of the choices were easy, many others left us debating for far too long.

Best: “Bad Company”
We were this close to picking “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” but it’s just too difficult to keep Bad Company’s namesake tune out of this spot. There’s a dark, bluesy element to the track, along with a an overarching theme that Paul Rodgers once described as “lawless.” The opening piano part is legendary, part of a slow burn that eventually takes listeners to an emphatic climax, spearheaded by Rodgers’ distinctive croon.

 

Worst: “This Could Be the One”
The ‘90s were difficult for many bands that had come to prominence in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Some artists attempted (and largely failed) to embrace grunge. Bad Company – now with Brian Howe as singer, having replaced Rodgers in 1986 – opted for a different direction, leaning into a sleek pop sound. “This Could Be the One” from 1992’s Here Comes Trouble was a Bryan Adams-style ballad (minus Adams’ penchant for catchy choruses). Toothless and derivative, the track briefly earned some minor radio airplay before fading away.

 

Underrated: “Silver, Blue and Gold”
An album cut from 1976’s Run With the Pack, “Silver, Blue and Gold” gradually became a fan favorite despite never being released as an official single. There’s something captivating and instantly relatable about the track – an earnest lament about heartache and the difficulties in overcoming it.

Best: “Fell on Black Days”
Most people would put “Black Hole Sun” in the space – and honestly, we can’t argue against that choice. Still, our pick is “Fell on Black Days,” the hauntingly powerful single from 1994’s Superunknown. Frontman Chris Cornell is at his dynamic best here, his voice emanating a mix of sorrow and aggression. Meanwhile, guitarist Kim Thayil provides a subtle foundation throughout the early part of the track before exploding for one of his greatest solos deeper in the piece.

 

Worst: “665” and “667”
Occasionally, Soundgarden liked to show a little humor, as with these related tracks from 1988’s Ultramega OK. Showing range is good! Having fun is wonderful! But “665” and “667” are neither of those things. Instead, Soundgarden try to make fun of metal’s obsession with the number 666 by playing distorted and, frankly, unlistenable noise.

 

Underrated: “Rusty Cage”
There is unbridled energy pulsing through every second of “Rusty Cage.” In the beginning, its channeled via Thayil’s frenetic riff and Cornell’s punchy delivery. On the latter half, the mood shifts but the intensity remains, as the band drops into a foreboding doom groove. It’s one of Soundgarden’s all-time great songs and deserves to be mentioned alongside “Black Hole Sun,” “Outshined,” “Spoonman,” etc.

 

Best: “With a Little Help From My Friends”
Cocker’s version of the Beatles‘ “With a Little Help From My Friends” remains his most enduring work. Soulful and engaging, the rendition was a far cry from the poppy original found on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Even Paul McCartney recognized the genius of Cocker’s interpretation. “It was just mind blowing,” the Beatle once noted, recalling the first time he heard Cocker’s version. “[He] totally turned the song into a soul anthem and I was forever grateful for him for doing that.”

 

Worst: “Up Where We Belong”
We get it – some people are going to be outraged that we chose “Up Where We Belong” as Cocker’s worst song. Commercially, it was his biggest hit, earning platinum sales, a Grammy nomination and landing its songwriters an Oscar win. But the schmaltzy love song is far too saccharine for Cocker’s gravelly-voiced skills.

 

Underrated: “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”
There have been so many versions of “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” – most notably Nina Simone’s original recording, and the Animals‘ 1965 hit – that Cocker’s rendition is regularly overlooked. That is a mistake. The singer’s version is a slow burn — mournful, bluesy, but still packed with intensity.

Best: “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”
Cyndi Lauper’s bubbly 1983 anthem was more than just a hit, it was a seismic shift in pop music. The colorful singer proved that a feminist declaration of empowerment could still be upbeat and fun, and her distinctive charisma shone through every note. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” wasn’t just the defining hit of Lauper’s career, it was a defining track of the entire decade.

 

Worst: “Like a Cat”
After her first two albums were critical and commercial successes, Lauper stumbled for the first time with 1989’s A Night to Remember. The uneven LP failed to deliver the kind of punchy, captivating pop tunes fans had come to expect from the singer. Perhaps the most forgettable of the bunch was “Like a Cat,” which featured a strange synthesizer backing part and some of Lauper’s least inspired lyrics.

 

Underrated: “Boy Blue”
Like the more celebrated “True Colors,” Lauper’s “Boy Blue” was inspired by Gregory Natal, a close friend of the singer who died of AIDS. Lauper poured her heart into the track, cleverly hiding grief within a shimmering pop package. The result was something poignant, vulnerable and relatable.

Best: “Seven Nation Army”
The most difficult decision of this whole exercise was picking which White Stripes song to place in this slot. We could easily make the argument for the driving “The Hardest Button to Button” or the fuzzed-out “Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground,” but there’s no way we can deny the global appeal of “Seven Nation Army.” The track’s iconic guitar riff has evolved into a chant heard around the world — making “Seven Nation Army” arguably the most ubiquitous song of the 21st century.

 

Worst: “A Boy’s Best Friend”
The White Stripes could be loud and raucous, quiet and sentimental, and even fun and quirky. What they rarely were was boring — except on this album cut from 2000’s De Stijl. “A Boy’s Best Friend” seems to go on forever without actually going anywhere at all. Meandering and directionless, it’s one of the few missteps in an otherwise superb catalog.

 

Underrated: “Hotel Yorba”
Memorable and simple, like a TV jingle that you can’t get out of your head, “Hotel Yorba” is one of the White Stripes’ finest tunes (Side note: The song actually was used in TV commercials after its release). The country-tinged track has a frenzied energy, and its chorus provides one of the duo’s best singalong moments.

Best: “Werewolves of London”
Zevon’s signature song and only Top 40 hit boasts one of the most memorable hooks in rock history. Released on 1978’s Excitable Boy, “Werewolves of London” was never supposed to be a single – Zevon himself fought his record label over the decision. The track was penned as an inside joke for the singer and his friends, intended to be nothing more than a fun jaunt. Of course, “Werewolves of London” became much more than that, as its quirky lyrics and catchy melody resonated with generations of music lovers. Ah-hoo!

 

Worst: “Gorilla, You’re a Desperado”
Zevon’s brand of songwriting was not for everyone — and it wasn’t intended to be. While that may have prevented the singer from massive mainstream success, it also allowed him the artistic freedom to generally write whatever he wanted. One of the misfires along the way was this track off of 1980’s Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School. Across a simplistic synthesizer line and a strangely reggae-esque beat, Zevon sings about a gorilla that escapes the Los Angeles zoo, only to live a mundane suburban life.

 

Underrated: “Splendid Isolation”
Zevon made notable comebacks at a couple of different points in his career, most memorably with 1987’s Sentimental Hygiene. He returned two years later with the sci-fi concept album Transverse City. While some listeners were immediately put off by its synth-heavy nature, there were several gems within the LP. Among them, “Splendid Isolation,” a buoyant rock tune that structurally sounded like Zevon doing his best Tom Petty impression.

 

Best: “The Twist”
Chubby Checker has put out 19 studio albums and more than 50 singles across his career, yet his signature song will always remain “The Twist.” Released in 1960, the track is not a Checker original – that honor goes to Hank Ballard and the Midnighters who released the tune in ‘58. Still, Checker’s is unquestionably the definitive version, a beloved rendition that remains one of the most important early songs in rock history.

 

Worst: “La Paloma Twist”
Checker was never afraid to revisit the dance that made him famous – no less than 10 of his songs feature the word “twist” in its title. Still, he returned to the well one too many times with “La Paloma Twist,” a slightly Latin number that feels more like parody than authentic.

 

Underrated: “Limbo Rock”
Everything about Chubby Checker goes back to “The Twist.” But people forget he was also integral to another dance phenomenon, the limbo! Released in 1962, “Limbo Rock” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and brought the Trinidadian game/dance to mainstream America. More than 60 years later, it’s still done at birthday parties across the country.