Rush's Neil Peart is seething after coming in second on Blender magazine's list of the 40 worst rock lyricists. When you find out who else was named, you'll probably think it is actually an honor, not an insult. Read on...

"I felt my face burning with shame and anger to . . . read my work described in words like 'an awful mix of science and fantasy. Though obviously written about songs from 30 years ago . . . it still stung," lamented the Rush drummer - who is also their lyricist and an accomplished novelist.

Peart shouldn't feel too bad - he's in good company.

Coming in at #1 on Blender's list: Sting.

Other shocking entries include Jim Morrisson (#10): "Poetry a drug-mad hippie would come up with if he'd never read a single book."

Bernie Taupin, Elton John's lyricist, came in at #15. But to be fair, it seems they are only chastising the world reknown artist for his later work: "Taupin's many works of sublime badness include Starship's 1985 hit "We Built This City," a rebellious anthem about how hard it is for an aging hippie band to keep a record deal and, more recently, Lestat, a 2006 musical based on the novels of Anne Rice."

Robert Plant came in at #23: "You have to hand it to him: Among those who've read The Hobbit 38 times, Plant has probably slept with the most women. If only he didn't sing about it, too. Zeppelin's mix of Tolkien-esque ­fantasy, bluesy­ sexism, Satanism and ­flower-­haired hippie ­whimsy set an astonishingly low bar for aspiring metal gods to limbo under."

And for the stunner....look who else made it onto the list - Paul McCartney (#38): "Apparently born with neither self-examination nor introspection genes, McCartney is the king of cloying and superficial rock lyrics. Less obvious while John Lennon was around to add acid edge to his mimsy musings, this became a big problem as soon as McCartney went solo—where he descended into weedhead whimsy and sentimental cotton candy like "La la la la la la lovely Linda/With the lovely flowers in her hair."