Power Ballads

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80's Power Ballads

April 7th 2008 01:47

The 80’s was certainly the era of the rock power ballad.
As the decade went on they only became more popular, and by the end you couldn’t release a rock record without a few of them onboard.

It was okay for a guy to love it, because it was his favourite hard rocker getting soft and sad about a lost love or the hard road that is life.

But naturally they found a real audience with the girls.

Yes, chicks loved the power ballad.
Suddenly the Motley Crue audience wasn’t just full of black t-shirted, leather jacketed metal heads – no, now there were girls wanting to hear Home Sweet Home too.

They rarely lost any respect on ballads however, because it started to become an unwritten rule that the lead guitarist would break out his best possible solo 3 quarter way through the song.
Eddie Van Halen busted out on their ballad Dreams, Randy Rhoads made a full acoustic solo for his mother and Steve Lukather famously soloed out on Toto’s Rosanna.

Slash had 3 solos on Sweet Child O Mine, Metallica’s Fade to Black has several, and Joe Satriani and Steve Vai made entire songs out of their ballad solos Always with Me, Always With You, and For The Love of God respectfully.

There are a few different styles of power ballad.

There is the old fashioned piano ballad like Aerosmith’s Angel or Home Sweet Home

Then there was the keyboard/synth heavy ballads like anything by Europe or Whitesnake.

There was the electric ballad like Def Leppard’s Love Bites.

And of course the acoustic or ‘cowboy ballad’, made especially popular by all the hair metal bands.

A lot of these songs seem cheesy by today’s standards, but the bands of today wouldn’t dare reach out and write songs with such depth and emotion – okay, they didn’t always have so much depth...in fact it became fairly formulaic by the end.

So here’s a list of some of the more memorable power ballads of the day.

Bon Jovi – Wanted Dead or Alive
Slaughter - Fly To The Angels
Poison - Something To Believe In
Foreigner - I Want To Know What Love Is
Dokken - Alone Again
Faster Pussycat - House Of Pain
Whitesnake - Is This Love
Kix - Don't Close Your Eyes
John Waite - Missing You
Winger - Miles Away
White Lion - When The Children Cry
Night Ranger - Goodbye
Whitesnake - Here I Go Again
Motley Crue- Home Sweet Home
Ozzy Osbourne - Shot In The Dark
Winger- Headed for a Heartbreak
Cinderella - Nobody's Fool
Journey - Open Arms
Europe- Carrie
Boston- Amanda
Skid Row - I Remember You
Scorpions – Wind of Change
Cheap Trick – The Flame
Warrant – Heaven
Cinderella – Nobody’s Fool
Def Leppard – Hysteria
Survivor- The Search Is Over
The Bangles - Eternal Flame
Toto – Africa
REO Speedwagon - Keep On Loving You
Survivor - Burning Heart
Gary Moore – Still Got The Blues (For You)
Queen - Who Wants to Live Forever
Mr. Mister - "Broken Wings"
Mr. Big - To Be With You
Steelheart - I'll Never Let You Go" -t
Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now
Twisted Sister - The Price

Poison - Every rose has its thorn
KISS - Forever
Guns 'n' Roses - Patience
Journey - Separate Ways
Night Ranger - Sister Christian
Skid Row – 18 and Life
L.A. Guns – Ballad of Jayne
Firehouse - When I Look Into Your Eyes
KISS – Reason To Live
Tesla – Love Song
Cinderella - Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)
Motley Crue – Without You
ZZ Top - Rough Boy
Van Halen – Why Can’t This Be Love?

This is one of those lists that could go on forever.
Feel free to list your own...

‘...just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song.’

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Posted By: Jarrah - Category: Music, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, U.S.A, U.K., Europe, Canada

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Comments

32 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by samaritan

April 7th 2008 05:43

Fringe Faith
Samaritan's Stories

I think it was Sebastian Bach from Skid Row who said any rock band can sing a ballad and make a hit - or words to that effect. I still haven't grown out of power ballads. I haven't changed that much from when I was an '80s girl - only now I listen to them on my ipod and my kids dance along with me.

Samaritan
www.fringefaith.com

Comment by Mike Wheeler

April 7th 2008 10:02

Warrant - Cherry Pie (puke!)

Comment by Jarrah

April 7th 2008 10:12

Back to the Eighties

Ah, thats not a ballad.
Not even close.

But I also hate that song.
Jani Lane who wrote it hates it also.

If you do like Warrant, we interviewed them last week : HERE
LOL

Comment by Mike Wheeler

April 7th 2008 10:22

Er, I'll pass on the interview...;O)

Comment by PopulistConservative

June 13th 2008 17:52

Angry Electorate

Van Halen - Love Walks In
Keel - Because the Night

Comment by Anonymous

December 28th 2008 16:42

Whitesnake
-here i go again
-is this love
-when i see you smile

Comment by sparklepants

December 31st 2008 22:12

bringin' on the heartbreak - def leppard

Comment by Miceisnice

January 15th 2009 17:52

Angel--Aerosmith
Can you take me high enough--Damn Yankees

Comment by Anonymous

February 8th 2009 04:46

cinderella-coming home
warrant-sometimes she cries

Comment by Anonymous

February 19th 2009 07:07

Oh Sherry - Journey (Steve Perry)

Comment by Anonymous

February 19th 2009 07:11

I would do anything for love (But I won't do that) - Meatloaf

Comment by Anonymous

March 21st 2009 23:45

LOVE BITES- DEF LEPPARD ! \m/

Comment by Anonymous

March 24th 2009 17:02

I'm one of the many male listeners that like the heavy metal power ballads. They did a good job on them. I'm more of an R&B, pop and rap listener, but I liked the power ballads that came on radio in the late '80s. I commend the bands for making well crafted melodic power ballads, yet keep the rock and loud guitars cranked up. Ever notice that their rockers hit No. otr No. 7 on the Billboard 100 charts in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991 while the power ballads always hit No. 1 or No. 2. I think that programmers liked the power ballads for the music and looked past the bands' looks and long hair and accepted them as musicians. There were different kinds of it that blended well with regular pop ballads or R&B rhythmic dance numbers on pop radio. They were popular with women, but for this male listener, I loved them. I don't think they're cheesy at all to today's standards--they're very well crafted and well arranged songs to me! And they still sound fresh today--I still love Whiitesnake's Is This Love, Scorpions' Send Me an Angel and Def Leppard's Love Bites (Joe Elliott had this R&B/soul kind of vocal to that song and that drew me in to it!).

Comment by Anonymous

March 27th 2009 15:50

Boston-Amanda
Alone-Heart
Come Sail Away-STYX
Rosanna-Toto
Sentimental Street-Night Ranger
Beth-Kiss
Imagine-John Lennon
Dust in the Wind-Kansas
Dream Weaver-Gary Wright
Bed of Roses-Bon Jovi
Behind Blue Eyes-The Who

Comment by Anonymous

April 7th 2009 17:30

Bad English
When I see you smile
(soemone said it was Whitesnake, which is wrong)

Sheriff
When I'm With You

Shotgun Messiah
Living Without You

Comment by Nikki Sixx Chick

April 18th 2009 05:59

you're all i need- motley crue
time for change-motley crue
i dont want to miss a thing- aerosmith
open arms- journey
if i close my eyes forever-lita ford and ozzy osbourne
accidents can happen-sixx:a.m. (not from the 80's but the bassist is nikki sixx of motley crue)
dont cry-guns n roses
november rain- guns n roses

Comment by Oscar

July 2nd 2009 03:42

ok here go some of mine...

Poison - Alice Cooper
Bed of Roses - Bon Jovi (1993 but is a really cool ballad)
November Rain \
Don't Cry | Guns N Roses
Patience |
Sweet Child O'mine /
Who's Crying Now \
Open Arms |
Faithfully | Journey
I'll Be Alright Without You |
When You Love A Woman |
After The Fall /
Fade to Black - Metallica
Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue
Life Goes On - Poison
Still Loving You \
Love Will Keep Us Together |
You and I | Scorpions
Wind Of Change |
Always Somewhere /
Is This Love - Whitesnake

Comment by That Hair Metal Teen

August 17th 2009 00:45

I Saw Red By Warrant Thats All I Have To Say

Comment by Anonymous

August 19th 2009 20:59

18 and life - Skid Row
I'll remember you - Skid Row
Under the Gun - Danger Danger
Love Song - Tesla
It's not love - Dokken
LA Guns - Ballad of Jayne
Silent Lucidity - Queensryche

Comment by KID 1980s

October 31st 2009 04:52

Power Ballads ROCK! The 80s Rock! There's nothing cheesy about power ballads, and todays music with RARE exceptions (Like Beyoncé or Rihanna) is GARBAGE!

1980s FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!

Comment by libby

November 13th 2009 22:32

NOVEMBER RAIN - GUNS N' ROSES

Comment by Anonymous

November 18th 2009 22:51

What Love Can Be - Kingdom Come
Ballad of Jayne - L.A. Guns
Honestly - Stryper
Can't Fight This Feeling, Keep on Loving You - REO Speedwagon
Living in Sin, Bed of Roses - Bon Jovi
Blaze of Glory - Jon Bon Jovi
Hold On To The Night - Richard Marx
Please Forgive Me - Bryan Adams

Man, I could go on like this for hours, but my head hurts from thinking about all these crappy songs.

Comment by Anonymous

December 19th 2009 00:33

Fall to Pieces - Velvet Revolver (not 80s by any stretch, but it fits the Ballad theme)

Comment by Anonymous

December 26th 2009 07:21

Too many great ones to name, but could we consider the original to be Stairway to Heaven?

Comment by Anonymous

January 4th 2010 07:08

!you're the voice- John Farnham is my favourite by far.

Comment by Anonymous

January 10th 2010 04:50

Journey - Faithfully

and how could you forget "When I See You Smile"

Comment by Anonymous

January 13th 2010 11:38

Cher- If I could turn back time

Comment by Brint

January 15th 2010 23:07

WASP : "The Idol" One of the best guitar pieces I've heard.

Comment by Anonymous

February 16th 2010 05:34

Ok here's my list of favorite 80's Ballads:

REO Speedwagon's: In My Dreams, Can't Fight This Feeling, and Keep on Loving You.

Foreigner: With Heaven on Our Side, I Want to Know What Love Is, and I Don't Want to Live Without You

Journey: Faithfully, Open Arms, and When You Love a Woman (I also love Steve Perry's Sherry)

The Police: Every Breath You Take

Phil Collins: I Wish It Would Rain, True Colors, Seperate Lives, One More Night, and A Groovy Kind of Love

I know that there are many more by Bryan Adams, Chicago, etc. Also I know they are more in the genre of the 70's with the disco music and Saturday Night Fever but can we please include some of the Bee Gees ballads like How Deep Is Your Love, Too Much Heaven, More Than a Woman, and Islands in the Stream.

Comment by lipps

February 20th 2010 16:58

The Flame WASP one of the greats, if you"ve never heard it, DOWNLOAD NOW!!! What are you waiting for?!?!?!

Comment by lipps

February 20th 2010 21:12

.....Also Forever Free by WASP>>>>equally great!! DOWNLOAD IT!!Your text goes hereYour text goes hereYour text goes here

Comment by Anonymous

March 4th 2010 03:20

Motley Crue- Rodeo
Keel- Tears of Fire
Boston- A Man I'll Never Be
Saigon Kick- Love Is On The Way

KING KOBRA- DREAM ON

KING KOBRA- DANCING WITH DESIRE

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