Power Ballads: Love them or Hate them?

[Segue Myles]

Hate them, unequivocally. No exceptions. Home Sweet Home and Every Rose ... are probably the most obnoxious offenders (apologies to Goose), but anything that inspires the raising of lighters at a concert should be banned, IMO. Get enough Democrats in office and we can get anything banned in the interest of public safety. Not enough to make me go with Hillary or Bernie but it's a thought.

 

Edit: Well, one exception would be Journey's Don't Stop Believing, but Journey was all about power ballads anyway; they weren't betraying any bad-ass M.O.

 

I can't stand elitists like you. You're all responsible for the death of 80s style music and the fun of rock n' roll.

 

Your attitude, the attitude of modern rock and grunge are all responsible for tearing the heart and soul from music.

 

Your thread should have been titled, "Power Ballads: Tell Me That You Love Them!" The title you used led me to believe you were looking for diverse opinions. Besides, I did think of one other, if it counts, Pat Benatar's We Belong. Angelic choirs of kids in white clothes, candles, lakes, mist; probably a unicorn or two that I might have missed. More cheese than can be accounted for. But, I love the song anyway. I love Pat and her husband's guitar.

 

No matter, I'll go home and recommence my nightly ritual of throwing caviar at my tv while I watch VH1 Classics with upturned nose.

 

Dude, you killed the eighties.

 

YOU ACTUALLY KILLED AN ENTIRE ERA!

 

with what, you say?

 

WITH YOUR OPINIONS!

 

You must go to prison you musical maniac.

 

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130411001130/glee/images/1/1c/Artie_wat.gif

[fraroc]

I don't believe hair metal itself killed metal like most people blame it for. I personally believe that Hair metal WAS the embodiment of rock n roll in the 80s and when people started bellyaching about "oh just a bunch of lame bands with big hair and makeup" that really took a major stab at the genre.

 

Lets be honest, was grunge really that good? Was nu-metal really that good?

 

To those who enjoy it yes.

 

Three years ago I would have agreed Grunge was better. And nu metal, at its best, connected with a lot of people.

 

Why do you worry? Like what you like and leave it at that.

 

I wish I could like what I like.

 

But then, THIS happens.

 

Me: I really like Def Leppard!

Other Person: You like THEM? Wow you have a shit taste in music! You call yourself a metal head? Ur a f***** who likes f***** bands like Def Leppard lol kill yourself.

 

Not on this forum, but it's happened before

Edited October 8, 2015 by fraroc

[Turbine Freight]

When they're done well, power ballads are great! The ones already mentioned are classics, but here's a few more to add to the list.

 

 

[Segue Myles]

I don't believe hair metal itself killed metal like most people blame it for. I personally believe that Hair metal WAS the embodiment of rock n roll in the 80s and when people started bellyaching about "oh just a bunch of lame bands with big hair and makeup" that really took a major stab at the genre.

 

Lets be honest, was grunge really that good? Was nu-metal really that good?

 

To those who enjoy it yes.

 

Three years ago I would have agreed Grunge was better. And nu metal, at its best, connected with a lot of people.

 

Why do you worry? Like what you like and leave it at that.

 

I wish I could like what I like.

 

But then, THIS happens.

 

Me: I really like Def Leppard!

Other Person: You like THEM? Wow you have a shit taste in music!

 

Ever considered not talking to yourself?

 

http://i.imgur.com/18l5W6R.gif

Edited October 8, 2015 by Segue Myles

[Turbine Freight]

 

[Turbine Freight]

[fraroc]

Hate them, unequivocally. No exceptions. Home Sweet Home and Every Rose ... are probably the most obnoxious offenders (apologies to Goose), but anything that inspires the raising of lighters at a concert should be banned, IMO. Get enough Democrats in office and we can get anything banned in the interest of public safety. Not enough to make me go with Hillary or Bernie but it's a thought.

 

Edit: Well, one exception would be Journey's Don't Stop Believing, but Journey was all about power ballads anyway; they weren't betraying any bad-ass M.O.

 

I can't stand elitists like you. You're all responsible for the death of 80s style music and the fun of rock n' roll.

 

Your attitude, the attitude of modern rock and grunge are all responsible for tearing the heart and soul from music.

 

Your thread should have been titled, "Power Ballads: Tell Me That You Love Them!" The title you used led me to believe you were looking for diverse opinions. Besides, I did think of one other, if it counts, Pat Benatar's We Belong. Angelic choirs of kids in white clothes, candles, lakes, mist; probably a unicorn or two that I might have missed. More cheese than can be accounted for. But, I love the song anyway. I love Pat and her husband's guitar.

 

No matter, I'll go home and recommence my nightly ritual of throwing caviar at my tv while I watch VH1 Classics with upturned nose.

 

Dude, you killed the eighties.

 

YOU ACTUALLY KILLED AN ENTIRE ERA!

 

with what, you say?

 

WITH YOUR OPINIONS!

 

You must go to prison you musical maniac.

 

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130411001130/glee/images/1/1c/Artie_wat.gif

 

Again...Rutlefan is entitled to his own opinion, but I do feel that opinion was parroting that same old argument that people used against glam metal that in turn, brought forth the end of that era into the grunge period.

[Segue Myles]

Hate them, unequivocally. No exceptions. Home Sweet Home and Every Rose ... are probably the most obnoxious offenders (apologies to Goose), but anything that inspires the raising of lighters at a concert should be banned, IMO. Get enough Democrats in office and we can get anything banned in the interest of public safety. Not enough to make me go with Hillary or Bernie but it's a thought.

 

Edit: Well, one exception would be Journey's Don't Stop Believing, but Journey was all about power ballads anyway; they weren't betraying any bad-ass M.O.

 

I can't stand elitists like you. You're all responsible for the death of 80s style music and the fun of rock n' roll.

 

Your attitude, the attitude of modern rock and grunge are all responsible for tearing the heart and soul from music.

 

Your thread should have been titled, "Power Ballads: Tell Me That You Love Them!" The title you used led me to believe you were looking for diverse opinions. Besides, I did think of one other, if it counts, Pat Benatar's We Belong. Angelic choirs of kids in white clothes, candles, lakes, mist; probably a unicorn or two that I might have missed. More cheese than can be accounted for. But, I love the song anyway. I love Pat and her husband's guitar.

 

No matter, I'll go home and recommence my nightly ritual of throwing caviar at my tv while I watch VH1 Classics with upturned nose.

 

Dude, you killed the eighties.

 

YOU ACTUALLY KILLED AN ENTIRE ERA!

 

with what, you say?

 

WITH YOUR OPINIONS!

 

You must go to prison you musical maniac.

 

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130411001130/glee/images/1/1c/Artie_wat.gif

 

Again...Rutlefan is entitled to his own opinion, but I do feel that opinion was parroting that same old argument that people used against glam metal that in turn, brought forth the end of that era into the grunge period.

 

It didn't bring down an era, that whole glam metal scene was getting stale, Grunge was, to be frank, a great reboot for the global rock scene.

[ReRushed]

Grunge is great. It always has been. Back when the Beatles did it on the White Album and Neil Young hooked up with Crazy Horse.

 

Glam metal is also great. It always has been. Back when the New York Dolls strutted around Manhattan...

[invisible airwave]

When they're done right and mean something other than, "I want to get laid", they're good. Wind of Change by Scorpions is a great example.

[Rutlefan]

Hate them, unequivocally. No exceptions. Home Sweet Home and Every Rose ... are probably the most obnoxious offenders (apologies to Goose), but anything that inspires the raising of lighters at a concert should be banned, IMO. Get enough Democrats in office and we can get anything banned in the interest of public safety. Not enough to make me go with Hillary or Bernie but it's a thought.

 

Edit: Well, one exception would be Journey's Don't Stop Believing, but Journey was all about power ballads anyway; they weren't betraying any bad-ass M.O.

 

I can't stand elitists like you. You're all responsible for the death of 80s style music and the fun of rock n' roll.

 

Your attitude, the attitude of modern rock and grunge are all responsible for tearing the heart and soul from music.

 

Your thread should have been titled, "Power Ballads: Tell Me That You Love Them!" The title you used led me to believe you were looking for diverse opinions. Besides, I did think of one other, if it counts, Pat Benatar's We Belong. Angelic choirs of kids in white clothes, candles, lakes, mist; probably a unicorn or two that I might have missed. More cheese than can be accounted for. But, I love the song anyway. I love Pat and her husband's guitar.

 

No matter, I'll go home and recommence my nightly ritual of throwing caviar at my tv while I watch VH1 Classics with upturned nose.

 

Dude, you killed the eighties.

 

YOU ACTUALLY KILLED AN ENTIRE ERA!

 

with what, you say?

 

WITH YOUR OPINIONS!

 

You must go to prison you musical maniac.

 

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130411001130/glee/images/1/1c/Artie_wat.gif

 

The funny thing is that I single-handedly tried to bring down hair metal all through the '80s, but it took nearly ten whole years to accomplish my master plan! I hated it from the beginning, especially in its power ballad form, despite being a huge classic rock guy. I hated and hated yet my hate seemed to have no effect. All day and all night, year after year I hated, but nothing happened; Vince Neil and Bret Michaels just kept getting richer and richer while bedding more and more big-haired, glitter-eye-shadow-and-acid-washed-jeans-wearing teens; the same ones I wanted for myself so dearly! I plotted and fumed to no effect. Then, at the dawn of the '90s, my hate bore fruit, and Grunge was born; a lance through the heart of hair metal power ballad vampire. People might have thought that hair metal had become a moribund echo of its cheesy glory days and had already died a deserving death alongside Charles in Charge and Webster, but no, in reality, like the long-dormant undead -- sallow, weak, toothless and apparently lifeless -- it refused to die, that is until Grunge was conjured out of my hate to put it out of its misery and make sure it never rose again. Kurt Cobain and Chris Cornell never gave me credit of course, not publicly at least, but they knew who was the mastermind behind their success. They knew it was me, me and my hate, and no other.

[custom55]

This is what I think of power ballads

 

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w276/custom55/milleneyes.gif

[librarian]

Depends on what band and what song.

[Segue Myles]

Hate them, unequivocally. No exceptions. Home Sweet Home and Every Rose ... are probably the most obnoxious offenders (apologies to Goose), but anything that inspires the raising of lighters at a concert should be banned, IMO. Get enough Democrats in office and we can get anything banned in the interest of public safety. Not enough to make me go with Hillary or Bernie but it's a thought.

 

Edit: Well, one exception would be Journey's Don't Stop Believing, but Journey was all about power ballads anyway; they weren't betraying any bad-ass M.O.

 

I can't stand elitists like you. You're all responsible for the death of 80s style music and the fun of rock n' roll.

 

Your attitude, the attitude of modern rock and grunge are all responsible for tearing the heart and soul from music.

 

Your thread should have been titled, "Power Ballads: Tell Me That You Love Them!" The title you used led me to believe you were looking for diverse opinions. Besides, I did think of one other, if it counts, Pat Benatar's We Belong. Angelic choirs of kids in white clothes, candles, lakes, mist; probably a unicorn or two that I might have missed. More cheese than can be accounted for. But, I love the song anyway. I love Pat and her husband's guitar.

 

No matter, I'll go home and recommence my nightly ritual of throwing caviar at my tv while I watch VH1 Classics with upturned nose.

 

Dude, you killed the eighties.

 

YOU ACTUALLY KILLED AN ENTIRE ERA!

 

with what, you say?

 

WITH YOUR OPINIONS!

 

You must go to prison you musical maniac.

 

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130411001130/glee/images/1/1c/Artie_wat.gif

 

The funny thing is that I single-handedly tried to bring down hair metal all through the '80s, but it took nearly ten whole years to accomplish my master plan! I hated it from the beginning, especially in its power ballad form, despite being a huge classic rock guy. I hated and hated yet my hate seemed to have no effect. All day and all night, year after year I hated, but nothing happened; Vince Neil and Bret Michaels just kept getting richer and richer while bedding more and more big-haired, glitter-eye-shadow-and-acid-washed-jeans-wearing teens; the same ones I wanted for myself so dearly! I plotted and fumed to no effect. Then, at the dawn of the '90s, my hate bore fruit, and Grunge was born; a lance through the heart of hair metal power ballad vampire. People might have thought that hair metal had become a moribund echo of its cheesy glory days and had already died a deserving death alongside Charles in Charge and Webster, but no, in reality, like the long-dormant undead -- sallow, weak, toothless and apparently lifeless -- it refused to die, that is until Grunge was conjured out of my hate to put it out of its misery and make sure it never rose again. Kurt Cobain and Chris Cornell never gave me credit of course, not publicly at least, but they knew who was the mastermind behind their success. They knew it was me, me and my hate, and no other.

 

Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my Power Ballads. Prepare to die.

 

http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/blogs/lists/2012/09/25/inigo-montoya.jpg

[Union 5-3992]

I would actually put grunge above hair metal and nu-metal.

 

Grunge>Hair Metal>>>>>>>>>>>>Nu-Metal

[Segue Myles]

I would actually put grunge above hair metal and nu-metal.

 

Grunge>Hair Metal>>>>>>>>>>>>Nu-Metal

 

I don't really like hair metal. I like a lot of AOR and some hair metal, as in odd exceptions.

 

I don't love Grunge anymore, but the raw, intense anger is so thrilling when the mood takes me!

[Entre_Perpetuo]

There are a lot of great power ballads, and those tend to be the more popular and earlier ones too, but there are also a lot of really meh ones, notorious to the hair metal scene in particular. Dream On though, that's insane.

[J2112YYZ]

There's something so unbelievably corny and insincere about it. Very few have moved me. Heart and Journey are up there simply for the talent of both bands. It's like tying so hard to make something sound emotional, but at the same time you want it to be a big hit. It's like selling off you heartache for a number one single. To sound like a proper snob, I'd call it selling out kinda. To me, songs that often convey the best sadness are the ones that you discover as a deep cut.

 

Here is the flaw in your logic. How do you know that it was all ingenuine? Some ballads are very moving and musically powerful like No Stranger To Love and Love Bites, reading through some lyrics, I just don't buy that and I don't think it's true. I could be wrong though.

 

I'm a big fan of both Black Sabbath and Def Leppard and even I think No Stranger To Love and Love Bites are hugely ingenuine songs that were written just to be big hits. In Sabbath's case, it was an awful choice to record a song like that and it blew up big time in Iommi's face. It's a decent tune but to see Iommi playing on a song like that tops the list when it comes to cringeworthy moments.

 

I really like Love Bites. After having big hits with Bringin On The Heartbreak and Foolin, it was the next natural progression for Def Leppard to go full on 80s power ballad cheese and they pulled it off beautifully. But there is no way that song wasn't written with anything else in mind other than to be a huge hit. Even the band has admitted through the years that they wrote songs specifically just so they would get played on the radio. At least they were honest about it and mission accomplished since Love Bites was huge for them. It seems like both radio and MTV played it a couple times an hour back in the day.

 

Even though I enjoy me some power ballads, I think the majority of them are ingenuine but that still doesn't make me enjoy a good song any less. Look at Heart, they didn't even write songs like Alone, What About Love and These Dreams. Even though the band didn't want to do it, the record company kept pushing for them to record songs like that. It worked out for them in the end as they got a huge resurgence in popularity in the mid 80s because of it. Also, those songs worked because Ann and Nancy were talented enough to pull them off and make them their own. Because of Ann's powerful and emotional voice and Nancy's raw emotion on These Dreams, that is probably as close as you'll get to a power ballad being truly genuine.

Edited October 8, 2015 by J2112YYZ

[Segue Myles]

I love Nightwish and Within Temptation.

 

All they seem to do is Power Everything!

 

And they have AMAZING ballads with a lot of heart and a lot of soul.

 

They kick the butts off all those eighties villainous hair metal bands, with some delicious lady loves to cap it all off!

 

Sharon Den Adel thrills me more as a vocalist than Ann Wilson. One listen to Memories or The Cross should do the trick.

[Narps]

There's something so unbelievably corny and insincere about it. Very few have moved me. Heart and Journey are up there simply for the talent of both bands. It's like tying so hard to make something sound emotional, but at the same time you want it to be a big hit. It's like selling off you heartache for a number one single. To sound like a proper snob, I'd call it selling out kinda. To me, songs that often convey the best sadness are the ones that you discover as a deep cut.

 

Here is the flaw in your logic. How do you know that it was all ingenuine? Some ballads are very moving and musically powerful like No Stranger To Love and Love Bites, reading through some lyrics, I just don't buy that and I don't think it's true. I could be wrong though.

 

I'm a big fan of both Black Sabbath and Def Leppard and even I think No Stranger To Love and Love Bites are hugely ingenuine songs that were written just to be big hits. In Sabbath's case, it was an awful choice to record a song like that and it blew up big time in Iommi's face. It's a decent tune but to see Iommi playing on a song like that tops the list when it comes to cringeworthy moments.

 

I really like Love Bites. After having big hits with Bringin On The Heartbreak and Foolin, it was the next natural progression for Def Leppard to go full on 80s power ballad cheese and they pulled it off beautifully. But there is no way that song wasn't written with anything else in mind other than to be a huge hit. Even the band has admitted through the years that they wrote songs specifically just so they would get played on the radio. At least they were honest about it and mission accomplished since Love Bites was huge for them. It seems like both radio and MTV played it a couple times an hour back in the day.

 

Even though I enjoy me some power ballads, I think the majority of them are ingenuine but that still doesn't make me enjoy a good song any less. Look at Heart, they didn't even write songs like Alone, What About Love and These Dreams. Even the band didn't want to do it but the record company kept pushing for them to record songs like that. It worked out for them in the end as they got a huge resurgence in popularity in the mid 80s because of it. Also, those songs worked because Ann and Nancy were talented enough to pull them off and make them their own. Because of Ann's powerful and emotional voice and Nancy's raw emotion on These Dreams, that is probably as close as you'll get to a power ballad being truly genuine.

It certainly was the thing to do in the 80's and I am so happy I tuned out and had better things to do. I couldn't avoid the songs obviously but I didn't have to buy them and care one wit about them at least...

[ReRushed]

I learned from power ballads that every rose has its thorn.

[ReRushed]

I also learned that you don't know what you got, til it's gone.

[Segue Myles]

I learned that every girl like to ride a midnight train.

[ReRushed]

My heart's like an open book for the whole world to read and sometimes nothing keeps me together at the seams.

[fraroc]

There's something so unbelievably corny and insincere about it. Very few have moved me. Heart and Journey are up there simply for the talent of both bands. It's like tying so hard to make something sound emotional, but at the same time you want it to be a big hit. It's like selling off you heartache for a number one single. To sound like a proper snob, I'd call it selling out kinda. To me, songs that often convey the best sadness are the ones that you discover as a deep cut.

 

Here is the flaw in your logic. How do you know that it was all ingenuine? Some ballads are very moving and musically powerful like No Stranger To Love and Love Bites, reading through some lyrics, I just don't buy that and I don't think it's true. I could be wrong though.

 

I'm a big fan of both Black Sabbath and Def Leppard and even I think No Stranger To Love and Love Bites are hugely ingenuine songs that were written just to be big hits. In Sabbath's case, it was an awful choice to record a song like that and it blew up big time in Iommi's face. It's a decent tune but to see Iommi playing on a song like that tops the list when it comes to cringeworthy moments.

 

I really like Love Bites. After having big hits with Bringin On The Heartbreak and Foolin, it was the next natural progression for Def Leppard to go full on 80s power ballad cheese and they pulled it off beautifully. But there is no way that song wasn't written with anything else in mind other than to be a huge hit. Even the band has admitted through the years that they wrote songs specifically just so they would get played on the radio. At least they were honest about it and mission accomplished since Love Bites was huge for them. It seems like both radio and MTV played it a couple times an hour back in the day.

 

Even though I enjoy me some power ballads, I think the majority of them are ingenuine but that still doesn't make me enjoy a good song any less. Look at Heart, they didn't even write songs like Alone, What About Love and These Dreams. Even though the band didn't want to do it, the record company kept pushing for them to record songs like that. It worked out for them in the end as they got a huge resurgence in popularity in the mid 80s because of it. Also, those songs worked because Ann and Nancy were talented enough to pull them off and make them their own. Because of Ann's powerful and emotional voice and Nancy's raw emotion on These Dreams, that is probably as close as you'll get to a power ballad being truly genuine.

 

In the case of No Stranger To Love, I know of a TON of people who label it more as a Glenn Hughes song more than a Sabbath song. In fact, he recorded his own version of the song, which is essentially almost the same as the Sabbath version but with a few minor differences.

 

If it's really the case that it was written just to be a hit, then that still doesn't change my opinion. Sometimes, lyrics to songs that that strike a chord with people who go through these kinds of issues. Why do you think I love Evanescence so much? Because their lyrics reflect real things that people feel and go through. How many times has your life been reflected in the lyrics of the songs you love?

Edited October 8, 2015 by fraroc