Here Today... Gone To Hell!

The B List: Favorite Hair-Metal Power Ballads

I grew up in the days of Hair Metal, even staying up ever Saturday night to watch Headbanger?s Ball on MTV. At first Motley Crue, Def Leppard and Quiet Riot were my thing. Then as the ?80s turned into the ?90s I was more of a Poison, Guns N? Roses, and Metallica guy. And while I loved the heavy shit, I also enjoyed when bands showed a completely different side and busted out the power ballad.

An ingenious formula was established in the late ?80s for a band releasing a heavy yet catchy single and following it up with a slow song to show the emerging artists? more sensitive side. Examples of this major phenomenon include Firehouse (Don?t Treat Me Bad > Love of a Lifetime), Warrant (Down Boys > Heaven) and Europe (The Final Countdown > Carrie).

At first I was going to list the most popular and successful power ballads, but screw that. Even though Don?t Treat Me Bad and More Than Words sold the most records, songs such as Love Song and November Rain still hold up 13 years after Headbanger?s Ball went off the air. So this edition of The B List features my 10 favorite power ballads from the Hair Metal band era (1984 - 1993) ? make sure to click on the song title to see the classic video for each of these songs:

10. Love Song - Tesla: Many Hair Metal bands sucked musically and were basically productions of record companies. Tesla broke that mold by combining honest songwriting with five truly talented musicians. Love Song provides an excellent example of the power-ballad formula of instrumental opening > sappy lyrics > powerful guitar solo that was a hallmark of many songs on this list.

9. Here I Go Again - Whitesnake: Tawny Kitaen introduced herself as the ?girl from the Whitesnake video? to her castmates on VH1?s Surreal Life 6. That speaks volumes about the power of the music video, as well as the power of a hot chick rolling around on a Jaguar in a white negligee. Whitesnake?s singer David Coverdale was a lucky man, as he dated Tawny Kitaen during her best years, well before she started beating up baseball players and doing tons of coke. Oh, there was a song that we were talking about, right? That happens.

Read on for the rest of this week?s edition of The B List: Hair-Metal Power Ballads?

8. I Remember You - Skid Row: These guys emerged at the end of Hair Metal?s heyday. They broke with Youth Gone Wild, a rocking anthem that boosted them to overnight fame and fortune. The well-received 18 and Life came next, after which the band took it down a notch with I Remember You. Soon after this song was released, Nirvana and Pearl Jam took all the attention away from the hair bands, which was probably a good thing: Trixter, Winger, Warrant and the other early ?90s metal bands really lacked originality.

7. Love Bites - Def Leppard: Would you believe out of all the incredible songs Def Leppard has released, Love Bites was the only one to hit #1 in the United States? After the success of Pour Some Sugar On Me, the band did what all hair metal bands did after putting out a hit, they released a power ballad. Love Bites may feature some cheesy lyrics, but which of these songs didn?t? My favorite part of the song is the little jam at the end of the song featuring a little duel between guitarists Steve Clark and Phil Collen. Good stuff.

6. Silent Lucidity - Queensryche: I was never into Queensryche until the day I first saw the video for Silent Lucidity, another song that fits in both the rock epic and power ballad categories. The song?s Pink Floyd-like lyrics and terrific utilization of an orchestra made me run out and buy the album. Of course, I was 12 years old and wasn?t ready to explore the prog-rock stylings and just plain scary lyrics on the rest of Operation Mindcrime. I remember getting chills when Queensryche played Silent Lucidity live with an orchestra at the 1991 Video Music Awards ? almost 17 years later it still brings chills.

5. Patience - Guns N? Roses: In late 1988, GnR had become a major success and Geffen just couldn?t wait for Axl & Co. to record a new album (sound familiar?). The band quickly recorded four acoustic numbers, which the band threw together with four older live tracks as the Lies EP. In typical power ballad fashion, Patience was the single that came on the heels of the rockin? Paradise City from Appetite For Destruction. The track starts slow with Axl Rose singing in very low tones before belting out the refrain in his high-pitched scowl, just in case anyone thought he lost his edge.

4. Sister Christian - Night Ranger: Boogie Nights has helped solidify Sister Christian?s slot as creator of one of the best power ballads in the history of rock. Like many of the songs on this list, Sister Christian begins softly and builds up to a powerful crescendo. Anyone that can listen to the song and not throw their fist in the air when the Motorin? part begins must be a communist. Truth.

3. Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison: I?m pretty sure Every Rose Has Its Thorn did more to sell acoustic guitars than any other song in rock history. This classic tale of love lost was naturally written about a stripper that broke Bret Michael?s heart. Rule #1 about strippers Bret, never fall for them, just let them work their magic. Also, check out John Mayer?s version of the song from Chappelle?s Show.

2. November Rain - Guns N? Roses: Good ol? Hal Handstand thinks this one is a rock epic and belongs in a separate category. After watching this video for the first time in many years, I fully agree that November Rain is indeed a rock epic on par with Stairway To Heaven, Dream On and Layla. Yet the song was produced in the era of the Hair Band, and its slow tempo and sensitive lyrics make it a power ballad. A fucking awesome power ballad, but a power ballad nonetheless. They really don?t write genius-type songs like this anymore.

1. Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue: When the skirt-chasing badasses in Motley Crue released Home Sweet Home in 1985, it showed that Hair Metal bands could show their sensitive side without appearing soft. Home Sweet Home expanded the Crue fanbase to include more and more women, which was just fine with the men in the audience and, of course, the band. The song itself begins innocently enough with Tommy Lee playing a nice chord progression on the piano before the rest of the band comes in and adds some true power to this ballad about homesickness from life on the road.

In talking to many people about power ballads to compile this list, the only thing that is clear is that everyone has a different take on what rocks and what is cheesy. What are your favorite power ballads?


Story here: http://www.glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/?p=203

Queensryche and power ballad? And what's with nothing pre-1985?

 ? I totally agree with November Rain being in a different league it is totally on par with Stairway and blows Layla away...but then why wasn't it number 1 is Home Sweet Home #1 because it came out 6 years earlier? don't get me wrong I love the Crue and Home Sweet Home changed a lot of things to come (at that time) but man NR is on a totally other level

NR is more of an epic than a power ballad to me.

It's on a par with Bo Rap, Stairway etc.

Don't Cry is much more of a power ballad.

great to see I Remember You in there, love that song!

but yeh November Rain could kick the arse of any song (except Stairway clearly), noway Motley Crue cud ever compare

Where's Sweet Child O' Mine???

GN'R is not hair metal. "November Rain" and "Patience" are not power ballads.

Yeah, I expected NR and SCOM to be the two songs when I read the title.

what`s a power ballad exactely?

A joke or? Home Sweet Home is good, but nothing compared to November Rain... NR is for me the definition of power ballad, though it's also epic...

On my own power ballad list Estranged would be Nr. 1 and November Rain Nr. 2...

On my epic song list, Stairway To Heaven would be Nr. 1...

Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue is a perfect example of a power ballad. Or, Every Rose Has It's Thorn by Poison. I don't know how to exactly describe, you just know it when you see it.

NR & Patience are NOT power ballads.

NR is in the same league with soft epics like Stairway or Layla.

I feel "November Rain" was definitely a more commercial attempt by GN'R; I wouldn't disagree with anyone who says it's a power ballad. "Patience", on the other hand, is just good old-fashioned stripped down rock, in the tradition of early 70's Neil Young.

I have heard "Sweet Child O' Mine" described as a quasi-ballad, but really, it's just a unique, classic hard rock song that happened to appeal to a mainstream audience.

You know i've never understood those that refer to NR as commercial.

How can something be commercial, when there's nothing out there like it?

I definitely think 'Here I Go Again' & 'I Remember You' are better than 'Sister Christian' & 'Silent Lucidity'.

I'd have to agree with  the legend considering I love those 2 songs and i've never heard the others :hihi:

where's bon jovi?

I was wondering that also. You'd think 'Livin On A Prayer' would've at least cracked the Top-10 on power ballads (even though i'm not a Bon Jovi fan).

God fucking damnit!  GNR is not fucking hair metal!  They're the antithesis to hair metal!


 
I agree with you.  November Rain, while an incredible song, doesn't follow that typical power ballad formula.  First, it's nine minutes long, which can be a killer for radio play.  It's not "catchy" like Every Rose or Home Sweet Home, despite being a musically superior track.  I don't know that GNR has a typical power ballad. 

Good list, though.  Gets the ladies to the shows  ;D

GN'R doesn't have a power ballad. If they ever got close to it, it was SCOM.

If they were gonna put November Rain and Patience on there at all, they may as well have put them #1 & #2.. Every Rose Has Its Thorn deserves to be there, probably one of the only songs I really liked from them : ok:

WTF? People seem to have quite different concepts of what a power ballad is....

Not like I claim to know anything, but I've always thought like this:


Ballad = a soft, tender, slow tempo song

Power Ballad = Ballad + a rougher edge ("a rock-ish ballad", more uptempo, etc. )


That being said, I've always considered Don't Cry one, but hardly any other GNR tune. NR & Estranged are too epic to fit into that category although the music fits the description.

Not to get off the topic of GN'R, but I always thought Poison's "Something To Believe In" was truly great. That band deserved a fucking Grammy nomination for that song, but didn't get it. Of course, there were a number of GN'R songs/ albums that deserved Grammy nods as well......

Not GN'R but Axl's best mate and the most under-rated power ballad, if not song of all time.

Forking brilliant.... I've never met one person, man or woman who hasn't listened to it and been blown away.
Although it doesn't have cheesy lyrics. It is just pure emotion.

SKID ROW - Wasted Time.

If you haven't heard it get a copy from someone immediately.

Take the Poison song out and it is a pretty good list

Agree 100%... wasted time sends shivers down my spine, truely one of the best tunes. 

This list is ok I like most of the songs (although Night Ranger are not my cup of tea) but there are many, many great songs over looked just for example:

Ozzy... how many great ballads does this guy have? not one made the list. Goodbye to Romance for me was one of the first "power ballads" just a great song, Mama I'm Coming home, Road to Nowhere, See you on the otherside.

How 'bout Nazareth Love Hurts I'm honest enough to say I don't love it but undeniable it is a good song and has a huge audience that love it (my buddies loved it back in the day)

Aerosmith too but now I'm going on too long.

NR blows all this stuff out of the water. no doubt