Talk:Power ballad

message: I feel it was inappropriate to leave not even one of my Queen additions to the list. I feel that Queen were one of the pioneers of Power Ballads, so I am lobbying for the inclusion of at least "Play the Game." Thanks 65.248.164.214 (talk) 17:00, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Thank you for coming to my rescue. I love Queen, and the shallow biases of some Wikipedia editors will diminish my love of Queen not one bit. Queen were pioneers of the power ballad, with at least 10 examples I can cite off the top of my head. Oh well, there's no accounting for bad taste, or bias. 65.248.164.214 (talk) 14:58, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Just wanted to add some of the many Queen power ballads I could think of off the top of my head: Teo Teoratte, White Queen (As It Began), Play The Game, You And I, It's A Hard Life, Save Me, Life Is Real, Bohemian Rhapsody, It's Late, Spread Your Wings, Don't Try So Hard, and In The Lap Of The Gods (Revisited). 65.248.164.214 (talk) 17:41, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

text: I added "We Are The Champions," with citation. Let's see if it sticks. 65.248.164.214 (talk) 15:34, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: *Referencing from Wikipedia itself is NOT proper citation.Dp76764 (talk) 16:36, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: The Wikipedia article I cited was itself cited from an outside source. But just so all can be well, I redirected my citation to the same citation the album's Wikipedia page uses. Thanks for the info, even if it did come with an ALLCAPS attached. Whew! If italics and bold are available, we should all make use of them, and keep the shouting to a minimum.65.248.164.214 (talk) 17:36, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

text: *Blah, it was only 3 letters long, hehe  btw, you should register a username. It engenders trust! ;) Dp76764 (talk) 17:54, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Point given. :) 65.248.164.214 (talk) 20:30, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Queen?

message: There is apparently no accounting for the bias of some editors of this article. I get the feeling that no matter how many times I could add a valid and deserving Queen song--with citation, I might add--it would still be deleted by someone who somehow thought this article was titled "80's power ballads." 
It doesn't seem to matter that Queen did some of their best power ballads in the 80's. 
Imagine that. 
It doesn't seem to matter that Warrant covered "We Will Rock You" as a tribute to Queen. It doesn't seem to matter that Def Leppard performed "Tie Your Mother Down" at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 1992 on-stage with Queen guitarist Brian May. It doesn't matter that Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettancourt of Extreme both love Queen, and performed at the above-mentioned tribute concert as well. 
Axl Rose adores Queen, and Guns n' Roses performed at the 1992 tribute concert too. Brian May recorded a solo album with Eddie Van Halen; and both Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, and Dream Theatre have covered "Bohemian Rhapsody," in whole or in part. Blind Guardian covered the Queen power ballad "Spread Your Wings" as well. I need not go on, as my point is made.     
Queen has plenty of Glam, Prog, and Hair Metal cred, not that it seems to matter, of course. Nothing matters except the narrow biases of those who delete. I am not accusing every editor; only those who delete without research. Do the research, see if what I am suggesting is accurate, and leave it well alone if it is; it's that simple. End of line. Hi Ho. 65.248.164.214 (talk) 16:35, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Exceptional contribution. 79.79.177.192 (talk) 18:33, 27 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Queen R.I.P...So It Goes

message: Over this past week or so since I posted the "Queen R.I.P." comment, I have been thinking about Queen's 80's hair metal credibility. I found that I had overlooked perhaps the most important contribution to the 80's that Queen's guitarist Brian May made: he was one of the first guitarists to popularize two-hand tapping in a rock format. He did this with his solo to the 1977 song, "It’s Late," from Queen's News Of The World album ("It's Late" is a bonafide power ballad, by the way...from a band that supposedly didn't record any, according to some editors of this page). This song was recorded well before the first Van Halen album, although I am sure that Eddie Van Halen was using the technique in the clubs that his band were playing in at the time. Therefore, I consider Mr. May a co-popularizer of the technique, not its inventor. To be honest, the technique was first used in classical music over a hundred years ago, so Mr. Van Halen is no more its inventor than Mr. May.  
Brian May's use of the technique was less speedy and less flashy than Van Halen or Eddie's legion of imitators who followed...Mr. May used the tapped notes to reach high up on the fretboard and cover intervals that simply could be reached with the left hand alone. As with so many of his solos, Mr. May is here, once again, a guitarist of great taste, subtlety, and nuance. 
So I again lobby for the inclusion of just one single Queen song to the list. They belong there, as not only pioneers of the power ballad, but also those who knew how to do a power ballad right: with the soft and gentle verse, and the overpowering, crushing bombastic chorus. Queen’s artistic heyday might have been in the mid-to-late 70’s, but their commercial pinnacle was reached in the 1980’s with their appearance at Live Aid, recording the Highlander soundtrack, and the final huge tour that followed as Freddie Mercury’s health declined. They were one of the few 70’s groups to not only survive the coming of MTV, but to thrive in the new environment it came with.  The question now remains; what (or whom) is keeping them off the list? 63.215.26.141 (talk) 06:06, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Just for the record, Steve Hackett of Genesis did it on 1971's Selling England By The Pound. There may even be earlier incidents of it. Luminifer (talk) 04:49, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Brian May: co-popularizer of two-hand tapping

message: I was listening to Boston's "Hitch A Ride" this afternoon, and I thought...they belong on any serious list of power ballads too...if "More Than A Feeling," "Hitch A Ride," and "The Man I'll Never Be," aren't power ballads, what songs are? I realize that the list seems to have been discontinued at this point, but I wanted to comment anyway. 65.248.164.214 (talk) 22:12, 9 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: And Boston too! 

message: Here's an interesting article about the history of power ballads. Power Me Ballad Me
----
Is Metallica's "Fade to Black" really a good example here? I've tried to limit the examples to songs that would have had extensive radio exposure and that most people would recognize. Every band has songs that are beloved by fans but relatively unknown to the general public. I think this is probably one of them. "Nothing Else Matters" is in the VH1 countdown list, and the band gets their due here.
Also, the gist of the paragraph is that "power ballad" was applied retroactively to songs which predated the power ballad craze. If I'm not mistaken, "Fade to Black" was 1984, definitely too late for the point of the paragraph.
where is Aerosmith when the list of notable bands that have made power ballad comebacks?
they are the best example out there having sold tens of millions of records off their power ballad based comeback.
--Trweiss 14:49, 9 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled discussion

message: I just finished writing a stub article on the band Skylark, and included a description of their most famous song, Wildflower, which I described as an early example of a power ballad. It's not as heavy as some later examples, but with its combination of a Freddy Mercury-esque vocal and the Pink Floyd/Moody Blues guitar/percussion, I think it fits as at least a proto-example. It was released in early 1973, charted no. 8 on Billboard, and was quite original for the time. I also think the lyrics were very typical of early-70s (Journey, Styx, etc) examples.--Anchoress 08:54, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wildflower by [[Skylark (band)|Skylark]] an early example? 

message: --Aeternus 17:36, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd suggest it would make more sense to create a separate article, and go from there. If you really want to. Luminifer (talk) 04:50, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Where is the complete list of power ballads?

message: I think the definition for Power Ballad has changed as of late which is leaving out songs that are true power ballads.  Power ballads are arena type songs with the repeating chorous that you just want to pump your fist to.Who doesn't want to pump their fist and belt out the chorus of Love Is On The Way.... or Don't Know what you got... just songs that make you feel empowerd.... i'm not going to say the list below isn't a decent list... but at least 1/2 of those songs in my mind aren't even power ballads, and 3 or 4 of the others aren't that great of a definition of one.... here's a few that should definitely be considered
Cinderella - Don't Know What You Got
Saigon Kick - Love Is On The WAy
Forigner - I Want To Know What Love Is
Head East (Not sure if it's them or Rainbow, or who) - Since You've Been Gone
Agree with what the guy before me put, which is below this.  groups like Cinderella were power ballad type gorups, not metalica.... 
To me the turn powerballad is the one's by eighties hair metal bands. Songs like "every rose has its thorn" by poison and "forever" by kiss. Not Metallica songs.
Hit Parader recently listed the top 10 power ballads of all-time and the choices were:
1.  Home Sweet Home
    Motley Crue
2.  Every Rose Has Its Thorn
    Poison
3.  Beth
    KIss
4.  I Don't Want to miss a thing
    Aerosmith
5.  Is This Love?
    Whitesnake
6.  I Saw Red
    Warrant (Personally, I think Heaven is the 
    better power ballad)
7.  Never Let You Go
    Steelheart
8.  I Remember You
    Skid Row
9.  November Rain
    GUns N' Roses
10.  Wind of Change 
     Scorpions
My pick for the best power ballad of all-time would have to be Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue and it has been documented that it was the first power ballad.  Motley Crue is credited with the development of the first power ballad ever.
sorry but that is incorrect.  Even if Motley Crue is credited with the first power ballad it is clear that it is not.  they may have open it up as a genre, may have redefined it, or even defined it in the first place but they did not develop the first power ballad.  
and metallica can write power ballads.  though i disagree with the statement made in this debate saying that a power ballad must be a distict departure from the groups main volume of work.  i do not agree.  Journey, in my opinion, for good reason, is considered the King of the power ballad, nearly every single they released was intended as a power ballad, only because they were a rock and roll band with a rock and roll sound.  they rocked hard but they rocked power ballads.  so it cannot be argued that a power ballad must be a departure from a band's typical sound although that can happen, such as metallica and early aerosmith and the rolling stones.
a power ballad is does not have to be dark but it can be.  i believe that the most important feature of a power ballad is the crescendo and the emotional feel of the song, it doesnt have to be a love song but it does have to, at least make an obvious attempt, be emotional.  169.231.3.118 06:16, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: power ballads

message: I would previously have considered Metallica's One and Fade to Black to be power ballads, but both are most definitely not love songs.  Pantera's Cemetary Gates, too, I don't consider a love song.  Do songs such as these count? Thedangerouskitchen 14:47, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Disagreed.  Wind of Change isn't a love song, but is still a power ballad.  They don't have to be love songs.  However, "Haunted" by Evanescence and "Would?" by Alice in Chains might be considered power ballads, but could also be considered too dark.
while it is not a main requirement if a song is too dark that it cannot be relatively accessible to the public, it is not a requirment it is worth noting it can be like a tipping point kind of thing, if a song may or may be a power ballad and it is or is not easy to be accessible even if they are not written for the public, public acceptance is not a defining factor as whether or not they are a power ballad it is an indicator, albiet one that is wrong a good amount, such as most metallica, guns n roses, and pantera power ballads
----
If this article gets cleaned up, its worth noting that the Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home" was not the first power popular 80s metal power ballad. Both Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" and Dokken's "Alone Again" charted in 1984, and I'm sure their videos were aired on MTV, so the oft repeated factoid of "Home Sweet Home" being the first power ballad aired on MTV seems to be false.
Xndr 15:18, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Darker songs - can they be power ballads? 

message: I removed this paragraph because the artists discussed were all pop singers.  A power ballad is the expression by rock and metal artists of vulnerability, overwhelmingly male vulnerability.  Even if female singers can be included, such as Lita Ford, Celine Dion can't be included because she's a pop singer.  The whole point behind the concept of the power ballad is the performance of a musical identity supposedly antithetical to the artist's "normal" musical identity.  Celine Dion's normal musical identity is the ballad style -- she doesn't really do anything else, and certainly isn't venturing into unusual territory when she sings a ballad. Unless you can find enough significant female rock singers to mention, I'd simply leave the whole thing alone. - Pillsbur 19:39, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Female power ballads 

message: Earth Song is it a power ballad? it's kinda of gospel —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.71.37.81 (talk) 22:05, 31 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Earth Song? 

message: "Love Hurts" as recorded by Nazareth, is an early example of the musical style. Lyrically its not a love song, but everything else from the wailing vocals to the guitar solo sounds eerily like Nazareth got a sneak peek at the 80's power ballad rulebook. --67.135.240.36 13:24, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah I think its a great example of an 80's sounding power ballad from the 70s. The lyrics are very much about love and heartbreak actually, and that vocal style of the singer sounds a lot like Cinderella to me, at least in terms of intensity. Xndr 20:33, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Love Hurts? 

message: Is it Dream Theater's song Another Day a power ballad? --Λeternus 18:30, 20 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Another Day

message: Is this insane or what ? A power ballad is a ROCK ROCK ROCK ROCK BALLAD, and not a pop ballad ! gosh the article is so poor its embarrasing to see a whole paragraph talking about "hurt". Hurt is downright pop, and kelly clarkson at hardest is rock-pop. Get the article out. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 202.160.36.100 (talk) 12:39, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: That's right, pop hasn't nothing to do with power ballads... --Λeternus 19:30, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Christina Aguilera ? kelly clarkson ? 

message: The following line in the introductory paragraph: "They are usually confessional nature and differ from metal's more lyrical themes of hedonism, violence, or the occult". I have to protest this, particularly the word 'violence'. The vast majority of metal lyrics are certainly not violent in nature. Killyourtv 13:11, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Violence? 

message: I hate to contradict many on this talkpage, but the term power ballad is commonly used, at least by musicians, to describe pop songs such as Whitney Houston's unavoidable remake of "I Will Always Love You" & its innumerable imitators (but not Dolly Parton's original).  That may offend the sensibilities of some users (I personally despise that song), but it's fact nonetheless.  Power ballad as a term isn't a genre, it's a descriptive phrase used across sub-genres; and derives from the much older use of ballad as more or less a synonym for "slow tune" or "love song". —Turangalila (talk) 04:47, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Definition too narrow 

message: I'm not really sure if that's really a power ballad. I'll leave it on for now, but maybe we should discuss? FMAFan1990 00:40, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: 18 and Life?

message: GN'R did write ballads like the ones you listed but they are not power ballads The gutairs much more heavier than a tradional power ballad the lyrics trigger real mutiple emotions not wriiten just to gain commerical appeal and have fake "good time/ heartbereak lyrics of those phony Glam bands/ power ballads. GN'R were the extact opposite of glam/ power ballads. glam bands tried to act dangerous, volient, and full of sexually escapdes. While Guns N' Roses actually were all three The epitomized Sex. Drugs,and Rock N' Roll.TG 50 01:38, 19 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Blah blah blah. The article does not say a power ballad must be written solely for commercial reasons, neither does it say that it must be a saccharine romantic song, nor does it link the genre with glam rock. November Rain is a ballad that incorporates many hard rock features, which makes it a power ballad. That's it. Steinbach (fka Caesarion) 14:44, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Guns N' Roses is not Glam Metal nor did they write power ballads

message: Couldn't that song be put in the section with the now-a-day power ballads? Lpfan4eva1990 (talk) 15:52, 16 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Now-a-day power ballads : Breaking The Habit - Linkin Park? 

message: What happened to all the songs listed!? Now there's only about 8! What happened? Titan50 (talk) 14:47, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: It was junky, unencyclopedic, list-crufting and they were all justifiably removed for the sake of quality. 156.34.208.112 (talk) 16:52, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Perhaps, but the whole article now has been pared down to the point where it's barely worth having, with two caution banners criticizing the tiny bit that's left.  Sadly, one can learn far more about power ballads from reading this discussion page than from reading the article.  I personally think it's time to end the discussion wars and put some meat back into this article, or else just kill it and not have an article on power ballads at all. - Mark Dixon (talk) 15:09, 9 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Where'd they all go?! 

message: The claim "In some cases, the power ballad may become the hard rock or heavy metal band's signature song." is quite pointless, at least without a source. Any song can become a signature song, so why could a power ballad not. Needs either a source or an example, otherwise it should go.91.152.48.20 (talk) 18:34, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Signature Song?

message: (Coolguy12333 (talk) 20:04, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  more heavy metal ballads 

message: Someone once wrote on this page that a power ballad does not have to be a ballad from a heavy metal band, but that it is more of a ballad with a lot of "power" and emotion sounding through it and that it can be from any genre. Is that true? Or not? Please make this clear, because right now, I don't understand it quite well. I mean, at first it was like this, and then someone wrote that message on the article page, but now it has changed back again. Is there a huge discussion going on about the definition of the term or something?--213.93.21.2 (talk) 20:21, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Be clear please!

message: Everyone knows the first Power Ballad was 'Thank You' from 'Led Zeppelin II'  
Re: 60's Power Ballads, Wall of Sound does not a Power Ballad Make...—Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.54.94.80 (talk) 05:35, 19 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: No reference will ever be found to prove your opinion correct so the text has been removed. Wether B (talk) 10:38, 19 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Led Zeppelin

message: I think you will find that the earliest power ballads were by Alice Cooper. Even if you would not cite 'The Ballad of Dwight Frye' or 'Alma Mater' (1971 and 1972 respectively) as power ballads, then surely it has to go to 'Only Women Bleed' in 1975. After that, Alice had many big hits in the late 70s with power ballads 'I never Cry', 'You and Me' and 'How You Gonna See Me Now?'.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.171.29.130 (talk) 08:31, 20 February 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Alice Cooper

message: I spent a lot of time finding a reference to Def Leppard's song on here - I notice it's been removed. Did anyone notice when? Luminifer (talk) 02:08, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Found it - got moved on aug 6. Luminifer (talk) 02:16, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Wasn't needed anyways. Listcrufting and example farming does nothing but hurt an article. The Real Libs-speak politely 02:45, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: It absolutely is needed as it supercedes the Motley Crue example, which I think, if anything, is the one that should be removed. Also, your edit did not remove the reference, you just moved it back to the wrong place. I'll put it back again, but please pay more attention to your edits in the future.. Thanks. Luminifer (talk) 02:52, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Reference

message: Just trolling Wikipedia for no particular reason, and I came upon this page.  I understand there are (from what I can see here) numerous outstanding arguments.  Unfortunatly, with much of the disputed content gone, this page looks to the average person to be lacking.  In fact, I have never seen a page that is so central to the music genre being so... empty.  Something has to be done. -174.103.224.13 (talk) 05:17, 2 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Feel free to suggest something or back up an idea that's been shot down :) Luminifer (talk) 05:22, 2 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: This Page is Hurting

message: Just to be clear, unless someone objects, I will add back in the text people kept reverting, with the following references:
* At the top of this page, it begins line three "on, 1976 became the year the Power Ballad Broke". I almost verbatim copied that text out of there. (p132)
* Here is the page that says Motley Crue's was the first hair metal power ballad aired on MTV, specifically. It starts around line 6. (p133)
* I forgot this link which cites the text about "rockers wanting to seem more sensitive"... Third paragraph. (p131
Any questions? Luminifer (talk) 14:50, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: The change I will place back is here... Luminifer (talk) 14:59, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Here goes. Luminifer (talk) 15:47, 14 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: New text

message: Meat Loaf, a great American singer, has to be on the list. A great balladeer, his songs "I'd Do Anything For Love" (But I Won't Do That) is on SingStar Rock Ballads, and "For Crying Out Loud" is really a great a song; such passion in his voice. A great vocalist and he should be recognised for that commitment. Spranko13 (talk) 07:42, 12 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Actually, I agree. If you can find a published source saying that he is known for his power ballads, then feel free to put it in - but otherwise, someone will certainly remove it. Luminifer (talk) 17:22, 12 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: What About Meat Loaf???