HIDDEN TREASURES (Power Ballads - Part I)

[Scott]

For the next couple of weeks I want to close in on the phenomenon known as "Power Ballads".  Throughout the 70's and 80's these songs could determine a bands success, and although the name Power Ballad didn't surface until sometime in the 80's it was the 70's that determined their structure, sound, and usefulness to an 80's band.

 

WikiPedia defines them as follows...

 

Power Ballads

Simon Frith identifies the origins of the power ballad in the emotional singing of soul artists, particularly Ray Charles and the adaptation of this style by figures such as Eric Burdon, Tom Jones and Joe Cocker to produce slow tempo songs often building to a loud and emotive chorus backed by drums, electric guitars and sometimes choirs. According to Charles Aaron, power ballads came into existence in the early 1970s, when rock stars attempted to convey profound messages to audiences. He argues that the power ballad broke into the mainstream of American consciousness in 1976 as FM radio gave a new lease of life to earlier songs like Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" (1971), Aerosmith's "Dream On" (1973), and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" (1974). Other notable examples include Nazareth's version of "Love Hurts" (1975), Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is (1984)", Scorpions "Still Loving You" (1984), Heart's "What About Love" (1985), and Whitesnake's "Is This Love" (1987).

 

So that's the launching point for the next few discussions.  First up this week are some 70's Power Ballads.  These were Power Ballads before there was such a thing!  Here's three tunes that may surprise some of you, see if you can hear the sounds of what was still to come...

 

PLAYLIST --->  http://snack.to/aunabl5j

	UFO Force It 1975 1 - A Million Miles Cool deep track from a great album. The album in fact is heralded as the first "real" UFO album as the band finally was able to leave their spaced-edged rock behind them. Which is why this track is even more surprising to find closing the album out...
	Aerosmith Rocks 1976 2 - Home Tonight Few albums are so appropriately named as this one is. And easily my favorite Aerosmith album ever, but that aside, this massive follow up to Toys in the Attic almost sold even better while nearly every track got attention except the closing ballad, Home Tonight. Think about that for a second, oh my how things have turned around for this band, now the rockers are forgotten and the ballads hit the radio.
	Judas Priest Hell Bent For Leather/Killing Machine 1979 3 - Before the Dawn Here's how I know there was no such thing as a Power Ballad in the 70's, otherwise I would have serious doubts that Priest would have released this. But thankfully they did, because its raw, emotional and just damn good!

[RJhog (Admin)]

UFO - I like this song.  I'm new to UFO but I'm pretty sure I've heard this.  Very nice pick.

Aerosmith -  I'm not too crazy about this song.  It doesn't do a lot for me.  I don't think it's nearly as good as the blockbuster from these guys (Dream On).  But that would have been to obvious 'cause everybody has heard it.  I do like the guitar work on it though.

Judas Priest - I have never gotten into Priest, but I'm liking the sound of this.  I think I've never given them much of a chance because I didn't think I'd like Halford's voice, although many folks think he's a great vocalist.  He sounds good on this to me.  The only problem here is that the song never really goes anywhere.  Still not bad though.

I love the subject matter Scott.  Looking forward to a few weeks of this.  Here's my ranking of these 3:

1. A Million Miles - UFO

2. Before The Dawn - JP

3. Home Tonight - Aerosmith

[Niels (Mod)]

Never liked UFO very much. It's like, it's too late for me to like them. Maybe if I had bought some albums at the time, when I was buying Nazareth-records in the end of the 70's, I would had liked them better. This track is okay, but I don't really give a damn about it.

Aerosmith have made better power-ballads than this one, but they haven't made a better album. It's one of the weakest tracks on "Rocks", but never the less a great song.

This was when Judas Priest ruled the world. Well, almost. I can not count the times, I have been singing this with one of my old friends, while being very drunk. Every time, I nailed it perfectly. Even better than Halford, in my drunken head, that was. The best drinking-power-ballad ever!!!

[Scott]

Niels, glad you stopped in! You crack me up with your drunken tale of lead vocal stardom. Back in the days when I used to party, it was Roger Daltrey who I sounded better than. Just sayin....

[Jon]

I'm not into that Aerosmith song at all.Something about their ballads, no matter when they came out, make me think of Armageddon (which is right around the corner).

But UFO and Priest? Now THOSE I can get into. See, they're not the sucky 80's power ballads, they are good songs. Not sellout songs. These aren't sellout songs at all, just good solid rock (but pretty). 

[Scott]

I thought Home Tonight would get a slightly better reception but I get the arguments...  I seem to recall that Eddie Trunk listed it in his Top 5 some time ago.  But what do they know on that show,  Our top 5's are way better!  Oh well, thanks for listening!

[Gordon Williams]

Just now stumbling upon this (late as usual). Heck, I was so busy in the fall, I missed quite a lot. Glad to have some time to catch up.

1 - Michael Schenker era UFO is...was...and shall remain...my favorite band of all time...more than Tesla, The Beatles, Black Sabbath...dont matter. I still love all the old UFO. This tune, however, while being decent, pales for me compared to say "Martian Landscape", "Love To Love", or even "Try Me". But still a great band and album.

2 - For me, the first four Aerosmith albums, right up through Rocks, was just an incredible run of excellent music. This song, however, was never a favorite of mine. I do like the chorus, and ending section, but never cared much for the lead vocals on this.

3 - Fantastic song on a fantastic album. For some reason, not too long ago, I was thinking about my all time favorite Priest albums. Was it "Screaming For Venegeance"? "British Steel"? Nah...for me, the best Priest studio is this release. Overall best is still "Unleashed In The East". But this is a great album and song. Love the guitar solo, as well. Fits this tune so well, it's remarkable.

I'll have to check out some more SHT!!

[RJhog (Admin)]

Scott's got all the SHT you need!

[Scott]

Thanks Gordon!  I've been dealing with a computer crash at home so I haven't posted in a few weeks.  But I'm close to getting all my music re-ripped.  Keep catching up!  I love to read the comments