Top 20 Power Ballads?

[Scott]

We all have a soft side, admit it!  Power Ballads play a big part of our musical lives, whether you like them or not.  Remember that first really close slow dance with that special someone ?  I do, and that song is in my list because of it!  Regardless of if you do or don't, these songs do something to us.  So now that Hidden Treasures has previewed some of these for you, lets find out who has the best taste when it comes to Power Ballads (hint: his name starts with "S") ... 

 

Please review each of the 5 lists posted and tell us what we missed, what we got right, what you would have done different, and who's the biggest softie (or wimp if you see it that way ) ...

SCOTT	RJHOG
20. How You Gonna See Me Now - Alice Cooper 19. Sweet and Simple - Journey 18. Goodbye - Night Ranger 17. Hold On - Triumph 16. Holiday - Scorpions 15. Pieces Of April - Three Dog Night 14. Time Bomb - Lake 13. Fool For You Anyway - Foreigner 12. Heaven - Bryan Adams 11. Main Street - Bob Seger 10. That's the Way Of the World - Earth Wind and Fire 9. Comin' Right Down On Top of Me - April Wine 8. If You Leave Me Now - Chicago 7. Love Is Gonna Find You - Jerry Doucette 6. Runaway - Jefferson Starship 5. The Song Is Over - The Who 4. Crazy Love - Poco 3. Closer To The Heart - Rush 2. Midnight - Chilliwack 1. Into The Night - Benny Mardones	20. Out Of Love - Blue Murder 19. Edie (Ciao Baby) - The Cult 18. Save Your Love - Great White 17. High Enough - Damn Yankees 16. Alone - Ted Nugent 15. Nobody's Fool - Cinderella 14. More Than A Feeling - Boston 13. Waiting For A Girl Like You - Foreigner 12. Angel In Blue - J. Geils Band 11. Only The Lonely - The Motels 10. Drive - The Cars 9. Ain't Quite Right - Paul Stanley 8. I Remember You - Skid Row 7. Angie - Rolling Stones 6. Headed For A Heartbreak - Winger 5. Who's Crying Now - Journey 4. Time For Me To Fly - REO Speedwagon 3. Suite Madame Blue - Styx 2. Wasted Time - Eagles 1. For Crying Out Loud - Meat Loaf
JON	NIELS
20. Climax Blue Band--I Love You 19. Extreme--Seven Sundays 18. Joe Satriani--I Believe 17. The Tubes--Don't Want To Wait Anymore 16. AC/DC--Night Prowler 15. Def Leppard--Bringin' On The Heartbreak 14. Blue Oyster Cult--Don't Fear The Reaper 13. Billy Squier--Til It's Over 12. Lynyrd Skynyrd--Simple Man 11. Foreigner--I Want To Know What Love Is 10. Kick Axe--Dreamin' About You 9. Y&T--I Believe In You 8. Queensryche--Silent Lucidity 7. Queen--Who Wants To Live Forever? 6. The Kinks--Celluloid Heroes 5. Deep Purple--Child In Time 4. Metallica--One 3. UFO--Love To Love 2. Harry Nilsson--Without You 1. Pink Floyd--Comfortable Numb	20. I Won't Hold You Back - ToTo 19. Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Jim Steinman (Bonnie Tyler) 18. I Want To Know What Love Is- Foreigner 17. Nothing Else Matters - Metallica 16. Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin 15. Bringin' On The Heartbreak - Def Leppard 14. Before The Dawn - Judas Priest 13. I Will Remember - Queensrÿche 12. Breaking Up Away - Accept 11. Love Hurts - Nazareth 10. Sweet Child Of Mine - Guns'N'Roses 9. What It Takes - Aerosmith 8. Behind Blue Eyes - The Who 7. A Hard Habit To Break - Chicago 6. The World's Greatest Lover - Cheap Trick 5. With Or Without You - U2 4. Yellow Brick Road - Elton John 3. Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush 2. Life On Mars - David Bowie 1. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
MIKE MILLS	YOUR LIST HERE!
20. All I Need - Motley Crue 19. Honestly - Stryper 18. Suite Madam Blue - Styx 17 Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue 16. Closer To The Heart - Rush 15. Mamma, I'm Coming Home - Ozzy Osbourne 14. Dream On - Aerosmith 13. Still Loving You - Scorpions 12. Silent Lucidity - Queensryche 11. Alone Again - Dokken 10. Love Song - Tesla 9. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd 8. Who Wants To Live Forever - Queen 7. Sweet Child 'O Mine - Guns 'N Roses 6. Old LA Tonight - Ozzy Osbourne 5. Love Hurts - Nazareth 4. Don't Know What You Got (Till it's Gone) - Cinderella 3. Fly To The Angels - Slaughter 2. I Remember You - Skid Row 1. November Rain - Guns 'N Roses	20. 19. 18. 17. 16. 15. 14. 13. 12. 11. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

[Mike Mills]

My picks from Stuart's list:

5. All I Need - Motley Crue

4. Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue

3. Still Loving You - Scorpions

2. Alone Again - Dokken

1. Nobody's Fool - Cinderella

[KISSFAN]

20. ANGEL SONG - GREAT WHITE

19. DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES - KIX

18. HOME SWEET HOME - MOTLEY CRUE

17. LYIN' EYES - EAGLES

16. CLOSER TO MY HEART - RATT

15. BALLAD OF JAYNE - L.A. GUNS

14. ONLY WOMEN BLEED - ALICE COOPER

13. ALL MY LOVE - LED ZEPPELIN

12. ALONE AGAIN - DOKKEN

11. THUNDER BIRD - QUIET RIOT

10. HEAVEN - BRYAN ADAMS

9. HYSTERIA - DEF LEPPARD

8. IN GOOD FAITH - SURVIVOR

7. SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD - MANILOW

6. CLOSER TO THE HEART - RUSH

5. LOVE SONG - TESLA

4. DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU GOT (TIL IT'S GONE) - CINDERELLA

3. HOLIDAY - SCORPIONS

2. THE AIR THAT I BREATHE - JIMI JAMISON

1. BETH - KISS

[Scott]

I love it when an older thread pops back up!, nice list, I thnk this topic could us a few more lists and then we can put together a CRB top 20

[Gordon Williams]

Ok, I totally missed this, but I WANT TO PLAY TOO!!

So, Scott, please wait till I get one posted. I'll go home tonight and make my list (the bestest bestest one...over all the other mighty fine lists). I'll post it tomorrow.

I guess I was actually working when all of this was making its rounds. You guys must all be DJ's at strip clubs, and have lots of time on your hands. So keep on strokin' it DJ's, and tomorrow you'll see the most awesome power ballad list ever. I mean ever....

[Scott]

no problem!  Ill wait, the  more the merrier...

[Jon]

That's great Gordon, but there is no way you'll top my list. Second best isn't bad, it's just not worth anything.

[Gordon Williams]

First of all I gotta say, some really fine lists here already. Second of all, I gotta say this was harder than I thought it would be...having to leave out some songs you still truly love. Thirdly, I'll say 1 through 10 was easier for me than the second half of the list. Anyone else have that same problem? In fact, choosing the last one, number 20, was much harder than choosing number one!

Here goes my list (and of course, my commentary!!)

20 - Ballad Of Jayne - L.A. Guns - this one made a lot of lists, and features outstanding vocals.

19 - Peace Is Free - Black Stone Cherry - killer, killer sing along chorus. The chorus is what makes this top 20 for me.

18 - Mother - Lita Ford - for those of you who do not have Lita's latest "Living Like A Runaway"...it's phenonminal in my opinion. Entire disc is excellent. Some killer rockers, but this heart felt, heart breaking ode to her estranged Sons could probably make any parent cry.

17 - Only Women Bleed - Alice Cooper - this one made a lot of lists as well, and Alice shows off his brilliant lyrical talent big time on this one.

16 - Dream On - Aerosmith - with Steven Tyler wailing like a banshee on vocals, this is a "must include" classic. Plenty of Aerosmith ballads, but this was the first one...and the best one.

15 - Before The Dawn - Judas Priest - how can one of the world's greatest metal bands also have one of the greatest ballads of all time? Not sure, but top flight vocals, and an awesome, slow guitar lead. Great production on this as well.

14 - Forever - Kiss - Almost put in "I Will Be There" by Kiss on my list, as well, but this one won out. Great vocal work, and love how the lead guitar is accoustic on this track.

13 - Come Closer - Chickenfoot - another song that just might break your heart, especially if you are going through relationship turmoil, your self. This entire album is awesome.

12 - Love Hurts - Nazareth - I almost selected two other Naz' ballads...either "Sunshine" or "Loved and Lost"...but Love Hurts wins out based on world wide popularity of the song. Another awesome, slow, slide guitar lead helps put this in the all time greatest list.

11 - Watch Over You - Alter Bridge - Great melody and harmony, great lyrics, and one of the greatest singers around today. Strangely, I've had two people tell me recently they dont like Myles Kennedy's voice....I needed help getting off the floor both times!

10 - Spread Your Wings - Big Jim Slade - BJS is an unknown band, which is a complete shame. They have 4 releases, and each one has one all-accoustic ballad on it. This is the best of them. The bands web site has not had any new content added since 2009, so they may have "called it quits". A shame...to me, other than The Beatles, BJS has more vocal talent than anyone, in my opinion.

9 - The Wizard - Uriah Heep - a great mix of accoustic and electric guitars on this gem. And very strong vocals.

8 - Wind Of Change - Scorpions - killer, killer "vibe" to this song. Uplifting lyrics set to a stunning, amazing event that is a huge part of world history.

7 - Yesterday - The Beatles - short, but sweet. Almost want to list this song as just Paul McCartney. I'm sure you could find it on the internet, but I'd be willing to bet it was McCartney playing the accoustic guitar on this, not Lennon or Harrison.

6 - Love Is Forever - Slaughter - This track, as well as the album it comes from, are vastly unknown. Which is another shame. It's the first (and so far, only) record Slaughter has done after the death of original guitarist Tim Kelly (R.I.P.). And his replacement, Jeff Blando, is a great player, and pushed this record into greatness. My number one, all time, under-rated rock n roll record. Should have sold millions, in my opinion.

5 - Dancing With St. Peter - Sign Of 4 - A Phil Mogg (lead vocals-UFO) side project. Another heart wrenching, but beautiful song. Story about the death of a young lady...who is now "Dancing With St. Peter". Awesome song, great melody, and sad story.

4 - Dust In The Wind - Kansas - Great tune. Everything about it, including the very thought provoking lyrics.

3 - Wicked Game - Chris Issak - Some rockers may not know this guy. Has an awesome vocal range, and there is just something about this song that makes me want to go drive through the desert...at night...I don't know why. It just does. This tune may be set to a "night driving through the desert" scene in the old movie "White Sands"...set in New Mexico with Willam Defoe. Great tune with excellent melody, and just a great, great feel to this track. Another "lost love" tune.

2 - Dead Or Alive - Bon Jovi - Yeah, yeah I know most heavy rockers can't stand Bon Jovi, but this song, while being one of the greatest ballads of all time, is also one of the greatest songs of all time, no matter what style of song you speak of. Great lyrics, awesome production, especially the whole intro section. And Richie Sambora shines on this tune. His backing vocals are great. His guitar lead is one of the best uses I've ever heard of using full power chords WITHIN a guitar lead. Great idea, great lead, great song. Bon Jovi bashers should give this song it's just due.

1 - Wash Away - Hollow - Too bad I'm too stoopid to figure out how to post music. RJHog may just remember this band (and song, maybe?) from my personal page over on that "other web site" a few years back. My Son had posted some music on my page, including some tracks from this independent band's debut disc. Based in Dallas, Texas, they self-released two CD's, with the first one being awesome, and then sadly disappeared, just like so many other great bands who give up after not reaching major success. This tune is entirely accoustic, even the lead guitar. With an outstanding vocal performance. My favorite ballad of all time. From a band that most people will unfortunately never hear.

And if you've read this far, there you go. The greatest list of ballads of all time!! (If anyone on here does not think that THEIR list is the greatest of all time, then somethings wrong!)

Peace out, rock out!!

 

[Jon]

Sign Of 4? This is the first time that band has been mentioned on this site! I'm thinking someone has to post that album.

[RJhog (Admin)]

It would be nice to hear.  I've never even heard of it, but I've only recently started discovering UFO.  

And Gordon, I like that Chris Issak song too.

[Scott]

The Wizard is a brilliant pick!  Nice list!!

[Gordon Williams]

This was a fun one to do, for sure! Check out Sign of 4. It's got some good heavy rockers, but also several slower tunes. Very strong side project for Mogg. The guitar player on this disc would go on to play bass for at least one UFO tour, when Pete Way was either in bad health, or just banned from entering the USA...or both.

[Jon]

I have it, I was just waiting for someone to beg me to post it.