The Power Ballad

Growing up I was stuck with the paint by the numbers tunes WBLM in Portland, ME was playing. Def Leppard, Whitesnake and Ratt to name a few. Aside from the hair products and jean jacket patches, 80's bands also brought us the first over the top, cheesy power ballads.

Poison (I admit I’ve seen them 3-4 times live) could be just ripping through their set, but when Brett Michaels reached for his acoustic, the lights went down except for that lone spotlight, and he started belting out ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’, every Bic from Boise to Boston would light up the place. I’m actually amazed arenas weren’t burned to the ground given the level of drunkenness and combined number of brain cells at any given show. Everyone was doing it. It was like the plague, from Skid Row’s ‘I Remember You’ to Tesla’s ‘Love Song’ and the Scorpions ‘Wind of Change’. Winger’s entire existence was a power ballad!

The trend continues today with such wonderful tracks like Creed's 'With Arms Wide Open', Guns N' Roses' 'November Rain' and just about anything Staind puts out these days.

I file the power ballad under guilty pleasure. Makes you remember certain times in your life and hopefully makes you smile, but it’s something you’d never admit to. Oh crap.