Ahhh, the power ballad…  likely initiated somewhere in the ’70s and became so disgustingly overwrought and over(wind?)blown during the rise of hair metal in the ’80s that could very well have killed off that genre and spawned the grunge movement in the process.  But who wrote the first one?  Who can we blame for foisting the likes of Kip Winger as he stares brazenly at the camera while “heading for a heartbreak” or Jani Lane from Warrant as he opines that “heaven isn’t too far away”?  Or what about Vince Neil from Motley Crue pining for “Home Sweet Home”?  Who?  WHO?????  Someone must take responsibility!

Alright, let’s step back for a second.  Just what is a “power ballad”?  Does it have power?  Is it necessarily a ballad?  What are the key components to unite those two seemingly unrelated words into one cohesive phrase?  Look at it this way…  the bands that wrought these monstrosities upon us are categorically hard rock or heavy rock bands (the “power”) that have decided to expand upon their creativity  by experimenting with different colors from the artistic rainbow.  What I mean by that is, instead of non-stop crunch and rah rah rock they’ve decided to soften their approach somewhat by introducing instrumentation such as keyboards and acoustic guitars with the occasional bombastic moments (yeah, the rockin’ parts) thrown in for good measure.  Pretty cool concept until the record companies started smelling beaucoup $$$ and decided that EVERY rock band needed one!  And ya gotta do a video too!  Women LOVE these bad boys and they’ll love them even MORE if they see how soft and sensitive they are!  Close ups of EVERY band member staring into the camera!  Explosions!  Slow motion shots of a screaming crowd!  Slow motion everything!   AUUUUGHHHHH!!!!!

OK…  sorry, got carried away…  let’s start pointing fingers.  Mind you, I like some of these songs but I am a rock dude so these certainly aren’t in the “most played” category of the iPod.  Let’s start with two specific ones:

“Dream On” – Aerosmith and “We Are The Champions” – Queen

Your two key elements, piano and bombast, all rolled into one!  Certainly both bands are well known for their rock songs but in this instance you’ve got a little more pomp and grandiosity with Queen but more of a classical figure and vibe with Aerosmith with its gradual build.  Both songs are excellent, very powerful, and maybe, just maybe, sowed the seeds of our topic du jour.

Now let’s go on to two others:

“Beth” – KISS and “Babe” – Styx

A new concept!  LOVE!  Ahhh, sweet love.  But where is the “power”?  Certainly not here.  No, these are flat out ballads, one introducing more of a symphonic concept and the other a bit more schmaltz but honest in delivery.  But like I mentioned in the definition, both bands were certainly known for their rock songs.

So there you go, four contenders for inventors of the “power ballad” and all four songs with different key elements to the concept.  Shortly thereafter some of these bands’ contemporaries were releasing their own mellow cuts-  Journey with “Open Arms” and “Faithfully” (two definite love ballads) and REO Speedwagon with “Time For Me To Fly” and “Can’t Fight This Feeling” to name just a couple of bands (what, no mention of Foreigner!).  But then everyone had to jump on the bandwagon because, dog gone it, they made money and gobs of it!

Who am I to argue?  I said I liked SOME of the songs.  So if you hold me to it, here are my top five power ballads.  Not sure you agree that these are “power ballads” but it’s my blog dammit!

5.  “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”, Poison

4.  “Sister Christian”, Night Ranger

3.  “Wanted Dead Or Alive”, Bon Jovi

2.  “More Than Words”, Extreme

1.  “The Flame”, Cheap Trick