38: Starship: Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us NowĬoming two years after “We Built This City,” this chart-topper brought plenty of derision from fans who still associated the Airplane/Starship with their radical origins. We’ll just say that whoever wrote it knew their Scorpions pretty well (the feel isn’t too far from that of the earlier hit “Still Loving You”) and clearly belonged in rock’n’roll full-time. But the plot thickened in recent years, as a few researchers floated the idea that the song may have been written by someone in the CIA. 39: The Scorpions: Wind of ChangeĪn inspiring record in its time, this tune took an almost hymnlike approach to celebrate the rise of glasnost and the end of Cold War tensions. Still, this stands as one of Pat DiNizio’s most charming tunes, and they even got some Byrdsy 12-string into it. It was their biggest chart hit and might have been a bigger one if they hadn’t released a ballad during the height of the grunge era. 40: The Smithereens: Too Much PassionĪ nod to the 60s from a band of true believers, this was the Smithereens doing Motown complete with a string arrangement. But don’t forget that the Bangles had more than one singer, and the Peterson sisters’ harmony parts are the secret weapons here. Susanna Hoffs’ vocal is full of yearning on a song about wanting love to last forever while realizing that may be a dream. The Bangles managed to make a classic 80s power ballad without completely letting go of their love for 60s pop you can still hear hints of the Left Banke and the Mamas & The Papas between the lines. Boggles the mind that he would have considered throwing one this good away it’s a torch ballad with a heartfelt lyric and the graceful melodic turns of his usual band Genesis at their pop-era best.Ĭlick to load video 41: The Bangles: Eternal Flame The backstory on this is just too perfect to believe: Taylor Hackford needed a theme for his new film, and Phil Collins just happened to have a discarded song with the words “against all odds” in the lyric. But this outside tune had the magic touch, and even if you didn’t love the song, it left no doubt about Robin Zander’s status as one of the great voices in rock. ‘Absolutely Free’: Frank Zappa And The Mothers Of Invention’s Early ClassicĬheap Trick were no strangers to power ballads by the time of this megahit, having already scored minor hits with two Rick Nielsen originals (“Tonight It’s You” and “If You Want My Love”).‘Wind Of Change’: Peter Frampton Heralds A Coming Whirlwind.‘Smoke On The Water’: Deep Purple’s Fire In The Sky. And Turner characteristically sings the hell out of it, building up to the big mid-song outburst. Even though the songwriters dutifully get the word “Thunderdome” into the chorus, its sense of existential dread proves timeless. Recorded at the height of Tina Turner’s 80s comeback, this was a beautifully atmospheric record that transcended its Mad Max movie-theme origins. 44: Tina Turner: We Don’t Need Another Hero Landing somewhere at the crossroads of 80s synth-rock, adult contemporary, and hard rock, this power ballad was the band’s debut single, but they would never reach such chart (and emotional) heights again. With its unmistakable intro of pulsing staccato synths and vocal grandiosity, the Cutting Crew’s anguished ballad was more about succumbing to a regretful tryst with an ex, than a sweeping romance. 45: Cutting Crew: I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight If you put these all on a playlist, you’ve got the best two hours of slow dancing you’ll ever enjoy. This list of the 45 best power ballads is drawn mainly from that era, but we’ve also included a few earlier songs that laid the groundwork. Ah, the power ballad: 80s radio – and most of our love lives – would have been a lot less colorful without it.
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