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Power ballad is the name given to a certain genre of songs that were frequently included on heavy metal albums in the 1980s. These songs often explored various sentimental themes such as yearning and need, love and loss. In their generally confessional nature they were positioned as oppositional to metal's more usual lyrical themes of hedonism, violence, or the occult.Typically, a power ballad begins with a soft keyboard or acoustic guitar introduction. Heavy drums and distorted electric guitars don't enter into the arrangement until, perhaps, the chorus. The electric guitar parts usually take the form of simple root/fifth chords which sustain until the next chord change, but screaming, melodic guitar solos are also important markers of this genre. The interplay throughout the arrangement between "clean" timbres and distorted ones is crucial to the creation of emotional tenstion in power ballad aesthetic.
Power ballads were often crafted in hope of scoring a Top Forty hit, sometimes at the insistence of a record company and written only grudgingly by band members. However, they were often a band's most (or only) commercially successful song. Because of the perceived superficiality of their sentiment, though, power ballads were consistently despised by music critics, who rejected the way metal musicians actively borrowed the musical codes normally reserved for more "authentic" styles of rock.
Though power ballads originated with early 80s Pop/Rock bands like REO Speedwagon ("Keep On Loving You," "Can't Fight This Feeling"), Journey ("Open Arms," "Faithfully"), and Styx ("Lady," "Don't Let it End"), they remain particularly associated with bands that played hair metal. Later development of the style in the mid- and late 80s is exemplified by Mötley Crüe's "Home Sweet Home," Dokken's "Alone Again," Van Halen's "Love Walks In," The Scorpions' "Still Loving You," Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," Night Ranger's "Sister Christian," Aerosmith's "Angel," and CinderellaCinderella were a heavily AC/DC-influenced band with some power pop thrown in for good measure. They were formed in Philadelphia in 1984 by vocalist Tom Keifer and bassist Eric Brittingham, with drummer Tony Destra and guitarist Michael Smerick, who later's "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)." For some artists generally associated with the 1970sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Years: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Events and trends, the power ballad was also responsible for reviving their careers in the following decade. Examples include Cheap TrickCheap Trick is an American rock and roll band from Rockford, Illinois that gained notoriety in the late 1970s. The band members are Rick Nielsen (guitarist and main songwriter), Bun E. Carlos (born Brad Carlson) (drums), Robin Zander (vocals and guitars), ("The Flame") and HeartThis page is about the muscular organ, the Heart . For other meanings of the word, see Heart (disambiguation). The heart ( Latin cor is a hollow, muscular organ that pumps blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions. The term cardia ("These Dreams").
Occasionally, the term "power ballad" is applied more generally to any rock song which starts slow and quiet, and builds up gradually to a powerful, climactic end. Examples include Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin was a British band noted for their innovative, influential approach to heavy blues- rock and as one of the most popular and influential bands of the 1970s. They both helped define and transcended the then-emerging heavy metal sub-genre. Early's "Stairway to Heaven," Lynyrd SkynyrdLynyrd Skynyrd is a Southern rock band that gained prominence in the 1970s. The name of the band came from Leonard Skinner, the assistant principal at Lee High School, their senior high school. Skinner required them to get their hair cut. Rather than do t's "Freebird," and Aerosmith's "Dream On." This usage is far less common, however, and may be a retroactive application of the genre's name.
