Word: balladeering
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...tastes were on full display. She charged through a pop-rock composition she co-wrote titled Sin So Well, and she romped through an R.-and-B.-flavored cover of the Rolling Stones' Get Off of My Cloud. Afterward, she quieted the crowd and sang another original, the introspective ballad Little Black Girl. "It's a minor miracle just to make it to your graduation/when nowhere in your world is there a hint of validation," she sang. "This is not political, it's personal." She told the audience that the song, of all the ones on her album...
...hands Cheap Trick came out with "The Flame," which soared to No. 1; Chicago topped the charts with "Look Away" and Bon Jovi was back with assertive hits like "I'll Be There for You." Meanwhile, Guns N' Roses added some sin to the power ballad with the more violent "Sweet Child O' Mine" though keeping the music loud and clear. In 1989, Bad English, led by a former Journey member, gave us the masterful "When I See You Smile," and Roxette released the shallow yet potent "Listen to Your Heart...
...last big year for the power ballad was 1990, when big-haired Warrant hit it big with the brash "Cherry Pie"; Poison returned with the sadder "Something to Believe In"; Heart, one of few female bands in the power ballad business, released "Stranded"; Ted Nugent's Damn Yankees proved they had the genre down with the top 10 hit "High Enough"; Winger's second album sold millions on the strength of the forgotten "Miles Away," and the Nelson twins teamed up to bring us "Love and Affection" and "After the Rain...
...biggest problem with Powers' analysis of the power ballad, however, is that she thinks it is still alive, in the form of recent songs such as The Verve's "The Freshmen," Matchbox 20's "Push" and the Ben Folds Five's "Brick." Powers writes: "Recently...the meaning of the power ballad has changed as the age of heroes gives way to more conflicted protagonists." But these mid-'90s songs do not belong in the same category as the ballads of the turn-of-the-decade. In content, they are too angst-ridden...
...older bands did manage to outlive the alternative craze. Aerosmith's "Crazy," "Cryin''' and "Amazing" (1993) may be more remembered for featuring Alicia Silverstone in their videos, but these hits also kept the power ballad alive in the '90s. The soaring melody and shamelessly hackneyed lyrics of Bon Jovi's 1994 hit "Always" made it one of the most perfect power ballads ever. And in 1995, Van Halen chipped in with the confident "Can't Stop Lovin' You." Still, with Steven Tyler headed for membership in the American Association of Retired Persons and with Jon Bon Jovi headed nowhere, given...