Word: balladic
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...epitomized in Madonna's "Material Girl" (1984)--to the brooding alternative explosion of Clinton's '90s, marked by Nirvana's breakthrough hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (1991). In making that leap you'd skip both the George Bush years and the apex of a key musical genre: the power ballad...
...power ballad of the late '80s was a creation of arena rock. In large, suburban arenas, so-called "hair metal" bands would take the stage amid lights and mist and hordes of adoring fans waving lighters. But though it may have been linked with the arena, the power ballad came through just fine on the car radio or on the boom box at the beach. The power ballad relied on strong, clear vocals, on lyrics that were simple and trite but always direct and plainly emotional, on the electric guitar and, most of all, on sheer volume. This wasn...
...power ballad emerged out of the male rock of the '70s, from the heavy metal of Alice Cooper to the classic rock of Styx. The first power ballads to make it big in the '80s were hits like "Faithfully" (1983) by the five-man band Journey. But the genre didn't gain mass-market success until the mid-'80s. In 1985, REO Speedwagon recorded the classic "Can't Fight This Feeling." In 1986, Bon Jovi--with their big hair, rugged but soft looks and ordinary-guy sensibility--hit No. 1 with "Livin' on a Prayer." And a year later, Starship...
...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...