Favorite Power Ballads From 1988-1992

Loudwire put out their best power ballads of all time that don't suck. I don't think they understand what a power ballad is.

Before I saw that article, this happened. I'm a big college football fan and Andy Staples, who writes for Sports Illustrated about college football, has a column every Monday which includes a "Random Ranking". Via Twitter, I asked Staples if he'd ever done a random ranking on power ballads between 1988 and 1992. He replied that it would be in this week's column, You'll need to scroll past the football stuff to get to it if you're not a fan.

Why 1988 to 1992? Because that was power ballad prime and power ballad hell, concurrently. Then Nirvana blew the whole thing to shreds.

What follows are my Top 10 Favorites. Notice I didn't say "best". That's subjective. "Favorites" lets you know that it's subjective.

1. "I Remember You", Skid Row. This song perfected what the power ballad is supposed to be. A tame, acoustic opening. Hints of power in the verses. A bombastic, memorable chorus. The ramp up in the bridge before the guitar solo. Bring it down for the third verse before blowing out the final choruses with Sebastian Bach's soaring vocals.



2. "House of Pain", Faster Pussycat. Harmonica intro into acoustic verse. This one may not fit the classic definition because it actually has some real meaning behind the lyrics. Taime Down has, shall we say, an interesting voice. But it has the memorable chorus. Tasty electric guitar solo. It doesn't have the signature bridge. What can I say, it's one of my favorites and it's my list.



3. "Ballad of Jayne", L.A. Guns. Familiar acoustic start through the verse and chorus. This one, again, has more meaning behind it, being that it's about someone who has passed. Goes with the electric guitar solo. More subdued than others, before transitioning back to acoustic. And we get some strings towards the end.



4. "Heartbreak Station", Cinderella. I could probably put three Cinderella songs on this list, but I'm just going to stick with this one. Tom Keifer as a ballad writer is unmatched. You get the lap slide solo in this one. You get the piano ballad from "Don't Know What You Got" and the more pure power ballad in "Nobody's Fool", just to name a few.



5. "I Saw Red", Warrant. OK, I know most people, if they were to choose a Warrant song would choose "Heaven". Not me. This is just an old fashioned cheatin' song. And he's very nonchalant about it. He didn't see his face, but he saw hers and closed the door and now he's not going to love her anymore. So simple, yet so poignant. Then the bridge before the solo, we get the pain and anger.



6. "Close My Eyes Forever", Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne. I'm not sure if this may not be the best song on my list. But it fails to make the top stop on the spirit of the list because it has too many epic qualities. It's a great song, but a bit over-produced and over-dramatic, but I can't not include it.



7. "Love's A Loaded Gun", Alice Cooper. Hey, if Ozzy and Lita can get into the power ballad game, why not Alice? Of course Alice puts his own twisted twist on the power ballad by making it about a call girl that he's in love with/stalking?



8. "Something To Believe In", Poison. OK, I know, "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" is the popular choice. I don't know, I like my power ballads to have some substance. And besides this is the superior song.



9. "Fly To The Angels", Slaughter. I think Mark Slaughter oversings everything, but that's just him. It doesn't take away from the greatness of this song. Again, this song has some meaning to it. I don't know, maybe it's just me getting older, but mostly I'm not here for the superfluous. Don't get wrong, I still like my nonsense, but don't give me meaningless fluff.



10. "Love Of A Lifetime", Firehouse. This is not a great song. Why do I include this? Because this is the kind of schlock that killed an era and led to grunge. Not that I'm bitter or anything. Number 10 should always be a wildcard, right? Or make a point? The previous nine are good songs. This is just what happened.

Album Spotlight: Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown

Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown's self-titled album is their fifth release and second full album. It's an eleven song piece of real hard rock, swampy, groovy, bluesy and guitar-heavy.

Tyler Bryant grew up in Texas and moved to Nashville during his senior year of high school. The Shakedown is comprised of drummer Caleb Crosby, bassist Noah Denney and guitarist Graham Whitford (son of Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford).

With this self-titled release, Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown seem to have found their niche, deftly combining the blues, swamp and heavy rock with a touch of Alice Cooper creepiness and Aerosmith (of course, right?). Sonically the album is great.

Vocally, well, Bryant doesn't have the best voice in the world, but it works. See the Alice Cooper reference above. His voice exudes the right emotion and passion on every song.

This is another great example that rock isn't dead if you want to find it.

Here is the official lyric video for "Heartland":



And here is a live acoustic version of my favorite song from the album "Ramblin' Bones":

Artist Spotlight: Kara Clark

If you like any combination of Saraya, Cinderella, Miranda Lambert, Molly Hatchet, Halestorm, Whiskey Myers, 4 Non Blondes, Lita Ford and Alice Cooper, then I have the artist for you. And if you have to google or youtube any of the artists mentioned, thank me later and you're welcome.

Her name is Kara Clark and she will kick your ass. Musically, that is. And maybe physically. I don't know.

I have known this for a long time, but it's really become apparent while writing this blog: I don't really like a genre of music as much as I like a style of music. It needs to have real instruments played by real people. It needs to be gritty, dirty, swampy; not too slick, not too polished.

There should be more of Kara Clark here. But in the interim, enjoy this from her 2013 self titled album:



You can purchase music, including her new EP at and hear new music at KaraClark.com.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

So Sunday was something called International Women's Day. Whatever that is. I just used it as an excuse to dig into some of favorite female artists. This is pretty much just chicks that rock. And by no means all inclusive. There are so many fantastic women in rock.

And after saying that, I'm going to start out with a country song. Of course it has Pat Benatar, so it counts. Here is Benatar along with country powerhouse Martina McBride doing McBride's "Independence Day" on CMT's show Crossroads.



I love Stevie Nicks. Her voice anyway. Always have. Instantly recognizable and unique. This is a live performance from 2011 of her song "Edge of Seventeen." Still sounds and looks great.



Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart were my first chicks that rock loves. So talented. Here they are playing Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" with the surviving members of Zep in the audience. Notice how happy Jimmy Page is with this rendition.



Original Runaway, the lovely Lita Ford, is still bringing it with new music. I'm partial to this cover of Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed" which brings a much needed female voice to the song.



I'm hanging onto the theory that rock is not dead. At least as long as there is still young talent making rock music like 16 year old Gabbie Rae.



Listen to good music. Enjoy the music you like.

Cover Songs: Lita Ford - Only Women Bleed, Mindy Smith - Jolene

My views on cover songs have been documented. Most of the time, just give me the original.

That doesn't mean there are not covers that I enjoy. Here are two.

First is Lita Ford's cover of Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed." I love Alice and his original version is fantastic. Lita's cover is spot on and it's nice to hear this song sung in a female voice.





Next is Mindy Smith's version of Dolly Parton's "Jolene." Now, nobody can touch Dolly. I like this cover. It's slower and more haunting than the original.