Ex-Kansas vocalist John Elefante offers his cover of “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and Popdose’s Death by Power Ballad is there to praise it, in the spirit of the holidays.
Power Ballads
71 Articles
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
You blame it on Facebook. Had you not bowed to the entreaties of your more connected co-workers, you wouldn’t have seen her name, read her profile, or seen she now…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
We’re gathered together today at the Popdose dinner table to fill ourselves with the bounty of goodness from local farms and our communal garden out back (and, later, we shall…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
What happens when three hairy Texans get sensitive? “Rough Boy.” It may not have lived up to its title in any way, but Rob Smith has a soft spot for ZZ Top’s contribution to the artform of the power ballad.
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
Back in her late-70s, “It’s a Heartache” period, gravelly voiced Bonnie Tyler was viewed chiefly as Rod Stewart with a vagina (a designation many have claimed simply describes Stewart himself)….
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
Had Bon Jovi been killed in a horrific, fiery airplane crash in 1985, we would remember them much differently than we do today. Had they experienced a painful, flesh-melting demise…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
“It’s always that one song that gets to you. You can hide, but the song comes to find you.” — Rob Sheffield (Love Is a Mix Tape) I dislike Rob…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
Sixties nostalgia is a curious thingÁ¢€”make-a one man weep, make another man sing. Tom ScholzÁ¢€”the guitarist/mastermind/evil genius behind Seventies arena rock behemoth BostonÁ¢€”is one of those people for whom the…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
This is the final entry in our DbPB salute to Jim Peterik, and it is, I admit, an odd choice for a conclusion. “Above the Storm” is not Peterik’s best…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
Our DbPB salute to Jim Peterik will conclude in two weeks. We interrupt that series to mark the recent passing of one of the cornerstones of modern melodic rock, bassist…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
If a new Survivor track is attached to a greatest hits compilation in the ’90s, will anyone hear it? Read this week’s Death by Power Ballad and find out.
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
Our DbPB salute to Jim Peterik continues this week with “Strength Over Time,” by Sunstorm, a collective that’s not quite a band, and yet not quite not a band. Some…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
The next few DbPB installments will feature the work of a man who, to these ears, has contributed as much as if not more than any other artist to the…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
When last we left Michael Schenker, he was totally shredding through the last 40 seconds of UFO’s majestic power ballad, “Try Me.” Mikey hung around the band for another year…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
One of the great eccentrics (and notorious drinkers) in rock, Michael Schenker also served in one of the great hard rock bands of the mid- and late 70s. The Schenker/Phil…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
Triumph was an arena rock staple in the late ’70s and through much of the ’80s, particularly in their native Canada, where they were known for their bombastic, pyro-filled shows,…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
Before there was an Arnel Pineda (Steve Perry soundalike, currently fronting Journey), or a Benoit David (Jon Anderson soundalike, currently fronting Yes), or even a Chris Chan (Barry Manilow impersonator,…
Rob Smith
2 Min Read
Wouldn’t it be cool to be Cheap TrickÁ¢€â„¢s Robin Á¢€Å“The VoiceÁ¢€ Zander?Á‚ I mean, the guy’s, like, 85 years old and looks the same as he did on the cover…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
One of my favorite things about joining the Popdose brother/sisterhood is the fact that I have found a group of people whose taste in music is as broad and, on…
Rob Smith
2 Min Read
Kevin DuBrow‘s cocaine-assisted demise in 2007 denied the world additional work from one of the great philosophical minds in hard rock. Not really, but has there ever been another frontman…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
I’ve long had a man-crush on soft spot in my heart for Paul Stanley, Kiss’ lead vocalist and most musical member. He’s the best singer in the band, a commanding…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
Maybe eight or ten years ago, if you’d wanted to make some pretty decent money on a minimal investment, all you had to do was find a CD copy of…
Rob Smith
3 Min Read
Bands like Rush and AC/DC wear as a badge of honor the fact that they’ve never written or performed a power ballad. I love them both, but they’re pussies. The…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
Bands like Rush and AC/DC wear as a badge of honor the fact that they’ve never written or performed a power ballad. I love them both, but they’re pussies. The…
Rob Smith
2 Min Read
Bands like Rush and AC/DC wear as a badge of honor the fact that they’ve never written or performed a power ballad. I love them both, but they’re pussies. The…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
Here it is: The song that killed the power ballad. There were bands who had hits with power ballads after Steelheart killed the genre to death with “I’ll Never Let…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Criminy, it’s already the 22nd? I’ve still got a list of power ballads a mile long. Where did the time go? Well, I promised some controversial picks, so here’s one…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Any month-long discussion about power balladry would be incomplete without some mention of today’s pack of melodic rockers. Night Ranger did, after all, help bring the power ballad to the…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
Speaking of John Kalodner John Kalodner, here’s a band he entered in the American power-ballad sweepstakes at exactly the right moment. We all like to think of David Coverdale (and…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
Popular rock mythology says the great shift from hair metal to grunge happened the week Nevermind knocked Michael Jackson’s Dangerous out of the top spot on Billboard’s Top 200, but…