![]() If this was the only track you knew, you’d swear that Vince Neil was a perfect choirboy.Ĭlick to load video 36: Ozzy Osbourne: Mama I’m Coming HomeĪ double-edged ballad if there ever was one, this isn’t quite a sweet reunion song: Lines like:” “Here I come, but I ain’t the same” and “You could have been a better friend to me” both suggest that all’s not well between the singer and his mama. Often credited with igniting the 80s power-ballad trend, this track is the complete antithesis of Mötley Crüe’s hell-raising image: The lyrics swear they want nothing more than to leave the parties behind and cuddle with their loved ones. The great irony of 80s hair metal is that the most decadent bands also had to have the sweetest ballads. But it’s lifted higher by the romantic chemistry generated by Slick and co-singer Mickey Thomas, who were never a couple in real life. ![]() But really: When you’ve got Grace Slick, why not give her a surefire hit to sing? All the late-80s trademarks were here: glossy synths, a movie tie-in ( Mannequin), and Diane Warren writing credit. 38: Starship: Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us NowĬoming two years after “We Built This City,” this chart-topper brought plenty of derision from fans who still associated the Airplane/Starship with their radical origins. We’ll just say that whoever wrote it knew their Scorpions pretty well (the feel isn’t too far from that of the earlier hit “Still Loving You”) and clearly belonged in rock’n’roll full-time. But the plot thickened in recent years, as a few researchers floated the idea that the song may have been written by someone in the CIA. 39: The Scorpions: Wind of ChangeĪn inspiring record in its time, this tune took an almost hymnlike approach to celebrate the rise of glasnost and the end of Cold War tensions. Still, this stands as one of Pat DiNizio’s most charming tunes, and they even got some Byrdsy 12-string into it. It was their biggest chart hit and might have been a bigger one if they hadn’t released a ballad during the height of the grunge era. 40: The Smithereens: Too Much PassionĪ nod to the 60s from a band of true believers, this was the Smithereens doing Motown complete with a string arrangement. But don’t forget that the Bangles had more than one singer, and the Peterson sisters’ harmony parts are the secret weapons here. Susanna Hoffs’ vocal is full of yearning on a song about wanting love to last forever while realizing that may be a dream. The Bangles managed to make a classic 80s power ballad without completely letting go of their love for 60s pop you can still hear hints of the Left Banke and the Mamas & The Papas between the lines. Boggles the mind that he would have considered throwing one this good away it’s a torch ballad with a heartfelt lyric and the graceful melodic turns of his usual band Genesis at their pop-era best.Ĭlick to load video 41: The Bangles: Eternal Flame The backstory on this is just too perfect to believe: Taylor Hackford needed a theme for his new film, and Phil Collins just happened to have a discarded song with the words “against all odds” in the lyric. But this outside tune had the magic touch, and even if you didn’t love the song, it left no doubt about Robin Zander’s status as one of the great voices in rock.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |