Now Power Ballads

TO ME A power ballad is one of those overblown love songs that appeared halfway through 1980s movies like Top Gun or Mannequin.

They started slow, with a couple of power chords to show they weren’t too sweet, spoke of romance with manly metaphors, then culminated in drum tattoos and massive guitar licks.

The charts were full of them – either written especially for a film or appropriated by the director –accompanied by soft-focus videos and lead singers with a lot of hair.

If you’re from a different generation it turns out you’ve also had your own power ballads, maybe not so pomp-rocking but certainly expressing the same tough-love sentiments.

They are all on a massive triple album gathers together the best of every modern decade, almost 60 tracks not ashamed to wear their hearts on their guitar straps.

They’re the sort of songs to sing along to as you drive, so long as you keep your eyes on the road and not lay your head back to shake your hair.

There are the true power ballad classics like I Want To Know What Love Is, (I've Had) The Time Of My Life, Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, Up Where We Belong and Eye Of The Tiger.

There are (slightly) more fragile songs like Eternal Flame, Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now), China In Your Hand, The Living Years in Africa. From earlier years there are rock classics like Since You Been Gone And Don’t Stop Believin, Keep On Loving You and Is This Love.

Then it’s through the decades with If I Could Turn Back Time.’ I Want To Break Free,Torn, I Don't Want A Lover, John, Mr. Brightside and You're Still The One.

And into the modern day with Beneath Your Beautiful, America, Rule The World, Counting Stars, Show Me Heaven, Wrecking Ball.

David Knights