Power Ballads is a term that derives from the 1970s and especially from an era when Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd and other associated acts conquered the airwaves with their electrified ballads. Millions of listeners were attracted to the songs that were a mix of slow tempo and electric guitar outbreaks to satisfy the fans. This book features exclusive interviews with rock artists that composed or performed in the recordings of popular Power Ballads. The artists discuss the stories behind the songs that were recorded in 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and beyond... You can read interviews with current or former members of: ALIEN, ARC ANGEL, ARGENT, ASIA, AXE, AXXIS, BRIGHTON ROCK, EVERY MOTHER'S NIGHTMARE, FIONA, GOTTHARD, GREAT WHITE, HARDLINE, HOOTERS, JEAN BEAUVOIR, LETCHEN GREY, LIONHEART, LITA FORD, MARTIN BRILEY, MR. BIG, PINK CREAM 69, PRAYING MANTIS, Q5, ROBERT TEPPER, ROBIN BECK, KEEL, STAGE DOLLS, STAN BUSH, STARZ, TALISMAN, TOUCH, TRIXTER, TYKETTO, WARRIOR SOUL, WHITE LION, Y&T and many more!

Real musicians don’t sign autographs, date models, or fly in private jets. They spend their lives in practice rooms and basement clubs or toiling in the obscurity of coffee-shop gigs, casino jobs, and the European festival circuit. The ten linked stories in Power Ballads are devoted to this unheard virtuoso: the working musician. From the wings of sold-out arenas to hip-hop studios to polka bars, these stories are born out of a nocturnal world where music is often simply work, but also where it can, in rare moments, become a source of grace and transcendence, speaking about the things we never seem to say to each other. A skilled but snobby jazz drummer joins a costumed heavy metal band to pay his rent. A country singer tries to turn her brutal past into a successful career. A vengeful rock critic reenters the life of an emerging singer-songwriter, bent on wreaking havoc. The characters in Power Ballads—aging head-bangers, jobbers, techno DJs, groupies, and the occasional rock star (and those who have to live with them)—need music to survive, yet find themselves lost when the last note is played, the lights go up, and it’s time to return to regular life. By turns melancholy and hilarious, Power Ballads is not only a deeply felt look at the lives of musicians but also an exploration of the secret music that plays inside us all.

A collection of candid, surreal, and wickedly funny poems and prose.

The first book to explore the ballad's history and emotional appeal, surveying seventy years of the genre in modern America.

While ballads have been a cornerstone of popular music for decades, this is the first book to explore the history and appeal of these treasured songs. David Metzer investigates how and why the styles of ballads have changed over a period of more than seventy years, offering a definition of the genre and discussing the influences of celebrated performers including Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston. The emotional power of the ballad is strongly linked to the popular mood of the time, and consequently songs can tell us much about how events and emotions were felt and understood in wider culture at specific moments of recent American history. Tracing both the emotional and stylistic developments of the genre from the 1950s to the present day, this lively and engaging volume is as much a musical history as it is a history of emotional life in America.

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From the concert stage to the dressing room, from the recording studio to the digital realm, SPIN surveys the modern musical landscape and the culture around it with authoritative reporting, provocative interviews, and a discerning critical ear. With dynamic photography, bold graphic design, and informed irreverence, the pages of SPIN pulsate with the energy of today's most innovative sounds. Whether covering what's new or what's next, SPIN is your monthly VIP pass to all that rocks.