The Best Rock Ballad Of All Time

eclipsedmoongoddess482 · Elder In Training Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 3703

This is a place for serious music listeners of the rock genre to debate over what is the greatest rock ballad ever written? I want this to be an intelligent thread so as hard as this may sound, try to put more than just two lines into a post. I'm not saying you need to write huge paragraphs to back up your statement. If you can do it in a couple of sentences then do it in a couple of sentences. But don't just say "Sweet Child 'O Mine is the best." That doesn't convince anyone of anything so back up why you think your choice should be considered the best rock ballad ever.

Lets make this a fun and heated debate. We haven't had one of those in a while. Smile

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unfocused · Moderator Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 6983 Location: Texas

sweet child of mine is the same riff over and over with the occassional signature Slash solo's. The lyrics are pretty damn cheesy aswell. Still, one of my faves Razz

Axl rocks that song so hard it's not even funny. <3 the song.

Stairway to heaven... want my reasons? prove me wrong0rz!
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eclipsedmoongoddess482 · Elder In Training Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 3703

Only used that as an immediate example. I love that song too but I also think the lyrics are cheesy too. If it wasn't for Slash's guitar playing then that song would've crashed and burned right away even with Axl's great vocals.

I'll get back to you on Stairway to Heaven as soon as I find a ballad to put it up against.
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unfocused · Moderator Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 6983 Location: Texas

J00 wont! :angry:

Stairway is an epic song, not just a ballad. I would say maybe Pink Floyds The Wall comes close, another great one. November rain was good, but gets tiring after a while.

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Viper069 · Has No Life Joined: 09 Nov 2005 Posts: 487

Every Rose Has It's Thorn by Poison is a song that that has weathered the test of time. That and Behind Blue Eyes by The Who both of these song have proven themselves as epic songs.

unfocused · Moderator Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 6983 Location: Texas

Hotel California is up there too

Every rose has it's thorns is good, but i wouldnt say much different from what bon jovi can pull out, dont get me wrong FALLEN Grr!

i'm not saying they are the same thing! and speaking of Bon Jovi, Living on a Prayer has some sweet lyrics, definately some very good ones. You give Love a Bad Name.... love that song with volume = aaaall the way up.
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Sephir0th666777 · Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:13 pm Post subject:

For me, it comes down to either:

Tonight, Ozzy Osbourne
November Rain, GnR
Crazy, Aerosmith
Amazing, Aerosmith

I can't choose a best one ><
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eclipsedmoongoddess482 · Elder In Training Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 3703

Go for Tonight by Ozzy out of that group Tyler. The other ones are very good but also in my humble opinion, they're the same songs lyrically. But then again, very few rock ballads do stand out. : /

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Sephir0th666777 · Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 2:57 pm Post subject:

But I like my sappy generic rock ballads :(

I love them so <3
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fallenangel · Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 4:59 pm Post subject:

[quote]November rain was good[/quote]

ahahahahahahahahahahahaha- Oh, you're serious.

November Rain (and Don't Cry) were written before Axl was very familiar or comfortable with song writing, despite the fact they weren't recorded till the Illusion albums, so they commit all the classic mistakes of ballads. Cheesy, generic, Axl wrote what he [i]thought[/i] a ballad was supposed to be. Put up against things like Estranged, it's no contest.

Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Bret can't write. And when he does write, it's rather...bad. Problem is, C.C. wrote all the party hits as party hits, he knows what they are. Bret considered (and still considers) himself a serious artist and tried to write these powerful, epic songs that just fall flat because of who they are. Every Rose is nice, but it's nothing special. It's just so popular because it's easy to relate to, thus it'll forever be played over and over and over...

Livin' on a Prayer and You Give Love a Bad Name aren't power ballads, so why are we bringing up Bon Jovi? Wink

Their power ballads commit the same crimes as Poison's and are nowhere in the running.

Problem you guys are facing is trying to compare two different eras of songwriting. 70s rock was much more conceptual than the 80s, so no shit Stairway is deeper with more style. Subtlety was not in the 80s vocabulary. And by their nature, 80s power ballads don't mean much. Even things that do have meaning and are well written like "Don't Close Your Eyes" by KIX don't compare to things like Stairway.
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WizardoftheWood · Has No Life Joined: 16 Oct 2005 Posts: 446

My favourite : Don't Fear the Reaper- by The Blue Oyster Cult. Just because I can listen to it constantly without getting tired of it, and it rocks.

But there's so much influential classic rock out there, like
Freebird- by Lynard Skynard
While My Guitar Gently Weeps- The Beatles

The best sing-a-long rock ballad:
The Joker- Steve Miller Band, I love to sing that song.

fallenangel · Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 11:01 pm Post subject:

Ok, are we saying ANY rock ballad or power ballads? Because you started off arguing power ballads, and there's no way you can call The Joker a power ballad.
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unfocused · Moderator Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 6983 Location: Texas

this started just as rock ballads
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eclipsedmoongoddess482 · Elder In Training Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 3703

I said rock ballad as in a song that isn't as upbeat as a regular rock song. A slow song for rock in other words.

This is pretty sucky. Most of the ballads I know are power ballads and James is preaching the quality of this one rock ballad and none of my cheesy over-the-top ballads really stand a chance.
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Beatlechick90 · Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 8:26 am Post subject:

Love Hurts! C'mon guys, you know it's true! Great, raspy vocals... haunting guitar work.. and of course he lyrics are someting that people can relate to.

Does Let It Be (The Beatles) count? But they did all different types of music...
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