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When you love, love like they do in power ballads: The history and evolution of a musical genre



"Love Me like You Do" is a mid-tempo electropop power ballad, with instrumentation consisting of massive synths and crushing drums. Lyrically, similar to the film's theme, the song talks about the uncontrollable feeling of falling in love and being seduced by someone whose touch leaves her begging for more, even when it hurts. It received acclaim from music critics, who praised Goulding's soft vocals and the song for being sultry and grandiose. The song earned Goulding her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance, while the songwriters were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Song.




When you love, love like they do in power ballad…



"Love Me like You Do" was acclaimed by music critics. Samantha Grossman of Time called the song "sultry" and dubbed it a "solid addition to the Fifty Shades soundtrack."[12] Christina Garibaldi of MTV News also called it "sultry" and "soft", adding that "we can totally picture it being played during any steamy scene."[13] Ryan Reed of Rolling Stone opined that its "results are grandiose, considering the film's sensual subject matter."[8] Jim Farber of the New York Daily News praised her "little-girl-lost voice", noting that "Goulding sounds sweet even when she's courting danger. The music, likewise, goes for a high gloss take on romance, recalling the heavily echoed beats and dense synthesizers of a Phil Collins ballad from the '80s."[14] Robbie Daw of Idolator described "Love Me like You Do" as "a sweeping power ballad that finds Goulding delivering soft, understated vocals over producer Max Martin's swelling bed of synths."[9] Lucas Villa of AXS commended Goulding for "masterfully tread[ing] between delicacy and power in her performance", calling the song "intimately magnificent".[15] Glenn Gamboa of Newsday called it "sweet, catchy, near-perfect rom-com fare".[16]


Adele is the patron saint of powerhouse ballads, and "Someone Like You" ranks up there with her very best. Adele's voice can soar on top of a 30-piece orchestra, but here she's accompanied by a simple piano part as she addresses an ex who has moved on and found new love.


The intra-band romantic drama that fueled Fleetwood Mac's historic Rumors record is well documented, but even before its 1977 release, they were penning love songs that stuck to your ribs. One such track was "Landslide," a gorgeous, lilting showcase for singer Stevie Nicks about how love, in all its forms, never stays static.


Sam Smith has written plenty of songs about the bluer side of romance, but their hit single "Stay With Me" goes to a different place. The track is somewhere between booze-fueled longing and sober honesty. Smith knows that the connection they share with the song's subject is nothing like true love, but still a favorable alternative to isolation.


Few A-listers are as good at lost love ballads as Bruno Mars, who has topped charts and made eyes water with songs like "Talking to the Moon," "It Will Rain," and "When I Was Your Man." The latter is perhaps the best of the lot, inspired by '70s piano ballads like The Commodores' "Still," and featuring one of Mars' most searing hooks.


Some sad love songs are grand and sweeping, but Billie Eilish's "when the party's over" cuts in the complete other direction. With hundreds of layers of vocal harmonies and Eilish's trademark hushed tones, the song feels like it's being sung into your ear from two inches away.


It can be hard to watch a friend fall for someone else, but even worse when they ask for your advice! We all know Swift writes about her love candidly, and you can feel the authentic heartbreak in this song.


While some of the songs on this list fall under the unrequited category of love, this classic rock tune is for those that only want to focus on the happiness they feel when their best friend is around.


A typical power ballad will open with a solo keyboard or acoustic guitar, with more instruments and more elaborate melodies brought in as the song progresses, building up to a dramatic finale. An electric guitar solo close to the halfway point is pretty much obligatory. The lyrics usually talk about love, but not always. If done wrong, power ballads are very susceptible to becoming Narm and called "cheesy" as a result; if done right, they can be powerful tear jerkers and be considered "epic". Or a mix of the two.


Nothing says love like a girl-group ballad, and the Spice Girls excelled when it came to matters of the heart. The lyrics for "2 Become 1" are about as literal and obvious as the title, but the girls sound great.


Valentine's Day is a very in your face holiday that lets couples brag about their love in front of their single friends, and what better way to show it off than with a Celine Dion power ballad? "The Power of Love" is Dion at her most love-inspired and emotional.


From the band who authored "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast) comes "L.O.V.E. Machine," a less egregious but still reprehensible track all about carnality. Make no mistake, this song is more about hot and wild lovin' than pure, inseparable love, but when things are going steady and the bloodflow increases, W.A.S.P. have the soundtrack to your night.


From the band who authored \"Animal (Fuck Like a Beast) comes \"L.O.V.E. Machine,\" a less egregious but still reprehensible track all about carnality. Make no mistake, this song is more about hot and wild lovin' than pure, inseparable love, but when things are going steady and the bloodflow increases, W.A.S.P. have the soundtrack to your night.


"The most important thing the video is doing is raising the topic of dating violence among young people," Stephanie Nilva, executive director of sexual assault and trauma resource center Day One, told MTV News about the four-minutes power-ballad track. "That the message is not 'Don't you want a relationship like mine?' The message is a warning sign."


"All his motivation, every forward step that he takes is based on his anger," he said of the character, as reported by MTV. "We're supposed to be desperately in love, like Bonnie and Clyde style, like Sid and Nancy, John and Yoko ... Eminem and Kim."


The fact remains that not all songs in our collection of music are ones we would proudly blast from our cars. We might, in fact, secretly love them while singing the lyrics in private or despise their sugary disgustingness. (That's especially true with power ballads from those cheesy 80s love songs.)


Whether you like country music or not, when this song comes on you can't help but sing along. It stands out from most cheesy love songs because it's not about falling in love with someone new, it's about still loving someone you've been with for a long time.


When acoustic rock love songs are played at a wedding, you feel passion ooze through in every line. Furthermore, the tempo of power ballads is just right for everybody to shake a leg on the dance floor. Swaying with your partner to the tune of power ballads when the lights are dim on the dance floor is a beautiful feeling to experience. When the lights on the dance floor get dim, couples get cozy as they dance. Swaying and dancing to acoustic rock love songs at weddings is pure thrill. If you are clueless about what power ballads or acoustic rock love songs to include in the slow dance session, the list below will make life easier.


Working closely with her long-time musical partners Tom and Andy Mak, as well as Grammy-winning engineer Mark Rankin, the likeminded creatives built the demo into a classic Vera Blue power ballad, complete with live strings and a sweeping, spine-tingling bridge, electronic beats, and vocal harmonies. Some production elements were kept from the demo. 2ff7e9595c


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