Favorite Powerballad

[Navarro]

I am required by law to say "With Your Love" because it was my wedding song.

(shhhhh "Mother, Father" is my real choice)

Interesting Ed. That was my wedding song as well. I've never considered "Mother, Father" to be much of a ballad, so that wouldn't make my list. "Open Arms" flat out SUCKS donkey balls and one of the absolute worst Journey songs, EVER! "Faithfully" probably wins this category every time. That said, "Why Can't This Night Go On Forever" (Lord, knows the fucking title does ) definitely is up there. Very underrated and unknown Journey song by many. Perry hits some notes in that song that are in fucking sane!

OA is a very well written song. You may not like it. I agree, there have been times were I skip it. It is overplayed and the lyrics are saccarine sweet, but musically, as is the norm for JC, it kicks ass. Great melody, use of suspensions/appoggiaturas, nice extented harmonies, nice use of chromaticism in the inner voices (IV-iv-I), rhythmically it works because it is a waltz and hearing 3/4 instead of 4/4 in rock music is always nice.

[jrny84]

WCTNGOF is pretty hard to top, given the interplay between SP and Neal, not to mention the keyboard outro by Jon. But if you count If He Should Break Your Heart as a ballad, then that reigns supreme above all others.

I forgot about If He Should Break Your Heart! Thats a great tune, dont know if I would consider that a balad, but its my second favorite song off TBF.

[Enigma869]

without becoming banal.

I once dated a chick who was....um, never mind

[Enigma869]

OA is a very well written song. You may not like it. I agree, there have been times were I skip it. It is overplayed and the lyrics are saccarine sweet, but musically, as is the norm for JC, it kicks ass. Great melody, use of suspensions/appoggiaturas, nice extented harmonies, nice use of chromaticism in the inner voices (IV-iv-I), rhythmically it works because it is a waltz and hearing 3/4 instead of 4/4 in rock music is always nice.

Well written or not (and I don't agree), the song is a fucking abortion of a song. It's always pissed me off that out of Journey's entire catalog, Open Arms was their highest charting single. "All The Way" with Augeri was the equivalent of "Open Arms", in my opinion. Completely soul-less, bubble gum pop, and annoying songs. "Faithfully" has always been the epitome of a "power ballad" to me, and even almost 30 years later, the song sounds relevant and timeless.

[Gideon]

I once dated a chick who was....um, never mind

All that matters is who was on the receiving end.

I forgot about If He Should Break Your Heart! Thats a great tune, dont know if I would consider that a balad, but its my second favorite song off TBF.

I always thought it occupied that nebulous area between rock and ballad. As much as I love Journey's edgier stuff, IHSBYH is the best song they've ever done IMHO.

[Navarro]

OA is a very well written song. You may not like it. I agree, there have been times were I skip it. It is overplayed and the lyrics are saccarine sweet, but musically, as is the norm for JC, it kicks ass. Great melody, use of suspensions/appoggiaturas, nice extented harmonies, nice use of chromaticism in the inner voices (IV-iv-I), rhythmically it works because it is a waltz and hearing 3/4 instead of 4/4 in rock music is always nice.

Well written or not (and I don't agree), the song is a fucking abortion of a song. It's always pissed me off that out of Journey's entire catalog, Open Arms was their highest charting single. "All The Way" with Augeri was the equivalent of "Open Arms", in my opinion. Completely soul-less, bubble gum pop, and annoying songs. "Faithfully" has always been the epitome of a "power ballad" to me, and even almost 30 years later, the song sounds relevant and timeless.

I don't necessarily disagree with the sugary quality of the lyrics, but I stated real musical attributes which are often found in quality songs (not mention the wide tessatura of the melody in OA). If OA is not a well written song, please state musical reasons for it not being so. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and we all like different things, but musical quality that can be heard and clearly exists is different than opinion don't you think? Not everyone likes Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, but it is clearly a good/great piece of music.

[Enigma869]

I don't necessarily disagree with the sugary quality of the lyrics, but I stated real musical attributes which are often found in quality songs (not mention the wide tessatura of the melody in OA). If OA is not a well written song, please state musical reasons for it not being so.

I gave you my reason...the song blows! Listen, I'm not a music critic. It's not what I do. Music has never been much more complex to me than I either like the lyrics and melody or I do not. In the case of "Open Arms", I simply think it's an AWFUL song and not at all representative of who Journey was as a band. I certainly recognize that many people like the song (It didn't climb to number 2 on the charts because people weren't buying it), and a whole lot of dudes probably got their first piece of ass in the back seat of their hoopty while listening to the song in high school. For me, it's just always been a VERY weak song and also very annoying to listen to. It's one of the Journey songs that is an automatic skip for me every time that it comes on. Out of all of the hits that Journey had over the years (i.e. songs that charted on the pop 100 charts), it's easily dead last for me. It's simply an unlistenable song.

[AR]

I am required by law to say "With Your Love" because it was my wedding song.

(shhhhh "Mother, Father" is my real choice)

Interesting Ed. That was my wedding song as well. I've never considered "Mother, Father" to be much of a ballad, so that wouldn't make my list. "Open Arms" flat out SUCKS donkey balls and one of the absolute worst Journey songs, EVER! "Faithfully" probably wins this category every time. That said, "Why Can't This Night Go On Forever" (Lord, knows the fucking title does ) definitely is up there. Very underrated and unknown Journey song by many. Perry hits some notes in that song that are in fucking sane!

OA is a very well written song. You may not like it. I agree, there have been times were I skip it. It is overplayed and the lyrics are saccarine sweet, but musically, as is the norm for JC, it kicks ass. Great melody, use of suspensions/appoggiaturas, nice extented harmonies, nice use of chromaticism in the inner voices (IV-iv-I), rhythmically it works because it is a waltz and hearing 3/4 instead of 4/4 in rock music is always nice.

When my wife and I chose "With Your Love" it wasn't even released yet and the DJ didn't want to play it. He agreed after I told him he wouldn't get the job unless he did. I wanted a song that fit the day but wasn't something everyone else was using. It really fit the bill. A familiar sound but left people wondering "What was that song?"

Arrival was released just before my wedding so the pussy DJ didn't have to worry and got the gig.

[Enigma869]

When my wife and I chose "With Your Love" it wasn't even released yet and the DJ didn't want to play it. He agreed after I told him he wouldn't get the job unless he did. I wanted a song that fit the day but wasn't something everyone else was using. It really fit the bill. A familiar sound but left people wondering "What was that song?"

Arrival was released just before my wedding so the pussy DJ didn't have to worry and got the gig.

I got married in 2004 and the DJ had never even heard of the song. I had to give him my CD just so I had peace of mind, knowing that he wouldn't fuck it up. It is truly the ultimate wedding song, and we picked it for all the same reasons. Perfect wedding song and not one that many other would ever have heard to use it as their wedding song. I'm stunned even one other person used it as their wedding song, but I guess I shouldn't be, given the site we're on. We definitely had a whole lot of Journey music and danced our final dance to "Faithfully".

[AR]

When my wife and I chose "With Your Love" it wasn't even released yet and the DJ didn't want to play it. He agreed after I told him he wouldn't get the job unless he did. I wanted a song that fit the day but wasn't something everyone else was using. It really fit the bill. A familiar sound but left people wondering "What was that song?"

Arrival was released just before my wedding so the pussy DJ didn't have to worry and got the gig.

I got married in 2004 and the DJ had never even heard of the song. I had to give him my CD just so I had peace of mind, knowing that he wouldn't fuck it up. It is truly the ultimate wedding song, and we picked it for all the same reasons. Perfect wedding song and not one that many other would ever have heard to use it as their wedding song. I'm stunned even one other person used it as their wedding song, but I guess I shouldn't be, given the site we're on. We definitely had a whole lot of Journey music and danced our final dance to "Faithfully".

John, that's very cool and yes it was the perfect wedding song. Something that works and was familiar to the ears of many but not obvious. My wife suggested some Shania Twain song and other crap I had heard at so many weddings which was all meaningless to me. As much as I push Journey under the bus these days my wife and I grew up with them. Using one of their old songs was also not the right call. The fact that they had a stellar new CD with a song like that was dumb luck I guess!

[RedWingFan]

When my wife and I chose "With Your Love" it wasn't even released yet and the DJ didn't want to play it. He agreed after I told him he wouldn't get the job unless he did. I wanted a song that fit the day but wasn't something everyone else was using. It really fit the bill. A familiar sound but left people wondering "What was that song?"

Arrival was released just before my wedding so the pussy DJ didn't have to worry and got the gig.

I got married in 2004 and the DJ had never even heard of the song. I had to give him my CD just so I had peace of mind, knowing that he wouldn't fuck it up. It is truly the ultimate wedding song, and we picked it for all the same reasons. Perfect wedding song and not one that many other would ever have heard to use it as their wedding song. I'm stunned even one other person used it as their wedding song, but I guess I shouldn't be, given the site we're on. We definitely had a whole lot of Journey music and danced our final dance to "Faithfully".

My wife and I got married in 2003 it came down to "With Your Love" and "To Have and To Hold" by the Storm. We both agreed THATH was the better song and that got the nod.