Friday, March 8, 2019

Best Power Ballad of All Time Tournament


This project has been under development for nearly two years.  Two years.

After all, you can't just willy nilly put together a March madness style 64 entry tournament to declare the best power ballad of all time.  It requires exhaustive research to ensure that you have the right songs that capture the true essence of the power ballad.  Then determining how the entries are seeded into the right regions describing their lyrics was a full time job.  My play count on these songs exceeds triple digits for the 200+ division 1 songs considered.  I have lost my grasp on reality for modern music with this power ballad obsession.  So yes, two years and it was worth every second.

What really defines a power ballad? The selection committee has said that they look for sentimental, melodic songs that tug on the listeners heart strings. Love, or loss of love is a common subject matter as artists convey their emotions through lyrics. But in the end it is really all about the slow, fervent build up before the guitar riff or drum smash climax of the chorus, which truly defines the power, in power ballad.

There were so many questions to answer with this endeavor.  The strength of schedule in the early 80's was much tougher than today, so should the number of weeks on the Billboard chart be considered, giving the 90’s an unfair advantage?  What about the automatic entries?    Should songs that were featured on movie soundtracks or greatest hits albums which earned extra airplay be penalized?

So just like my top 20 cereals of the last 40 years blog series of 2018, I wasn't going to do this unless I could do it right.  It is with great pride that I announce the entries into the tournament.

Do Anything For You region



Starting with the top left bracket, Chicago sits atop the Do Anything For You region.  If the boys from the windy city can make it to the elite 8, it will make for an epic battle against the 2 seed Loverboy to represent the bracket in the final 4.

A sleeper to watch in this bracket is Peter Cetera, who if he can overcome the 8 seed Bad English, is on a crash course for his former band, the 1 seed Chicago in the round of 32.

Speaking of Chicago, they bring a record breaking 7 entries to the tournament.  The next closest band would be REO Speedwagon and Journey, each with 3 entries.  More than half of the tournament (34 entries) are represented by a band with just one chance to earn the title of best power rock ballad of all time.

The Do Anything For You region also features the tournaments only true Cinderella, with Cinderella earning an automatic bid with Don’t Know What You Got Till It’s Gone.



Full of Regret region


Survivor is number 1, number 1 seed, coming into the tournament as one of the favorites in the Vegas books.  They face a weak opponent in the first round of the Full of Reget bracket, with Poison's I Won't Forget You.

Much attention is being paid to the 7 seed with Eric Carmen having made a strong showing in Dirty Dancing, which is my Dad's second favorite movie.  

Whitesnake and White Lion will vie for first round upsets to take their lack of colorful band names into the second round.



Lost Without You region


The Lost Without You region on the upper right is being dubbed as the bracket of death, where any of the top 4 seeds could be heading to Minneapolis for the final 4.

Ironically or perhaps coincidentally, the selection committee has seeded the two Heaven entries (Warrant and Bryan Adams) as 4 seeds in their respective regions.

The Lost Without You bracket also features singles named after females, with Amanda, Carrie, Rosanna, (The Ballad of) Jayne and Beth.


Love Hurts region


Air Supply may have the easiest path to the final 4 of all the number 1 seeds as early reports have the Love Hurts region being the weakest of the regions.  But they will have to still work if they want to cut down the nets out of the lower right bracket.

Nazareth earns an automatic bid in the Love Hurts region, with their 1975 power ballad Love Hurts, which defines the theme for the bracket.

Def Leppard feels slighted by their double digit seeds for their two entries, but comes into the tournament on a hot streak, having recently toured with Journey and will undoubtedly play with a chip on their shoulder with Love Bites.


Other Tournament Notes

The selection committee has shared their notes that the last 4 into the tournament were bubble entries from Boston (More Than a Feeling), L.A. Guns (The Ballad of Jayne), Mr. Big (To Be With You) and Night Ranger (Sister Christian).

The first 4 out that didn’t make the cut were Scorpions (Send Me an Angel), Eddie Money (Take Me Home Tonight), Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes (Up Where We Belong), and Phil Collins (A Groovy Kind of Love.)

As expected the 80’s represents the strongest decade with 45 of the 64 seeds.  The 90’s are next with 14 entries and the rest were from the 1970’s.

So, there it is.  Do you agree with the seeds?  Were there any glaring omissions or bubble teams who came on late in their careers who should have gotten an invite to the big dance?  Will there be any perfect regions where all the favorites hold true to their seed or will we see the typical 12 seed that upsets a 5?

Leading up to the NCAA Men's Basketball finals, I will blog about the power ballad match ups and post the winners as we make our way through the round of 32, down to the sweet 16, into the elite 8 and lastly the final 4 in Minneapolis.  Only by reading along for the next few weeks will we find out who will reign supreme as the best power ballad of all time!