Power Ballads

In the early '90s it seemed the radio could not get enough of Mr.Big's power ballad "To Be With You." With the rise of rap and short-hair rock, Mr.Big eventually disappeared from the airwaves. It seems that their fan base has not, however, so they have released a collection of their ballads (complete with short hair), including the big radio hit that grabbed them a lot of attention from non-rock audiences…

Nazareth are a Scottish hard rock band, founded in 1968, that had several hits in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s, and established an international audience with their 1975 album Hair of the Dog. Perhaps their best-known hit single was a cover of the ballad "Love Hurts", in 1975. The band continues to record and tour…

Some key lineup changes: Lenny Pickett came on as first sax (replacing Skip Mesquite), Chester Thompson joined on keyboards, Lenny Williams replaced Stevens on vocals. (Bruce Conte replaced Willy Fulton on guitar, to less effect.) Not coincidentally, this was their first album to have a national impact. The tunes are split between top-notch propulsive funk ("What Is Hip?," "Soul Vaccination," "Get Yo' Feet Back On The Ground") and soppy pseudo-soul ballads ("Will I Ever Find A Love?," the Otis Redding homage "Both Sorry Over Nothin'"). The ballads get more album space, making the disc something of a wearying listen, and the horn section isn't nearly as inventive as the Horny Horns. But the funk tunes are so damn good nothing else matters.