The Best Ballad by 15 Bands of the Hair Metal Era

Write off our list of The Best Ballad by 15 Bands of the Hair Metal Era at your own risk — there’s way more substance here than haters would lead you to believe.

Hair metal — glam metal, pop-metal, whatever you want to call it — was never a huge hit with critics, and power ballads were perhaps the most maligned manifestation of the genre.

Bands and record label executives alike knew that ballads were often a surefire way to score a chart hit and juice album sales. Rockers who were willing to indulge their sensitive sides could watch their tours leap from clubs to arenas in three and a half minutes if they played their cards right.

READ MORE: The Heaviest Song by 11 Big Hair Metal Bands

Admittedly, this led to a lot of contrived hair metal ballads that sounded indistinguishable from one another. But at their best, these ballads allowed musicians to show off the breadth of their songwriting and write generational anthems that connected with listeners for decades.

This tactic wasn’t limited to ’80s natives either — several ’70s rockers reinvented themselves for the glam metal demographic and successfully dabbled in epic, lighter-waving balladry as well.

Those are the types of ballads we’re highlighting here. Read on to see The Best Ballad by 15 Bands of the Hair Metal Era.

Aerosmith, “What It Takes” (Pump, 1989)

Aerosmith wrote plenty of incredible ballads during their initial ’70s heyday (“Dream On,” anyone?), but the rockers opted for a much clearer pop-metal slant on their late-’80s comeback material.

The best of the bunch is “What It Takes,” a country-tinged lament that wisely avoids the heavy-handed production sheen of its predecessor, “Angel.” Steven Tyler gives one of his strongest and most heartfelt vocal performances, while the ear-pricking accordion and weeping guitar solo put “What It Takes” head and shoulders above its power ballad peers.

“It’s a ballad, but it’s not a schmaltzy ballad,” bassist Tom Hamilton told Rolling Stone in 2019. “The emotion in it is very real and it has a beautiful set of chord changes.”

Bon Jovi, “Bed of Roses” (Keep the Faith, 1992)

Following the back-to-back smashes of Slippery When Wet and New Jersey, Bon Jovi sought to move beyond the confines of pop-metal on Keep the Faith without fully abandoning their stadium-rock sound.

The Top 10 hit “Bed of Roses” epitomizes this gradual evolution. The smoldering blues guitar leads and delicate piano-based verses show an improved sense of dynamics, but the anguished lyrics and soaring choruses — the last one featuring a monumental vocal run from Jon Bon Jovi — show they hadn’t lost their flair for melodrama.

Cinderella, “Coming Home” (Long Cold Winter, 1988)

Cinderella’s sophomore album Long Cold Winter found the Philadelphia quartet expanding on Night Songs‘ pop-metal tumult with bluesy hard rock and rootsy elements. The rockers hit harder and the ballads rang more sincere as a result.

“Coming Home” is a classic road ballad that shows frontman Tom Keifer torn between the rigors of touring and the loving embrace of a woman back home. The 12-string guitar and massive group vocals in the fade-out give the song a bluesy, almost gospel-tinged feel, reflecting Cinderella’s desire to be the Aqua Netted Rolling Stones.

Def Leppard, “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak” (High ‘n’ Dry, 1981)

Def Leppard were still operating in NWOBHM-adjacent mode on High ‘n’ Dry, and “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak” combines heartstring-tugging melodies with epic guitar harmonies, resulting in one of the toughest ballads of the hair metal era.

Amid the success of Pyromania, the band released a remixed version of the track in 1984 with glossier production and synth overdubs. Do yourself a favor and stick with the original in all its muscular, unvarnished glory.

Dokken, “Alone Again” (Tooth and Nail, 1984)

Dokken could pout and preen with the best of the hair metal bands, but they often packed a harder and rawer punch than their contemporaries.

“Alone Again,” the penultimate track off their sophomore album Tooth and Nail, drives home this point. Don Dokken’s plaintive vocals convey palpable heartache, but George Lynch’s eerie guitar arpeggios and red-hot solo give the song a darker edge than your run-of-the-mill power ballad.

Extreme, “Hole Hearted” (Extreme II: Pornograffitti, 1990)

Extreme were barely a glam metal band, but the chart-topping success of their 1990 acoustic ballad “More Than Words” forever tied them to the scene. We’re not here to argue the greatness of that song, even though some fans of the band’s harder material considered it sacrilegious.

Lucky for them, Extreme II: Pornograffitti features a second Top 5 acoustic ballad, “Hole Hearted.” It contains the same gorgeous vocal harmonies and tasteful guitar work as its predecessor, but in a bouncier and less saccharine package.

Kiss, “Forever” (Hot in the Shade, 1989)

Not many hard rock bands could pull off “Forever,” a splashy, full-throated pop-metal anthem with extra emphasis on the pop. But most bands didn’t have a singer of Paul Stanley’s caliber.

The Starchild co-wrote the Hot in the Shade single with master pop balladeer Michael Bolton, and it shows. Aside from Stanley’s skyscraping vocals, though, “Forever” is a reasonably understated affair for Kiss (who were fully in hair metal mode by then), getting a lot of mileage out of its acoustic guitars and Gene Simmons’ plucky bass lines.

The results speak for themselves: “Forever” peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Kiss their first Top 40 hit since “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” more than a decade earlier.

Kix, “Don’t Close Your Eyes” (Blow My Fuse, 1988)

Kix formed in Hagerstown, Maryland, in the mid-’70s and cut their teeth playing Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin covers before they achieved mainstream success in the late ’80s. In other words, they always stood out from the glam metal glut — and that uniqueness is evident in their sole hit, “Don’t Close Your Eyes.”

Although it’s technically a power ballad, there’s nothing mushy about “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” For starters, it’s an anti-suicide song, not a love song. The keyboards sound fittingly tense, while Steve Whiteman’s gritty vocals get across his desperate plea.

The heavy subject matter wasn’t a deterrent, and fans propelled “Don’t Close Your Eyes” to No. 11 on the Hot 100.

Motley Crue, “Home Sweet Home” (Theatre of Pain, 1985)

Fans and critics alike often point to Theatre of Pain as the moment when Motley Crue lost the plot (for the first, but not last, time), yet there’s no denying they knocked it out of the park with “Home Sweet Home.” It’s a study in contrasts: Tommy Lee’s tender piano intro was a far cry from their raunchy glam metal assault and the MTV-staple music video showed how a band of Motley’s stature could feel alone even as they delighted 20,000 fans a night for months on end.

Bassist Nikki Sixx discussed this dichotomy in the Motley Crue: The End – Live In Los Angeles DVD. “The lyrics came out of that feeling of being gone so long and wanting to come back, which is ironic, right?” he explained. “Because all you ever want is to get in a band and go on the road, but then you’re on the road and you want to come home.”

Ozzy Osbourne, “Mama, I’m Coming Home” (No More Tears, 1991)

Ozzy Osbourne had been well-versed in power ballads ever since he released “Goodbye to Romance” on Blizzard of Ozz. But there was something different — something altogether more special — about “Mama, I’m Coming Home.”

Co-written with Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister and guitarist Zakk Wylde, “Mama” is dedicated to Ozzy’s wife and manager, Sharon, whom he credited with helping him get sober and ultimately saving his life. The song is consequently more somber than most glam metal ballads, with plaintive, country-tinged verses building toward anthemic, heartstring-tugging choruses.

The song took on a whole new level of poignance when Ozzy performed it at his Back to the Beginning farewell show shortly before his death. Decades after its release, it remains one of the Prince of Darkness’ most beautifully human moments.

Poison, “I Won’t Forget You” (Look What the Cat Dragged In, 1986)

What, were you expecting something else? C’mon! “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” might be Poison’s biggest hit, but “I Won’t Forget You” is their best ballad.

There’s a purity to this song, written before Poison rocketed to superstardom. When Bret Michaels sings, “It’s better to have lost at love / Than never to have loved at all,” he genuinely sounds like he just heard the cliche for the first time and is deeply moved by it. Factor in C.C. DeVille’s ultra-distorted lead guitar work and you’ve got power ballad gold.

Skid Row, “Wasted Time” (Slave to the Grind, 1991)

Skid Row were latecomers to the hair metal scene, but they made up for lost time with their self-titled 1989 debut, which soared to 5 million sales thanks to twin Top 10 ballads “18 and Life” and “I Remember You.” Both are great, but they still pale in comparison to “Wasted Time,” the final track on the band’s blistering sophomore album Slave to the Grind.

Reportedly written about former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler’s drug use, the song paints an unflinching portrait of addiction, with haunting guitar arpeggios and anguished vocals building to a devastating climax in which Sebastian Bach screams, then whispers, “I never thought you’d let it get this far, boy” — a chilling end to an album and, effectively, an era.

Warrant, “I Saw Red” (Cherry Pie, 1990)

Some of the best ballads are born out of real-life heartbreak, and Warrant’s “I Saw Red” was no exception. Inspired by frontman Jani Lane walking in on his girlfriend in bed with his best friend, the song juxtaposes lovey-dovey verses with tortured choruses reflecting Lane’s betrayal.

The song granted Warrant their final Top 10 hit, a small consolation for the heartache that preceded it.

Whitesnake, “Is This Love” (Whitesnake, 1987)

Whitesnake’s 1987 self-titled album transformed the blues-rockers into a bonafide hair metal band and soared to 8 million U.S. sales largely thanks to a pair of massive ballads, “Here I Go Again” and “Is This Love.” The latter peaked at No. 2, one spot shy of the former, but it’s the better song.

Originally written for Tina Turner, “Is This Love” opts for moody understatement over bombast, featuring one of David Coverdale’s most evocative vocal performances and a weeping guitar solo from John Sykes. Even in their quieter moments, Whitesnake could make a seismic impact.

Winger, “Headed for a Heartbreak” (Winger, 1988)

Winger were never afraid of a little (or a lotta) cheese, but “Headed for a Heartbreak” eschews the typical hair metal ballad cliches with stabbing guitar-and-keyboard riffs and a heavy, almost proggy stomp.

Kip Winger’s elastic vocals take the chorus into skyscraping territory and Reb Beach delivers a series of characteristically breathtaking solos. Pound for pound, it’s one of the most technically accomplished hair metal ballads to graze the Top 20.

Still hungry for hair? Check out our list of the best album by 11 big hair metal bands below!