I think the thing all bands I like have in common is lots of good ballads. What are your favourite ballads?

Sonata Arctica - Tallulah, The Misery, Shy - All quite unusual yet strangely beautiful.

Nick Cave has an album called Murder Ballads. All of the lyrics are very disturbing.
If you want to see for yourself, read the lyrics to, but first I must warn you that it's violent and explicit.
To be honest, reading them makes me nauseous. It is still interesting though.

[edit] I originally included a link, but I figured the mods wouldn't like it, so I removed it. A google search will easily lead to the lyrics.[/edit]

Anyway, Tom Waits writes awesome ballads. He is the ballad king, I think.

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All you need is love.

[This message has been edited by dry gear the frog (edited August 31, 2004).]

Det - those are great songs You forgot Mary-Lou, the acoustic version.

Metallica - Unforgiven, Bon Jovi - Bed of Roses, Hammerfall - Glory to the Brave

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When guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars.

Memento - Figure 8

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<ubuu> does hitler have a last name?
<jipe> .. yes, Ubuu, we're racist commy nazi jews, and we hate male pattern baldness
<Professor`K> Sorry, but half-way through your logic, my head exploded

Coldplay - The Scientist
Oasis - Wonderwall
Muse - Blackout
Snow Patrol - Run
Travis - Why Does it Always Rain On Me?
Travis - More Than Us
Powderfinger - These Days
The Verve - Lucky Man
The Verve - Sonnet
U2 - With or Without You

And I'm trying to think of a Radiohead ballad... Closest is probably Karma Police or Fake Plastic Trees, but that's stretching it.

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The Massassi-Map
There is no spoon.

Radiohead ballad = Exit Music
although I think of most ballads as telling a story:

Ryan McDougall - Darling of Deceit
Eagles - Hotel California
Led Zeppelin - Battle of Evermore
The Films - I'm Not Gonna Call You
Jump, Little Children - Forget My Loss (one of the few songs that gives me goose bumps every time I listen... i wish there were real recordings of it)

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free mp3 ~Jump - Young America

new album Between the Dim and the Dark available now

Those are the only songs from your list that I'm familiar with, but how are those ballads?



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All you need is love.

bal·lad P Pronunciation Key (bld)
n.

A popular song especially of a romantic or sentimental nature.

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The Massassi-Map
There is no spoon.

Radiohead - Exit Music (OK Computer)

I love that song.

Oh yeah, Blackout by Muse of course

Unintended - Muse may be sort of pushing it, but I really like it noneetheless.

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Kill Your Idols!

???
Ballads are story songs, or at least that's what they used to be.
I think that would make a more interesting thread. This now is just a "your favorite songs that are gentle" thread.

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All you need is love.

Spork's definition is what I've always known a ballad as...

I side with dry gear on this one.

like... the song El Paso would be a ballad.

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free mp3 ~Jump - Young America

new album Between the Dim and the Dark available now

[This message has been edited by Schming (edited September 02, 2004).]

To look at it another way, let's take a look at power ballads.

Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer is a power ballad, it's a rock song that tells a story of a sentimental nature. It's My Life is just a rock song because although it has a very similar feel to Livin' On A Prayer, it doesn't tell a story.

I think of a ballad as something that tells a story and has powerful music behind it. Like for instance...

Metallica's Unforgiven 2 is a power ballad thing. It's a story (sorta), it's sentimental (or at least I think it's very meaningful, the lyrics relate exactly to what's happened in the lives of my closest friend and I.). Listen to the music behind it. It's... powerful. that's the best way to describe it. especially the intro. it can even be moving to some people. THAT is a ballad.

Flogging Molly's Black Friday Rule is a song that tells a story. It's a good story, and a sad one. but it's put in a happy way. Not sure if this can be considered a ballad though, the music is really upity irish stuff, except for the begining.

Flogging Molly's Salty Dog tells a story. this is not a ballad. it's a bar-song. listen, and you can tell the difference.

Just telling a story doesn't really make it a ballad. Telling a meaningful story with the right music makes it a ballad.(or at least I think so, but my oppinion is higher than anything else, so it's a safe bet that I'm right )

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"Father to your hands I commend my spirirt. Father to your hands-Why have you forsaken me?"

Wow, that doesn't happen often.

From the traditional definition of ballad, there's also:
The Beatles- Elanor Rigby
The Beatles- Norwegian Wood
The Flaming Lips- One More Robot/ Sympathy 3000-21
The Flaming Lips- Race for the Prize
Toad the Wet Sprocket- Corporal Brown

Well, can I just say the entire Mars Volta album? It's a concept album. :\

The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins

He said good ballad songs. :p
I was gonna post that too, but didn't because of the "good" factor.

Here's a good ballad from Tom Waits. The song is Poor Edward:
Did you hear the news about Edward?
On the back of his head he had another face
Was it a woman's face or a young girl?
They said to remove it would kill him
So poor Edward was doomed

The face could laugh and cry
It was his devil twin
And at night she spoke to him
Things heard only in hell
But they were impossible to separate
Chained together for life

Finally the bell tolled his doom
He took a suite of rooms
And hung himself and her from the balcony irons
Some still believe he was freed from her
But I knew her too well
I say she drove him to suicide
And took poor Edward to hell