But after a late flowering in the form of eighties soft-rock ballads ("Up Where We Belong," "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life," "Almost Paradise"), romantic duets receded somewhat.
With the Geraldine Fibbers, the first band she formed to her own vision, she served murder ballads up like good whiskey on the rocks, straight and icy with fire at their heart: Pet Angel starts cheerfully, a bucolic waltz, but glowers as a woman is set upon and retaliates; Outside of Town is grinding, inexorable, violin keeling as another abused woman takes her revenge.
During Duchovny's "X-Files" heyday, a songwriter named Bree Sharp wrote a sweet and hilarious ballad sending up his popularity and his charisma: "American Heathcliff, brooding and comely, David Duchovny, why won't you love me?" But even charisma has limits, and Duchovny's perfume can't mask the unpleasant odor that emanates from "Californication".
This timeless ballad holds up today as it did in 1961.
Nominated last week for Vocal Group of the Year for the 45th CMA Awards show that will air November 9 on ABC, Little Big Town has just released the video for the tender ballad "Shut Up Train," their third from the album The Reason Why on Capitol Nashville.
You do not want to have a loving ballad backed up by death metal, because it will not make any sense.
And the dismal middleweight power-ballads served up by Bryan Adams could be described as balls-aching, were it not for the anatomical failing mentioned above.
And even songs that start out like ballads end up, sooner or later, as a danceable crossfire of horns, keyboards and percussion.
Beginning with "What It Feels Like," a duet with the singer Andy Allo, Prince delivers a series of ballads, broken up by interludes and a red-meat dance song, that are like nothing he's done before.
Whether on driving rock songs like "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" or ballads like "Up on the Roof," the group's sound is such that newcomers often have trouble believing they're getting what they're seeing: five guys, no instruments.
