What do you do when you have too many songs but
not enough room on your tape? Make Volume 2!
Hey everybody, Sean Faust here. I'm back with
Brian Colburn on My Weekly Mixtape for Power
Ballads Volume 2. What do you think about that?
Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that
takes the classic mixtape approach to building
a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn.
Joining me tonight as guest curator for the second
time is my good friend and fellow musician, Sean
Faust. Welcome back to the show, man. I am psyched
to be here once again, volume dos. Yes, tonight
is a first at my weekly mixtape as it is the
first ever volume two episode of the show based
on the amazing feedback we received on episode
16, Power Ballads, volume one. It will now be
forever referred to as because I don't volume
one every episode. However, once there becomes
a volume two, it becomes a de facto volume one.
If you did not know that. Since this is the first
ever Volume 2 episode, I wanted to point out
that tonight, no songs from Volume 1 can be used
a second time. But to add a twist to the discussion,
both Sean and I can each use one of the artists
or bands from Volume 1, as long as it's a different
song than the one that we discussed in that first
episode. Now, if you haven't heard Volume 1 yet,
again, it's Episode 16, and one would say that
it's the perfect companion to this episode. And
the reason I mention this is because if you're
a newer listener to the show, you might be wondering
throughout this episode why we're talking about
power ballads but not mentioning blank. Well,
the easy answer is we may have already talked
about it in volume one. So you'll have to go
back and listen to that episode to find out if
that's indeed the case. Because instead of me
recapping volume one and ruining the episode
for those of you who haven't heard it yet, I'll
just say that this is your official volume one
spoiler alert. As even though we won't go out
of our way to spoil anything from volume one,
there's a good chance it could come up in conversation
naturally. So like a good movie fan that never
spoils the movie for somebody, this is your official
spoiler alert. Proceed with caution. You have
to wait until volume three for us to talk about
the forever sky. Oh, that's a spoiler. Now, Sean,
I don't know about you, but after our volume
one recording, I found myself saying, how the
hell did this song not make it or that song or
we miss talking about this band and how the hell
did we forget this? So for me, my bank of songs
has been ready to go since we hit stop on volume
one. So putting together a list tonight was easy,
except for the fact that in the months between
these two episodes, I have said, oh, I forgot
about this power about it and even added to that
list, making it. even longer. How was it on your
end? I essentially did the same because like
I said off air, I went and I looked up the top
100 power ballads, which you shouldn't do if
you're going to listen to these because you want
to be surprised. You want to know where we're
coming from and who makes those lists anyway?
Who are they and what makes what they say right?
Nothing. So I'm looking at my list here and I've
got like a solid list, but I looked at that top
100 list. I was like, Oh, wow. Yeah, I could
add. Oh, I could add this. Oh, I could add that.
And I'm still looking at like a really, really
long list of just what I started. I think the
moment we hit stop last time. Well, let's get
down to business tonight. As I mentioned, Sean
and I will be curating volume two. of the Ultimate
Power Ballads mixtape, and we'll once again use
the old cassette deck approach. Sean, as the
guest curator, will begin side A with his first
song choice, and then I'll add a song that I
feel best follows up his choice. We'll then flip
-flop choosing songs until we've mapped out 10
songs for side A. We'll then give our mixtape
a proverbial flip and we'll map out side B. Only
this time, I'll kick the side off with Sean choosing
second. Our overall goal for this episode is
to continue crafting the best Power Ballads mixtape
possible through this new batch of 20 songs.
At the end of the show, you can take our conversation
to the next level by visiting the Power Ballads
Volume 2 page at myweeklymixtape .com to give
our final mixtape a listen via the embedded playlist.
Finally, if you like what you're hearing on My
Weekly Mixtape, you can help me out by either
telling a friend about the show, leaving the
show a five -star review wherever you're tuning
in, or becoming a Patreon mixtaper at patreon
.com forward slash myweeklymixtape. And a few
of our Patreon mixtapers chimed in with songs
they'd like to hear in Volume 2, and I want to
give a shout out to some of those now. Ben from
the Too Vague podcast, who guested on episode
31, New Wave Classics chimed in with Def Leppard's
Bringin' On The Heartbreak. Cactus Pete chimed
in with Steel Hearts' I'll Never Let You Go.
And Seeker chimed in with both Queensryche's
Silent Lucidity, along with the Colts' Eddie
Chow Baby. So with that, Sean, I'm officially
pressing the record button on volume two, and
I'm passing the mic over to you. What power ballad
are you raising your lighter? to start off tonight.
Well, my friend, if you and your good listeners,
especially your excellent Patreon listeners,
might recall from Volume 1, I almost changed
my final song. But I didn't. I didn't at all.
So I closed it off with Peter Cetera's Glory
of Love, but all of a sudden I was thinking about
turning my hat backwards and... being a completely
different guy. And you gave me the option to
choose. And I was like, no, I'm going to stick
with this. So volume one ended with Peter Cetera's
Glory of Love. And volume two is going to begin
with Meet Me Halfway by Kenny Loggins, one of
the most beautiful songs I've ever heard in my
life. Could not agree more. Love the song. When
you watch a movie like over the top, you don't
expect there to be this really ridiculously emotional
power ballad in it. And for some reason, Kenny
Loggins just knocked this one out of the park.
And between meet me halfway and nobody's fool,
which was the theme song to Caddyshack to his
back to Avalon album was loaded with soundtrack
hits. This one, I mean. It screams power ballad.
But when you watch and you go back and you watch
Over the Top again, you're not expecting that
big momentous power ballad in that movie. So
that one was unexpected, but I absolutely love
the tune. Right on. Coming out of that, I think
I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to take
three parts Journey, one part Styx, and one part
John Waite and throw it into a blender. And I
am going to get 1989's super group, bad English.
And when I see you smile, one of the most played
power ballads on radio and on MTV all throughout
1989, you could not escape the song. And this
is where I go down a little bit of a slippery
slope because I want to say it's their only massive
hit, even though price of love was a top 10 hit
for them. They also had possession, which. almost
cracked the top 20. And then Forget Me Not and
Heaven is a Four Letter Word cracked the top
100. So there were definitely songs by them out
there. However, When I See You Smile is really
the one that people take away when they first
hear the name Bad English. And then obviously
after their second album failed to move the needle,
everybody went back to their respective groups
and the rest is history. But they really knocked
it out of the park with this. It was ready -made.
for radio and ready -made for top 40, and that's
exactly what it was. So following up, Meet Me
Halfway, When I See You Smile by Bad English.
That's a really, really cool choice. I didn't
see that one coming. I saw it on the list, and
I was like, yeah, I wouldn't choose that, but
that's a damn good song. I bet you Brian's going
to choose it. And look at this. Lo and behold,
I'm correct. Well, coming out of Meet Me Halfway,
I didn't feel like I could go heavy into the
hair bands yet. I felt like we had to kind of
ease because you can't go from Kenny Loggins
to, let's say, looking back at our volume one
episode, for example, something heavier like
a Warrant or a Skid Row. I felt like that would
have been a massive jump. So I feel like I'm
kind of leaning into the Kenny Loggins, almost
pop power ballad side of things. And then kind
of giving you something where with the Journey
and Styx connection, you might be able to bring
it a little bit more to the rock side of things.
You know, I could go to the rock side of things
with my next choice, or I could stay in that
pop vein. And I'm trying to think what I want
to do, because if I stay in that pop vein, I've
got a couple choices. But if I bring it to the
rock using the band members that you've just
mentioned. I've got an interesting decision to
make, but for track three, I'm not going to take
too much time. I'm going to lay a whisper on
your pillow, and I'm going to go with Roxette's
It Must Have Been Love. Perfect, beautiful, and
it looks like I'm sticking with the movie theme
too. You certainly are going with Pretty Woman
here. That one is such a beautiful ballad. Her
voice in it is soaring. It is anthemic. It is
gorgeous. I don't know what other words to describe.
It is a perfect power ballad. Although leaning
onto the pop side of things. Yeah. I am going
to go out of the movie realm here and bring us
into the rock side, but I'm going to do something.
Yeah. Shocking, right? Anywho, I am going to
do something that ties it together with it must
have been love because it must have been love
is a beautiful song. So I'm going to lean into
the rock side, but I'm going to go with the song
that. is also equally just as beautiful to me
it's one of the most gorgeous acoustic guitar
riffs i've ever heard and it's played by the
one zach wilde for ozzy osbourne's 1991 album
no more tears and i'm going with mama i'm coming
home the first time i heard that acoustic guitar
The hair on my arm stood up and I fell in love
with the tune. And Ozzy's had some decent power
ballads. Goodbye to Romance is another great
one that I could have used here. But Goodbye
to Romance is a little bit bigger of a jump coming
from It Must Have Been Love. And I think leaning
into the beauty of It Must Have Been Love, Mama
on Coming Home kind of continues with that feel.
It's almost a lullaby on guitar when you listen
to it. It's just so perfect. That riff, the first
time I heard it, I'm like, I want to play acoustic
guitar. And that is kind of one of the songs
that drove me into wanting to learn how to play
acoustic guitar because it just, it blew my mind.
And it was one of the first songs I tried to
figure out as I was a bass player trying to kind
of move my way onto guitar as well. Well then,
my friend, we're going to keep it in this realm
because you mentioned Zach Wild. So Zach Wild
right now is currently on tour with Pantera.
So I think my choice is to go nowhere else but
with Pantera's fucking hostile. What do you say,
kids? What a pivot. I love it. I can't wait to
hear. One, two, three, four. To see, to breathe
cannot be taught. In turn, you're making us.
Okay, so let me get serious. I just couldn't
resist. I love it. I absolutely love it. And
we should probably give the listeners a second
to come back down to earth after that one, Sean.
Actually, I think the only Pantera tune could
be Cemetery Gates, but I'm not going Pantera
anyway. Of course. So I just, for some reason,
just jumped. All right. Lemon face. All right.
Now you scared me because when you said, you
know, you're sticking with this most beautiful,
of this most beautiful vibe, like it must have
been love. You scared me for a moment because
I thought you were going to steal something from
me that not a lot of people think of, and it's
sad that people don't talk about it anymore.
And it's not a song from a movie, but it opened
up a movie that was a big, fat piece of crap,
so we won't mention it. But you did take Mama,
I'm Coming Home from me, but you left me with
one of the most beautiful power ballads of all
time from, I think, 1989, maybe 90 or 91. But
it starts with some whistling and some clean
chorus guitar. And that would be Wind of Change
by the Scorpions. Ooh, good one. You could have
gone with two songs from that album because I
had two songs on my list. I had Wind of Change
and Send Me an Angel, which is one that my father
absolutely loves that tune. Nobody talks about
that one, and it comes on the radio so randomly,
and you're like, my God, my God, I know I love
Wind of Change, but I never talk about this song,
and you're right, but I'm sticking with Wind
of Change. It's a great tune. I remember that
video being just... On MTV, like every other
video, they're like, and here's Poison and Wind
of Change and then Warrant and Wind of Change
and Aerosmith and Wind of Change. Well, coming
out of that, I think I'm going to go with a band
that rose to fame from the ashes of the Vinnie
Vinson invasion. Oh. And we're going to go with
Mark Slaughter and Dana Strum, who played together
in Vinnie Vincent Invasion, started Slaughter,
and then just knocked it out of the park with
Fly to the Angels. I could go with either version
because the heavy version is great. And if you
own the CD back then, they would throw bonus
tracks on at the end. And Fly to the Angels has
a gorgeous acoustic version. But I'm going to
go with the original off 1990's Stick It To Ya.
fly to the angels which is also a tip of the
hat and a nod to send me an angel from scorpions
nice call my friend dude do you have esp i swear
to god i'm sitting there thinking when i when
i mentioned bonus tracks i mean we talked about
it on volume one again spoiler alert about songs
you'd put at the end of the side winging it used
to be one of those I would love to put that at
like the end of like it would be a hip hop mix
and all of a sudden at the end it would just
be. And then when they bust out the kazoos or
whatever that sound is where they're making it
out of the side of their mouth. You know, you
say the word kazoo. And it leads me. To my next
track, Coming Out of Slaughter's Fly to the Angels.
Now, this band is known for their really, really,
really big power ballad from 1992's The Lizard
album. But I'm going to go with Saigon Kick's
first album and the song Come Take Me Now. This
is harmony out of the wazoo. And it's just, for
me, it's probably my favorite of their power
ballads. You absolutely scooped me on the band.
I had Love Is On The Way on my list. When I think
about beautiful acoustic guitar work like Mama
I'm Coming Home, I would have to, if I was making
a mixtape, back up Mama I'm Coming Home with
Love Is On The Way. Because again, that acoustic
guitar work is so gorgeous and so ethereal. And
then those harmonies. They just grab you. But
that one was so popular on radio. I love the
fact that you're digging a little deeper with
this one. So definitely a hat tip on this pick.
I am a huge fan of Jason Beeler's guitar playing.
I'm also a huge fan of that band's harmonic structure,
whether it's musical or vocal. I was on stage
with them once, and I did play Kazoo with a bunch
of other drunk folks on their song, My Life.
And right after My Life, they did play Your Choice,
which is not on this list, I'm sorry to say.
But I love Jason Bieler's playing on this or
on Love is on the Way. Because his phrasing is
great. He's just got this very ethereal presence
to his guitar tone and playing. That's a perfect
word to sum that one up. And the thing that you
liked about Saigon Kick was the vocal harmonies.
So what I'm going to do is do the absolute reverse
of that and follow this up with a power ballad
that is known for its vocals. That doesn't need
harmonies because the lead singer's vocals command
the song and anything else, even trying to harmonize
or become a part of it, would take away from
the song. And that would be Miljenko Matijevic's
stratospheric vocals on 1990s I'll Never Let
You Go by Steelheart. Shout out again to Cactus
Pete who chimed in for this one. We are talking
a song that gives Brad Delp's high note at the
end of Boston's More Than a Feeling a run for
its money. This dude could sing the phone book.
He sang. lead vocals on the Rockstar soundtrack
movie. That's where a lot of people might be
more familiar with Steelheart. If they saw that
with Marky Mark, Marky Mark was actually lip
syncing Miljanko Matejevic's vocals on We All
Die Young. But this is a band that I am shocked
never really followed up this hit because this
was everywhere and it's such a fantastic song.
And if you're not familiar with it, most people
refer to the song for some strange reason as
Angel Eyes. But that's confusing because you
have Angel Eyes by Jeff Healy band. Yeah. And
then you have Angel by Aerosmith and Send Me
an Angel by Scorpions and Fly to the Angels.
But anyway, I digress. I'll never let you go
from Steelheart. So now we're going into that
zone, that zone where this was a popular song,
but the band. wasn't that popular. And I hate
saying it, like Steelheart was awesome. That
entire album was awesome. I remember Everybody
Loves Eileen is another one that just had amazing
everything to it. And I think that was the other
single now that I think about it. But that whole
album was great. But wow. So if we're going to
go into this realm, you mentioned Bad English
earlier with some members of Journey. I'd like
to talk about another band with Neil Sean of
Journey. Called Hardline. Ooh. And this power
ballad. Wow, that's weird. This one's in a movie
too. I swear to God, I'm not going with a movie
theme. But this was in Rapid Fire with Brandon
Lee and Powers Booth. And I can't remember who
else was in it. But the song is called Can't
Find My Way. And yet another one of those huge
choruses. It's got this big hook to it with the
harmonies once again. that just wow like i can't
stop just thinking about that chorus now and
it's like they hit some notes on that too so
can't find my way by hardline and check out rapid
fire i mean what the hell i'm mentioning movies
at this point love the song that's a great that's
a nice deep pick even for neil shawn because
that's not a band that people automatically think
of when they think of him and it's a shame because
that's a great album But following up that anthemic
chorus to close out Side A, I'm going to go with
one of the most anthemic power ballad choruses
of all time by a singer who sang this chorus
essentially on his deathbed and knocked this
chorus out of the park in one take. Basically,
the story has it that he was struggling with
some of the vocals for 1991's Innuendo. And Brian
May was concerned if he would be able to execute
this song vocally. And they were discussing it
in the control room. And Freddie Mercury looked
at him, took a shot of vodka and said, I'll effing
do it, darling. And he walked into the studio
and belted out this masterpiece, The Show Must
Go On. The typical power ballad, maybe not, but
it's so anthemic and so powerful and the story
behind it grabs you. You cannot deny the heartache
and the power and kind of the closing of the
chapter of this song, which I think is just a
perfect side closer. So from 1991's Innuendo,
the last song on a Queen Studio album while Freddie
Mercury was on this earth, the show must go on.
That's amazing that you went with this to close
out a side and not close out the entire volume
because this is a really good ending. But for
a side, man, I completely I'm into it, man. I
love this song. I love Queen. Well, you have
the final pick of the night. I was going to go
with this song. So you totally stole it from
me, son of a gun. But that's all right. I think
I know what I've got. Well, there you have it,
folks. Side A of our Power Ballads Volume 2 mixtape,
which kicked off with Kenny Loggins' Meet Me
Halfway, Bad English, When I See You Smile, Roxette,
It Must Have Been Love, Ozzy Osbourne's Mama,
I'm Comin' Home, Scorpion's Wind of Change, Slaughter's
Fly to the Angels, Saigon Kicks, Come Take Me
Now, Steel Hearts, I'll Never Let You Go, Hard
Lines, Can't Find My Way, and Queen's The show
must go on. Head over to myweeklymixtape .com
to hear all the songs we've discussed in this
mix through the playlist embedded on the episode
page. Now, Sean, before we kick things off with
Side B, you've recently started a new campaign
based around your song Gen Asylum, which I'm
going to play a little clip of now. No time for
news, no time for time, just a critic. Press.
Who is that? Vicki Vale. Vicki Vale. I like.
Batman. So, Sean, why don't you tell people a
little bit about this campaign and how they can
take a part of it? Well, here's the thing, folks.
I love cats. And I also love caretakers of cats.
And a lot of you good folks that care for cats
do so out of your own pocket, which can get really
expensive, especially when it comes to stuff
like TNR. Trap new to release for those of you
not in the know. So what I'm trying to do is
I would love for one million sales of my song
Gin Asylum so I can have a nice financial cushion.
So should a shelter be in need of, say, a new
washing machine or just a neighbor that I know
that takes care of cats and needs food, I can
just say, hey, here's some money. This isn't
going to make me a millionaire. It's not going
to give me accolades, but it's going to give
me a nice little financial cushion to just say,
Yes, to anything cat or dog or any kind of furry
friend animal related that somebody might need
help with. And for the listeners, what I'll do
is post a link to where you can find Sean's music
on the episode page at myweeklymixtape .com where
you can pick up a copy of Gen Asylum for a buck.
And everybody has a dollar. It's only one dollar.
How much money did you spend on coffee last week?
You have a dollar, trust me. Hey, look at the
inflation on gas, and you just drove across the
country to go see fish seven times at MSG. You
have a dollar. I went to see fish at MSG. They
did bathtub gin. I was kind of hoping they would
do bathtub gin asylum. That would have been interesting.
Yeah, that would have. Fish, get on it. So please,
my song, Gin Asylum, only $1, and you're just
helping out the lives of those who care for cats,
and you're helping out cats and other pets as
well. I love the fact that you're taking a already
great song and putting it towards a fantastic
cause as a pet owner myself. So I thank you for
doing that. And flipping the side over to side
B, I get to kick things off. And man, I don't
know where I want to start with this. This is
actually really tough. This is why you should
have ended side two is show. Let's go on. You're
right. But I think I know what I'm going to do.
I'm going to go with one that. is a little bit
of a left field power ballad because the band
is not anyway consistent with hair metal or any
of that. They're just a rock band, but this song
is another level as far as I'm concerned. I've
covered it for years and I know as much as I
love performing it, I just feel in my heart I'm
not doing it the justice it deserves because
nobody commands the vocals of Never Tear Us Apart.
like Michael Hutchins of in excess and absolutely
powerful, amazing tune that just grabs your heartstrings.
It's just such a wonderful song. And I feel like
it's a perfect way to kick off side B with a
level of emotion that can follow up. The show
must go on coming out of side a, so in excess,
never tear us apart. Man, you just also raised
the level of class on this tape by a million
fold with that song. That's a really tough one
to follow up, man. It's a one -of -a -kind track.
I truly believe. I know a lot of people think
about Need You Tonight and all of their other
hits, but to me, this was In Excess' finest hour,
even though it's a three -minute song. My favorite
thing since you said Need You Tonight, I just
got to point out, back in the day when MTV played
videos, Sometimes Need You Tonight and Mediate
would be shown together. Yes. Because if you
listen to the album, they flow together. And
Mediate is actually my all -time favorite NXS
tune, but never tear us apart. My friend, the
class, the level of class here, I'm having a
tough time choosing now. But what I'm going to
do is I'm going to keep that level of class,
put a little sass and survivor into that. Not
the band Survivor, but a survivor that, Well,
sadly, we just lost her recently. And God darn
it, I'm going to go with another song from a
movie. Out of the runes, I'm going to go with
just Auntie Anthony, who you know better as Tina
Turner, and her song, We Don't Need Another Hero,
which does fall into the power ballad category.
And not only does it fall into the power ballad
category, I needed to stick with the class of...
never tear us apart, but still get a little more
oomph to that. And where you usually don't think
of Tina Turner as power ballads, We Don't Need
Another Hero fits the mold and breaks it just
a bit. That's a great one. I love her vocals
on that song. I almost was curious when you were
leaning into it, I was wondering if you were
going to go with What's Love Got To Do With It,
but that to me is a little more mid -tempo. But
as soon as you... Said movie, I'm like, ah, I
know what he's doing here. And I think I'm going
to see your movie and raise you a movie. What?
Yes. I don't have many movie references, but
I do have this one. Yeah, I know. That's why
I'm shocked. And I'm going to go back to 1987.
And I'm going to go with a little movie known
as Mannequin. And the song, Nothing's Gonna Stop
Us Now by Starship. I don't care what anybody
has to say about this song. When this comes on
in our car, I turn it up as loud as possible,
and I try to sing along as loud as I can to my
wife and kids' chagrin. But I absolutely love
this song. There's just something that is so
perfect about it. Not that Madigan was a special
movie in any way, shape, or form, but the song
has held up, and I still love hearing it every
single time it comes on. So nothing's going to
stop us now from Starship. Well, you can't be
too hard on Mannequin. I mean, there were enough
unanswered questions that there was a sequel.
That there was. Hollywood was the only one that
came back. And Bernie was in it, too. Bernie
was the bad guy with that really, really long
nose hair. Why are we talking about this? We're
going to talk about music. And you're going to
come out as Starship. Nothing's going to stop
us. Nothing's going to stop us. What a great
tune, dude. What a really great tune. Wow. Well,
it looks like... Am I going to be the guy that
throws a monkey at the wrench? No. No. I'm going
to stick with these big female vocals, and I'm
going to go with probably one of their most famous
ballads, and that would be... If I were to say
to you, close your eyes, give me your hand, darling,
do you feel my heart beating? Do you understand?
Do you feel the same? Or am I only dreaming?
Or is this burning an eternal flame? Say my name,
sun shines through the rain. That's my Shatner
version. Life, so lonely, can only ease the pain.
I'm going to go with Eternal Flame by The Bangles
in case any of that before did not give it away.
I absolutely adore that song. The piano in the
beginning is just so beautiful. The keyboard,
whatever, is just so perfect. It's so simple.
And it just pulls you in as the song continues
to build and Susanna Hoff's vocals on that. Oh
my God. Oh my God. The only thing about the song
that recently has given it a little bit of a
tinge for me because I wasn't a fan of the scene
was in the last season of how I met your mother.
They use eternal flame in one of the scenes that
the character floats away in the sky. And it's
just, not the best scene in an otherwise brilliant
show. And I, the first time I watched that scene,
I'm like, Oh God, please don't ruin this song
for me. Please don't ruin this. And then the
scene ended. And I'm like, I can never watch
the scene ever again. So anytime that episode
comes on, when that scene, I walked out of the
room. I just, it's like, I don't want to see
it a second time because it didn't ruin the song
for me yet, but I'm afraid if I see it again,
it might, but I absolutely love the tune. But
following that up, I'm going to do what you did
with Hardline and go with a deeper cut. And it's
by a band that I feel is criminally underrated.
It's leaning more towards the rock side of things
again. And this is a power ballad from them.
And when I say the band name, I know the song
everyone's going to think of. And I'm going to
go with Kicks. But I'm not going to go with Don't
Close Your Eyes. As much as I love that song.
It's a really dark, heavy song that I think lyrically
would bring this playlist down a little bit.
So I'm going to go with a song that I actually
like, maybe even a little bit more off of 1991's
Hotwire. And I'm going to go with their power
ballad, Tear Down the Walls. Wow, dude. Nice.
Yeah, that song, his vocals on it are absolutely
amazing. It's just so big and so bold and the
vocals are so perfect. And this is a very, very,
very underrated power ballad that I think more
people need to know about. Now, man, coming out
of that, that's going to be tough. But you also
you're giving me some leeway here where I'm going
to stay on the deeper side. Now, everybody knows
the name. When I say this name, everybody's going
to think. of race cars on a track, or they're
going to think about boogieing. But I'm going
to go to one of my favorite songs of all time,
up there with the Rainbow Connection by Kermit
the Frog and Paul Williams. I'm going to go with
a song from his third album, Flying in a Blue
Dream. I'm going to go with a song called I Believe
by Joe Satriani. A gorgeous, gorgeous power ballad
that really just hits me in the feels every single
time I hear it. And one might think when they
hear Joe Satriani that we're talking about an
instrumental in this song, when in fact, this
is one of the rare instances where Satriani is
actually behind a microphone as well. Yeah, I
mean, that was the album. The big single from
that album was Big Bad Moon. And he sang a couple
other tunes on it, and he hasn't sang on an album
since. Right. A lot of people didn't like that.
I thought it was fine. I thought he did all right.
There's an emotion to what he's singing and how
he's singing on that song. Actually, every song
I kind of like. The vocals are more of a character
than just some guy singing songs. And I really
appreciate that about that album. Well, I am
going to follow it up. We are now at song seven
on side B. And we haven't repeated a band from
volume one yet. And I think I'm going to break
that trend now. Because like Mama, I'm Coming
Home, this is one of my favorite acoustic openings
of all time. And one of the first songs I learned
how to play on acoustic guitar alongside of that
Mama, I'm Coming Home riff. And it's a song that
I am sure being a fan of this criminally underrated
band, as soon as I say the band name, I know
Sean's going to know what song I'm talking about.
But we are going to go with Tesla. And I am going
to go off of 1989's The Great Radio Controversy,
one of my favorite acoustic intros of all time,
along with Mama, I'm Coming Home. I'm going with
the big hit for them, Love Song. Yeah. It is.
So powerful. The opening is so gorgeous. I also
love the version on five man acoustical jam where
they break the acoustical jam aspect and then
kick the electric guitar. And at the end, the
first time I heard that, I'm like, yes, like,
cause you don't expect it. Magic. Yeah, no, I'm
with you on that. And when you watch that video
too, you just, just, you see the energy coming
off of Frank Cannon. Yeah. And I love the song.
I am going to go with the original 89 version
from the great radio controversy. I feel like.
coming out of a song like kicks tear down the
walls and satriani i wanted to go with that big
well -known power ballad and tesla fits the bill
here so first repeat from volume one only on
volume one spoiler alert it was sean's pick and
what you give and he scooped me on tesla so i
finally got a chance to put love song into this
fold well as you know tesla is one of my all
-time favorite bands So as much as I was telling
myself I wasn't going to repeat a band, even
though I could, you scooped me. I was going to
take Love Song and I was going to end it with
this because you scooped Show Must Go On from
me. Oh, man, I scooped you twice. You got me
twice tonight, brother. You got me twice tonight.
But what you did was set me up for a song that
I like. I can't believe I left this off of Volume
1 myself because it's one of the first ballads
I was ever really, really into. Coming out of
Love Song, from that G chord to the D chord to
the G chord to the D chord, you can just go seamlessly
into this. If you're playing live, you go back
to the G to a C, back to the G, and then do this.
And you can start playing The Ballad of Jane
by LA Guns from their 1989. masterpiece by the
way cocked and loaded name a bad tune on that
album huh i'm waiting i'm waiting you can't right
you can't and you scooped me right back because
the ballad of jane was on my list and i was considering
using that as my track nine because it all seems
funny kind of like a dream things ain't always
what they seem oh what a fantastic tune saw them
live in the early 2000s with poison rat and Slaughter.
Great show, great lineup. Got to see the Ballad
of Jane, Fly to the Angels. Rat really doesn't
have a power ballad, so regardless. And then
obviously Poison's slew of them. But for my last
song of the night, I want to go with something
that is a power ballad masterpiece by somebody
who's not always associated with power ballads.
However, one thing that this person is associated
with is being one of the most talented artists
and musicians and songwriters of all time. And
once again, it's from a movie. And the movie
is named after this song. And the movie came
out in 1984. And we are talking about Prince
Purple Rain. Did I scoop you a third time for
the last song of the night? My God. I was going
to close it with this. Hey, look, we haven't
talked about Sister Christian yet. Maybe you
could throw that in there. That's a pretty big
tune, too. But I'm sorry. I scooped you three
times tonight with closing song. Funny enough,
you didn't. But I wanted to put on the act. Oh,
damn. But I never meant to cause you any sorrow.
Dude, the guitar solo at the end of this song
is just. And I mean. When you think about the
Super Bowl performance, I saw Tom Petty, my favorite
artist of all time, perform live at the Super
Bowl in 2008. And I still say, man, I would have
loved to see Prince perform Purple Rain in the
rain. God time that thing out, man. That just
could not ask for a better, bigger, larger than
life moment. And that song is just perfection.
One million percent perfection. What a choice,
bro. That whole album is perfect. Oh, God, yeah.
I mean, there's really no Darling Nikki, When
Doves Cry. Which is my favorite Prince tune.
Prince is not synonymous with power ballads,
but I feel like Purple Rain defined what a power
ballad is because it's just one of those songs
that eclipses genres. I mean, is it an R &B song?
Is it a rock song? Is it a pop song? Yes. Yes.
Yes. Is it a power ballad? Yes. And it does them
all perfectly. So, yeah. Prince, Purple Rain,
track nine. I mean, there's really no other way
to define Prince than to say he sounds like Prince.
He's Prince. And there's nobody else like Prince,
and there never will be, which is a good thing.
I mean, maybe somebody can take that influence
and go further. Childish Gambino did it with
This Is America. That screams I grew up listening
to Prince. Yeah. So to come out of this, to close
out Volume 2 and set up a potential Volume 3,
I have to sift through this list. And all I can
think about, once again, the word boogie. The
word boogie is just, it's there in my head. It
was there with Satriani because everybody thinks
of Satch Boogie. But now with this song, I'm
thinking boogie. I'm thinking a potential thievery
in a film called Boogie Nights. And I'm thinking
of the great Alfred Molina and his mixtape. And
Sister Christian comes on. And they're having
this great, wonderful conversation during it.
And all of a sudden it gets to that buildup and
he tells everybody to shut up. And he just goes
in that dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, da, da,
da. I mean, how could I not end this? With the
show must go on by Queen. But since you scooped
that from me, I'm going to end this with just
one of the ultimate power ballads, Sister Christian
by Night Ranger. Well, you definitely scooped
me on it. And I was sitting here saying, how
did we get through two 20 song power ballad mixtapes
without talking about Night Ranger? Thank God.
We finally got that in there because I think
people would have been coming for us at that
point. And now Patreon mixtaper David Owens,
who chimed in with Sister Christian for the volume
one episode, finally gets his redemption here
on volume two. But even with all of that, there
are still a lot of bands we have yet to talk
about. And I still have at least, let's see,
two dozen songs sitting in my list that we haven't
touched. It's ridiculous. But there you have
it, folks. Side B of our Power Ballads Volume
2 playlist, which kicked off with In Excess,
Never Tear Us Apart, Tina Turner's We Don't Need
Another Hero, Starship, Nothing's Gonna Stop
Us Now, The Bangles, Eternal Flame, Kicks, Tear
Down the Walls, Joe Satriani, I Believe, Tesla,
Love Song, L .A. Guns, The Ballad of Jane, Prince,
Purple Rain. and Night Ranger, Sister Christian.
And remember, visit the Power Ballads Volume
2 page at myweeklymixtape .com to hear all the
songs we've discussed in this mix through the
playlist embedded on the episode page. Now also,
as an addendum to this episode, I want to hear
from you, the mixtapers, the listeners, which
volume of our Power Ballads mixtapes do you prefer?
Volume 1 or Volume 2? Hit me up on social media,
send me a message at myweeklymixtape at gmail
.com, and let me know which volume you prefer
and why. Hey, Brian. Yes, sir. Hey, Brian. Yes,
sir. You know what else would be great? If we
ended this with NFB a second time? You scooped
me again. Should I get you a tissue? Yeah. You
know what else I think, Brian? You know what
I think would be really great for your listeners
to do that aren't already doing it? I mentioned
it before. How much coffee can you possibly drink?
How much money can you spend on coffee? Become
a Patreon listener of My Weekly Mixtape. Show
support. You got to keep these things going with
your love and your support and by joining My
Weekly Mixtape's Patreon. I appreciate that,
Sean. And obviously... You have a lot that's
out there that I would like people to check out
and support as well. What does the rest of 2023
have in store for you? Any new music? Any new
shows on the horizon? And how can people get
in touch with you? I am always thinking of working
on new music. And then when I sit down to do
it, I just think about it some more and I go
about my day. So there are some ideas happening.
There's some stuff on the horizon. I just don't
know when. But you never know with me, do you?
But you can always find me. Go to Linktree, Sean
Faust Music. That'll take you to my Facebook,
my Twitter X thing, whatever it's called, my
Insta place. You can email me, seanfaustmusic
.com. It's all there. Just say hi, buy a song,
help some cats. I mean, and if you have a Spotify
playlist, add Gen Asylum to it because those
plays do help. If I get a million plays on Spotify,
I'll get a nice big check for 50 cents. So please
be a huge part in helping me out with that. If
you would be so kind. Well, Sean, always a blast.
Always a pleasure to talk music with you. Thank
you for almost 30 years of friendship. And I
appreciate you joining me again on my weekly
mixtape. Dude, thanks so much for having me again.
I can't believe you're actually going to tolerate
me a third time when we do volume three. I can't
wait. And remember, Mixtapers, you can find My
Weekly Mixtape on all the social media haunts
at My Weekly Mixtape. You can also head to MyWeeklyMixtape
.com to check out the full catalog of My Weekly
Mixtape episodes. And finally, if you like what
you're hearing on the show, you can help me out
by either telling a friend about the show, leaving
the show a five -star review wherever you're
tuning in, or like Sean said, becoming a Patreon
Mixtaper at Patreon .com forward slash My Weekly
Mixtape. That's all for this week. Thanks again
for listening. Until next time, enjoy the tunes.