Rolling Stone Readers Pick the Best Ballads of All Time

Rolling Stone Magazine ^ | Andy Greene

[ConservativeStatement]

Last week we asked our readers to vote for their favorite ballad or slow jam of all time. Votes were all over the place – from tracks by Pearl Jam to Elvis Presley to Lionel Richie. In the end it was very close, and there was a tie so we had to expand our standard top 10 to a top 12. If this survey has reinforced anything, it's that our readers really, really love Led Zeppelin.

[FredZarguna]

How is Something a ballad? It's a beautiful song, but it's just a love song. There really is no story being told.

[FredZarguna]

Thank you.

Apparently nobody knows what a ballad is. Of the songs in the top five, only Stairway to Heaven is an actual ballad. All the rest are just ordinary love songs. That's also true of most of the "ballads" being cited in this post. Geez Loo-eeze.

[Lazlo in PA]

You Sir, are an uncouth hieratic. Absolute Poppycock. That song is a full dose of Disco, Classical and Rock all on the same nickle at the bars Wurlitzer. Good stuff.

[SweetCaroline]

*

[FredZarguna]

Turn of a Friendly Card might actually be the most underrated LP of all time. It is one of the few albums where every track is excellent. Nobody has ever heard of it.

[Tex-Con-Man]

Early Linda Ronstadt was unbeatable when it came to torch ballads. It came straight from her heart.

Long, Long Time

...and she was adorable.

And for the uninitiated, one of the most hauntingly beautiful versions of Sting’s Field's of Gold as performed by the late Eva Cassidy.

Field's of Gold

[Feasor13]

No “Only a Woman” by Trey Parker? Featured prominently in Team America: World Police. Sets the mood great.

[Jack Deth]

Understood, Fred.

As is Jimi Hendrix’s vastly superior cover of ‘All Along The Watchtower’ that puts Bob Dylan’s original to shame.

Jack.

[FredZarguna]

That is an atrocity against not only mankind, but all sentient life.

[Lazlo in PA]

MacArthur Park is a ballad. Like it or not. I do know what a ballad is.

[dfwgator]

No “Only a Woman” by Trey Parker? Featured prominently in Team America: World Police. Sets the mood great.

The "Warts" song from Baseketball is Trey's best.

[FredZarguna]

You are losing your posting privileges to like, the whole Internet.

For life.

[dfwgator]

Turn of a Friendly Card might actually be the most underrated LP of all time. It is one of the few albums where every track is excellent. Nobody has ever heard of it.

Also, IMHO Ian Bairnson is the greatest rock guitarist nobody ever heard of.

[Always Independent]

Must be part of that sixties caberet crowd:-)

[MplsSteve]

I agree. Most of Linda Romstadt’s music (even some oher 80’s pop) was good.

Here’s a link to “Someone To Lay Down Beside Me” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjM53fgVuCM

This song sounds very different when you listen to it at night.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Thanks! I knew there was one I was forgetting.

[Jack Deth]

I agree wholeheartedly with ‘Fields Of Gold’ by Eva Cassidy. The world lost a magnificent voice when she passed on.

Linda Rhonstadt first caught my attention back in her Stone Ponies days. With ‘Different Drum’ which was originally written by Michael Nesmith.

Also her rendition of Lowell George’s ‘Willin’ still manages to tug at heart strings.

Jack.

[goat granny]

Engelbert was good, but Tom Jones has hands down great pipes. He is still belting them out. Frankie Laine had great pipes also. Didn't need a bunch of sounds to make their songs great.

Got to watch TJ's show in person. He puts on a show all by himself that will blow your socks off. I saw him in the late 70's perform live in the suburbs of Detroit at a dinner and show place...They had a lot of great names, Paul Anka (my gosh he is tiny probably doesn't hit 5'5. Diane Warwick, (prima dona). A friend of my husband ran the club and we got to watch all shows free as we were volunteer ushers...

It was a great job..even without pay and we say all the singers of that era except Frank Sinatra..

Gallager and his watermelons was also one of the acts we saw....

[FredZarguna]

Have seen all these bands, several times except for Uriah Heep (saw Heep just once at the Allentown Fairgrounds: meh.) Agree with all, except Sabbath. Sabbath is simply not original and there's no way to pretend they are: Da-Da. Dadadada. Da-Da. Dadadada. Da-Da. Dadadada (repeat to fade.)

Zep RuleZ.

[dfwgator]

Telegraph Road - Dire Straits