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A long haired, leather clad man, stands in the middle of a spot light on stage. The scene is dark and forbidding. Around him are evil looking guitars and drums. Sweet drips from him, a slight rumble begins to grow, but it's not him, it's his fans. Screaming starts, the excitement grows as he pulls the microphone to his lips, and in an almost whisper he begins to sing. It's a slow song, a sweet song, a weak song. It's a power ballad, and it's what eighty's metal bands used to show girls, they had a softer side. And even though it worked, the problem was, and is, metal is not soft! It's hard and rough, it had an aura that was solid and dangerous. It was untouchable, unstoppable, and unbreakable. Unbreakable that is till the advent of the 'power ballad'. It was almost like putting tutus on hells angels. Most of us looked the other way, we knew they might sing something weak and mild, but they would also play all the songs we loved, but I believe that we allowed them to give up on the true music, I don't believe that anyone that listens to most bands that slid down into the power ballad pool identified with the songs. They were never like the rest of the songs, it never truly fit. Most songs talked about drinking, partying, sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Then all of a sudden, they were wining about some chick they couldn't live with out. It was no longer true metal, it lost its hardness. It became mercury. Watered down. It was like being lied to through the music. We identified with those people, they became our friends, and we let our friends live a lie. In that moment, we fell from grace; we let them fall from grace. We didn't stand up to them and tell them, 'were not buying it, it's not you. just be yourself.' it was a break in the armor, it made them mortal, those rock gods that were untouchable fell from their pedestal, down to earth. They became human, and in that made metal, not metal at all, but more like water, that was once ice, but now it was only liquid. Soft, mild, and nothing that even resembled what we knew as 'metal'.

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