19 October 1985
The nuclear power ballad arms race takes a sinister turn. At least with ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ you get the impression that Jim Steinman and Bonnie Tyler had the functioning sense of humour and self-awareness required to deliver such OTT theatrics and striking lyrics. But Jennifer Rush’s ‘The Power Of Love’ is so po-faced and bland: simply a vehicle for Rush’s bellowing voice, with no work put into the lyrics (“We’re heading for something / Somewhere I’ve never been / Sometimes I am frightened” is glorified placeholder text) or melody at all. If you were ever curious as to what Margaret Thatcher would have sounded like at karaoke, here’s the best guess.
There’s a straight line from Rush to Céline Dion, the latter also having a screeching hit with this song in the ’90s. Whitney Houston’s infamous climactic blaster in ‘I Will Always Love You’ is also a child of Rush’s performance here: loudness—or ‘power’ if we take this song on its own terms—as the one true indicator of emotion. It’s not just the female singers; Michael Bolton follows this dreadful influence too. Clearly there was an audience for this dumbed-down power balladry, and Rush was the first to market. But it’s a horrible listening experience.
