Not to be confused with Rebound's 1998 collection, Power Ballads, this Power Ballads is a compilation that Right Stuff assembled for its Hot Rod magazine series in 2000. The CD spans 1978 to 1995, with its oldest track being Meatloaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" and the most recent being Blessid Union of Soul's "I Believe." But most of the songs came out in the 1980s, which is appropriate because power ballads reached the height of their popularity during that decade. Some of Right Stuff's choices are questionable; Pat Benatar's 1983 hit "Love Is a Battlefield," for example, is a pop/rock gem, but it's really too fast to qualify as a ballad (power or otherwise). And the word "ballad" certainly doesn't describe the up-tempo, exuberant "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." Nonetheless, this compilation does contain its share of honest-to-God power ballads, including Richard Marx's "Hold on to the Nights," Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," Whitesnake's "Is This Love," Queensryche's "Silent Lucidity," and Great White's "Save Your Love." Yet Hot Rod Series: Power Ballads isn't definitive and is far from the last word on the subject; Heart's "Alone," Bryan Adams' "Heaven," and Winger's "Miles Away" (three songs that aren't included) would have been much better examples of power ballads than "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" and "Love Is a Battlefield." Nonetheless, this is a generally likable collection that will appeal to those who appreciate 1980s pop/rock at its slickest and most commercial. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide