Those who purchased the platinum-selling Monster Ballads compilation may find this album redundant, as it offers a similar track list with few surprises. Songs by
Journey,
Boston, and
Cheap Trick are all new additions, thus widening the definition of "power ballad" to include the older bands whose influence helped spawn the hair metal boom of the '80s. On the other end of the spectrum is
Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," a 1998 anthem that was still dominating the charts when Monster Ballads hit stores one year later. But even if
Now That's What I Call Power Ballads offers an expanded view of the power ballad's heyday, the bulk of this compilation still relies on the material listeners have heard countless times before:
Extreme's "More Than Words,"
Warrant's "Heaven,"
Bad English's "When I See You Smile," and so on. Consider this a Johnny-come-lately to the nostalgia party that Monster Ballads crashed long, long ago. ~ Andrew Leahey