Not all of hair metal was raucous noisy tasteless party music. Every now and then a band would slow it down. Usually these songs were superficial "sensitive" ballads. It got to the point where at least one slow love song was expected on every album released. This killed hair metal, not grunge.
But this band, L.A. Guns, led by guitarist Tracii Guns and vocalist Philip Lewis, released a slow song on their 1989 album Cocked & Loaded.
But this wasn't your typical slow romantic nonsense. This was a completely different type of romantic nonsense. The Ballad of Jayne is a tribute to an actress who died when most of the band members were still in diapers. The lyrics are not so descriptive that it has to be about her, but the subject of the song has obviously died--"now she's breaking hearts in heaven"--and the spelling of "Jayne" suggest it is about her.
This song has layers that many ballads of the era lack, including a little string arrangement. I consider it one of the top ballads in the short history of hair metal.
(I forgot to say...yes, I own it...on vinyl!)
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