Jennifer Rush - Laura Branigan

Watch all three videos, then discuss. First up Jennifer Rush who actually co-wrote the song.

Laura Branigan - The Power of Love

Céline Dion - The Power Of Love

Celine Dion is annoyingly nasal.

Jennifer Rush. When I was young, my faghag and I used to sing along with that version in the car, with expressive arm movements and facial expressions. So I have good memories of it.

Never liked the song that much. Branigan's version is the worst to my ears. Her screeching at the end of the song sounds physically painful.

[quote] Branigan's version is the worst to my ears.

Yet it is Laura who is winning the poll

Yeah, Laura Branigan and it's not even close. The song needs drama that Celine just doesn't deliver. She should have channeled her "Where Does My Heart Beat Now?" performance/arrangement.

Would have loved to hear Ann Wilson/Heart turn this into a true late 80s power ballad.

Laura has pathos in her voice, something the other two lack

Am I correct that Laura only had four hit records: Solitaire, How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, and her two biggies...Self Control and Gloria? Am I missing any?

“The Lucky One” was a minor Top 40 hit in ‘84 and “Spanish Eddie” barely made the Top 40 in ‘85.

Laura should have had more hits, but 7 top 40 hits isn't too bad considering she was "just" a singer and wasn't really a big MTV draw like Madonna, Whitney, and Janet.

I'd performed mostly comedy routines in drag in the Eighties, which was great fun, yet I'd wanted to win the local bar's weekly lip-sync competition with a "serious" song. Branigan's "Power Of Love" did the trick for me...I really loved her!

I was introduced to the song via the Jennifer Rush version in 1985. Just a beautiful song. So raw and vulnerable. I loved it. Everytime I hear it now, it takes me back to that time in 1985/1986 when it was played on the radio regularly. .

I always HATED the Celine Dion version. Listening to it felt like blasphemy after loving the Jennifer Rush version. Celine ruined it. She took all the vulnerability out of the song and just plowed right through it at full speed, making it a different song.

Branigan's version is beautiful - love her scratchy, powerful voice.

Laura Brannigan was my very first concert. At the Chateau de Ville in Framingham, MA (where I grew up). It was right when Brannigan 2 was coming out and “Solitaire” was on radio.

I wanted to collaborate with R Kelly on that, but he said he was busy.

Laura has a rustic dimension to her voice which I like. She sails through the high notes and puts emotion into it that fits with the lyrics.

OP, Branigan's video is a live performance, while the other two are recordings adapted to scenery. Jennifer's video was depressing, but not her singing which was also quite good. All three I can listen to comfortably. Nothing particularly negative with any of the three.

Connoisseurs will choose Jennifer Rush.

The tasteless plebs will please themselves and don't matter.

My gay high school "boyfriend" (I'm a lesbian, and it was as comical an attempt at heterosexuality as you might imagine), who was obsessed with musical theater, gave me a VHS copy of a Michael Crawford special as a birthday present. "The Power of Love" was on it ― the exact version linked below ― and, for years, I thought it was his song.

Cornball spaz Greek singer Nana Mouskouri's cover

Celine Dion has just barely edged out Laura Branigan for 1st in the poll

Laura’s version of “Cry Wolf” blows Stevie’s out of my water.

r23, I'm totally picturing your "boyfriend" singing this version to proclaim his heterosexual love for you! Love it!

(Yes I know your post is over a year old; hope you're still around to read this.)

Jennifer Rush's was the version I heard the most. I thought it was strange that her version didn't take off in her home country. But listening to it now, I can see why it didn't take off. The backing track is very sparse and it doesn't really drive the song along much. I thought Rush was a belter but her voice is actually quite heady.

Branigan is working way too hard in the version above.

I think all three versions are beautiful. It's a wonderful ballad.

I have a memory when my friend and I travelled to Jamaica (WAY in the sticks). Her father had built a house and lived there. Occasionally, he'd take us on rides into the city, etc. He had a cassette tape (yes, you read that right; and it was already 2006) of the Celine version. No one was talking. Afterwards, there was a long silence and Paul just said, "Wow." Nice memory.

[Quote] No one was talking. Afterwards, there was a long silence and Paul just said, "Wow."

Marys!

Also, RIP Laura Branigan (her version was live, so it's not a very fair comparison).

"Gloria" is also one of my all-time favourite songs. Coincidentally, that's the name of my friend's mother and Paul's ex (RE: R30)!

The Branigan studio version.

Air Supply has the prettiest vocal of the charting versions.

I always loved Celine Dion’s version of The Power Of Love but now I like Laura Brannigan’s version more. She gives it poignancy and emotion. I loved ‘Gloria’ too. Such a shame she died so young.

I'm shocked at how Rush's version is lagging behind.

Back in the day, when I heard Branigan's version, I thought it was the best. And then when Celine's came out, I thought it was the best.

Both have not aged well. They were good for their times but that's it. Branigan's is too screechy and overwrought. Celine's is too slick and inauthentic.

Rush's version remains the best and has aged the best. Plus, she co-wrote it so it gives her an edge. She really had a great voice. She's now another plastic surgery disaster.

[Quote] I'm shocked at how Rush's version is lagging behind.

Rush is basically an unknown in the US.

R32, Did you know that Laura Branigan also sang "Don't Cry For Me Argentina?"

Branigan sang everyone's hits.

Laura Branigan, "Don't Walk Away."