“When It's Love” by Van Halen

By 1988 Van Halen with Sammy Hagar out front knew a slow one could hit as hard as a riff, and "When It's Love," the second single from OU812, is the proof. All four members share the writing credit, and it's a big-hearted power ballad: Edward Van Halen layers keyboards under the guitars, Hagar belts like he means every word, Michael Anthony adds harmonies and Alex Van Halen keeps the pulse steady.

Donn Landee produced it with the band. Eddie later said his solo tips its hat to Eric Clapton, and you can hear the bluesy restraint. It topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, reached No. 5 on the Hot 100 and turned out to be their last top-10 hit, and it has stayed in the live set ever since, even on the ill-starred 1998 tour with Gary Cherone. VH1 later counted it among the greatest power ballads.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.