10 Amazing Pop Songs By Rock Artists
3. I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing - Aerosmith
The '90s were not necessarily all that fun for the die hard Aerosmith fans. After already going a little bit more into radio rock territory in the '80s, it was tough to see the Bad Boys From Boston morphing into a pop rock act right before our eyes. What's crazier is the fact that it took them over 25 years as a band to finally get their first #1 hit song in the charts.
Right off the bat though, there's no denying that I Don't Want to Miss a Thing is pretty cheesy. Complete with a tie in to the blockbuster Armageddon that came out around the same time, this is a song from 1998 that feels like it belongs in 1986. In the age of alternative rock, there was no reason for something like this to be on the charts...if not for the fact that it's an absolutely gorgeous song.
As much as Steven Tyler may go over the top with his wails in the back half, every little piece of the backing track is immaculate, from Joe Perry's guitar picking coming in at just the right time to the amazing orchestra swells that get more and more sweeping as it builds up to that final chorus. When Aerosmith had their first comeback in the '80s, they were already dealing with hair metal acts stealing some of their tricks. By the late '90s, most hair metal bands would have killed to still be able to write something this hard hitting.