I wish we could hear, at some point, from
Mudcatter Thomas Stern,
who knows more repertoire and artists than I do.

From my angle,
which is a classical-music education,
I can imagine those who are partial to the German Lied
engaging in a similar discussion within that specialty.

The Lied has many other song types than the ballad;
having said that,
there is no shortage of ballads in Lieder,
and some of them are really memorable work
(if they are done with inspiration, they could give you nightmares).

For all that, I can easily imagine
some people who love classical singing
who, like others here,
cringe at the thought of sitting through
performances of certain Lied ballads.

Not to mention the pianists who have to accompany them.
Some of the great ballad settings are the kind of piano-writing
that separates the professionals from the amateurs,
as some composers of genius -- Schubert is a good example --
respond enthusiastically to the challenge of
an atmospheric, stirring musical setting for a ballad lyric.