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AOR

AKA: Adult Oriented Rock • 10,374 releases

Emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s as an amalgamation of Hard Rock, Pop Rock, and Progressive Rock; characterized by a rich, layered sound, slick production and a heavy reliance on commercial melodic hooks.
Read more AOR, short for Adult Oriented Rock, is a sub-genre of Rock that emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s as an amalgamation of Hard Rock, Pop Rock and Progressive Rock. It is characterized by a rich, layered sound, slick production and a heavy reliance on commercial melodic hooks, which led to its huge popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Adult-oriented rock is commonly conflated with but distinguished from the US "album-oriented rock" FM radio format, also called AOR, which played not only adult-oriented rock but also album tracks and "deep cuts" from a variety of other rock genres.

AOR songs are almost always electric guitar and synthesizer-driven, occasionally crossing over with other popular synth-driven genres such as Synthpop and New Wave, very often including harmonized vocals. The catchy, singalong choruses combined with relatively short song lengths and a bombastic, anthemic quality modeled after prog’s theatrical ambitions make AOR a very radio-friendly genre. The songs are typically more melodic than most straightforward hard rock, but harder edged than most pop rock, not unlike Power Pop‘s marriage of sugary harmonies and muscular, driving riffs.

Some of the earliest and most well known AOR bands include names like Asia, Boston, Foreigner, Journey, Survivor and Toto, with songs such as Boston's "More Than a Feeling" and Toto's "Africa" becoming hugely popular radio staples, the latter showcasing influences from lighter pop rock stylings more akin to Soft Rock and Yacht Rock. As many of these bands are known for their stadium-filled shows, there is a significant overlap between AOR and "arena rock", an originally pejorative term used by critics to describe bands known for their crowd-pleasing anthems and power ballads. However, arena rock is not an AOR-exclusive term as many acts pegged as arena rock such as the Post-Punk rooted U2 come from many different backgrounds of rock music beyond AOR.

Although AOR experienced a decline in popularity in part due to the breakthrough of Alternative Rock in the 1990s, the genre eventually went through an underground resurgence in the 2000s with acts such as Brother Firetribe and Place Vendome reviving AOR’s pompous, arena-sized rock for the modern day.

Top-ranked albums

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Years active

AOR

Discography

10,374 Releases

1 2 ... 250 Next

Release Date

Avg Ratings Reviews

God Gave Rock and Roll to You / Christmas for the Free
Argent

1973 Single

79 Ratings 3 Reviews 3.05 Average

3.05 79 79 3 3
Styx II
Styx

1973 Album

748 Ratings 26 Reviews 3.22 Average

3.22 748 748 26 26
Lady / You Better Ask
Styx

1973 Single

159 Ratings 4 Reviews 2.92 Average

2.92 159 159 4 4
You Need Love / Winner Take All
Styx

1973 Single

20 Ratings 3.01 Average

3.01 20 20
Ridin' the Storm Out
REO Speedwagon

1973 Album

316 Ratings 9 Reviews 3.07 Average

3.07 316 316 9 9
I Know What You Need / He's Always There
A Foot in Coldwater

1974 Single

5 Ratings 3.48 Average

3.48 5 5
Love Hurts / Down
Nazareth

1974 Single

393 Ratings 8 Reviews 3.28 Average

3.28 393 393 8 8
Where Is the Show?
Jo Jo Gunne

1974 Single

3 Ratings 3.00 Average

3.00 3 3
Crazy Talk
Chilliwack

1974 Single

1 Ratings 3.00 Average

3.00 1 1
Come On Over / Come On Over
Chilliwack

1974 Single

2 Ratings 3.50 Average

3.50 2 2
While You're Down There
Stray Dog

1974 Album

98 Ratings 7 Reviews 3.28 Average

3.28 98 98 7 7
Flat as a Pancake
Head East

1974 Album

280 Ratings 16 Reviews 3.33 Average

3.33 280 280 16 16
Blonde
Barnaby Bye

1974 Single

3 Ratings 2.81 Average

2.81 3 3
Starbright Starlight / Good Time Thing
Gravy Train

1974 Single

3 Ratings 2.20 Average

2.20 3 3
Open Up / Start a New Life
REO Speedwagon

1974 Single

7 Ratings 2.56 Average

2.56 7 7

1 2 ... 250 Next

Lists

RYM Ultimate Box Set > AOR 2022-04-27T19:11:43Z

TheScientist 61 items
The Quest for The Right to Say "I listen to everything" 2024-04-20T17:45:35Z

HiroM 522 items
Album Paporit Gw 1985 2024-04-20T04:08:46Z

Wongkayan 17 lists 9 items
Urban Nights >>>>> AOR 2024-04-15T18:10:39Z

Vrox 157 items
Favorite Albums Of 2018 2024-04-12T15:23:24Z

rhart4269 2 lists 40 items
My Favorite Classic-Era AOR/Melodic Rock Albums 2024-04-05T03:54:09Z

Area_Man 38 items
Micky Leroux' AOR Top 1997 2022-05-26T17:24:36Z

Micky_oao 4 lists 19 items
Precious albums from my treasure trove - part 2: 00s - 10s - 20s 2024-02-29T10:32:23Z

CL_RR 50 items
Toto 2024-02-16T19:01:10Z

Pakstones 16 items
8 totally obscure AOR albums that should have been huge (Classic Rock) 2024-01-20T16:08:03Z

AORCentral 10 lists 8 items
2023 ROCK RANKING 2024-01-13T07:07:09Z

AndyUpit 7 items
Worst to Best: Journey 2024-01-08T23:10:09Z

diogobizotto 16 items
AOR I Like In No Particular Order (In Progress) 2023-12-17T09:43:51Z

chriscrepon 189 items
SURVIVOR - Ranking the most powerful albums with the force 2023-10-18T14:44:05Z

DJ_Darth_Vader 8 items
Journey Studio Albums Ranked Favorite to Least Favorite 2023-10-11T23:48:10Z

patman1966 10 items

Hierarchy

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Rock
Typically uses a verse-chorus structure with a backbeat rhythm and the electric guitar at the forefront; generally heavier and/or faster than its predecessors.
- AOR

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Contributions

Contributors to this page: Poohkali whoistomstockman protondonor ecjam6 rjryan3 MarilynRoxie

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