A.O.R no screaming


Ah as a teenager growing up in the late 70's my best friend was an AOR/Pomp rock nut-I had to join in.
Just this week I bought the gold edition of the first Boston album and the remastered version of the first Foreigner album.
It's a music that is derided,is it that awful?- certainly Americans in the late 70's didn't know how to dress and Kevin whathisface in Reo Speedwagon had a really big nose, but what are your memories?
For my money there were some great musicians taking part,Neal Schon,Tom Scholtz et al,however it did get saturated pretty quickly and didn't develop as a genre but even in rainy Scotland some of us rocked,ah we were young.
To start the debate here is my AOR top 5........

1.Kansas-Point Of Know Return
2.Journey-Escape
3.Styx-Pieces Of Eight
4.Boston-Boston
5.Foreigner-Foreigner

Heaven or hell?
ben_campbell
Hell for sure, but not without it's guilty pleasures. I had all those albums as a kid, but the only one that has found it's way into my cd collection is "Pieces of Eight". I saw it cheap and couldn't help it. Haven't played it in years, though.

A few more dubious "classics":

April Wine-Nature of the Beast (I think? the one with "Sign of the Gypsy Queen")
Asia-Asia
Billy Squier-Emotions In Motion
Bad Company-Bad Company
Anything by Supertramp or The Little River Band
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, I couldn't help it.
Sorry, Curbach, I disagree! Supertramp happens to be a personal favorite. While some of the albums (especially "Breakfast in America") may sound somewhat commercial and contrived, two albums each have songs that, for those alone, are worth purchasing the album. "Crisis" has the tune "Another Man's Woman" which is a complex and layered song, both musically, lyrically, and vocally. Same for "Even in the Quietest Moments" featuring "Fool's Overture". Both albums also feature other gems throughout. Their first major album "Crime of the Century" is a classic that belongs in ANY collection. The title cut is still a haunting melody even after almost 30 years! And anyone who was fortunate enough to see the 1980 "Breakfast in America" tour (the final tour that both broke and broke up the band) knows how truly remarkable this band was! Just my opinion! Happy Tunes!
I'm using my softest voice! Having grown up in the same time period this brings a grin to the wrinkled face.
I can remember many mornings riding to school in Rogers '67 GTO blasting Nazereth Hair of the Dog or Ted Nugents Strangle Hold. Wheel in the sky saw lots of playtime.
Ritchie Blackmores Rainbow was probably the best metal album ever!
Pink Floyd Ummagumma - Careful with that axe Eugene or Several spieces of small furry animals gethered together in a cave and grooving with a pict.
Milwaukee had several great AOL stations at the time and some of them played some bizzare stuff as you can see from this list.
I still remember the "Dear Doctor" call in show where people would ask about the drugs they just bought to see if they were real or any good. Now that's music!
No offense, Parrot. I've actually never heard a Supertramp album. I know them only by their radio hits of the era, and those certainly qualify as AOR schlock IMHO.

Hey, Nrchy, I'll second your endorsement of Rainbow, although I would hardly call them AOR while Dio was involved. The later albums are another story. Have you heard Ritchie's recent ventures into Renaissance folk music? Some its quite good (but I'm a bit biased--he's still my favorite guitar player. . .)
The 70's and 80's had it's share of bands that showed glimpses of talent but there was an awful lot of glam thrown in for good measure. How about...

Flock of Seagulls
Heart
Pat Benatar
Prism
Simple Minds
Spandau Ballet
Split Enz
The Box
The Fixx
Cheap Trick
Crowded House
Electric Light Orchestra
Harelquin
KISS
Tears for Fears
Trooper

Yep, still listen to this stuff, why not?