Big orchestral sound in pop, rock etc.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. That´s plenty to explore, I´ll be quite busy in the next couple of days.

Today I listened to Chicago V (I´m going through the discography) and maybe it´s a bit too jazzy for my taste but the overall sound of the band is very pleasing. Rock with horns. Nice.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood´s „Welcome to the Pleasuredome) was the second album I ever bought. It still holds up, even though I don´t listen to it that often. The second album has some great songs and production, even though it´s a bit less over the top.

Early Pet Shop Boys is right down my alley, even though I didn´t think of them. But hey, „It´s a sin“ is big. One song I love to return to every now and then is the long version of „It´s alright“. Recommended!

I´m very much into early Genesis and Yes, I love the sound of the B3 and Mellotron and it always presented a hurdle when bands started using other synths. I know few of the other bands @simonmoon recommends (thanks!) and will check them out. I can already return the favour and recommend Magma´s „Mekanik Destruktiv Kommandöh“: On the one hand it´s really out there on the other it´s so rhythmic and rocking, a bit of a take it or leave it thing. I love it.

I had not heard at all of the Carpenters album. And maybe I would have dismissed it as a cash grab and lazy, but now I´m intrigued. Thanks!

Santana´s first is great, even though I like the Woodstock performance better (it´s included in the legacy edition 2CD set). Late 60s and early 70s salsa albums have a lot of players on them: „Fania All Stars Live at the Cheetah“ is a good example.

Joni Mitchell – „Miles of Aisles“ – that is also a nice album.

Thanks again everyone!

If you want to get very ambitious and adventurous, look for a copy of St. Giles Cripplegate, a 1972 album of modern Classical music written by Jack Nitzsche and performed by The London Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Measham (Reprise Records MS2092).

Nitzsche was Phil Spector’s arranger and orchestrator (including the incredible "River Deep, Mountain High"), and did the same for a number of Rock bands, including Buffalo Springfield (on Neil Young’s "Expecting To Fly") and The Stones. He and Ry Cooder produced Neil Young’s debut album, and Jack later played piano on a number of Neil Young records, including Harvest. He’s all over the debut album of Crazy Horse, a fantastic album. He also did a number of soundtracks, such as Performance, The Exorcist, and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. A very talented guy.

Check out Elton John live in Australia with the Melbourne symphony orchestra.  Great performances and recorded well.  

@bdp24 We´re entering neo-classical terrain here – that´s not exactly what I meant in the original post, but still: I´m listening to this right now and it has beautiful moments.
To be honest, the arrangement of „River Deep, Mountain High" is a bit too much for me, distracting from the song.
I´ll check out the other albums you recommend though, Nitzsche surely know how to handle an orchestra.
One more adventurous release I can recommend is „Ys“ by Joanna Newsom. It´s all harp and singing plus a full orchestra (arranged by Van Dyke Parks). She´s really taking folk into new directions there.

@pops Thank you! Maybe this will finally get me into Elton John. Before I heard „Mad Dogs and Englishmen“ I wouldn´t have touched Joe Cocker records with a stick, but I´m glad I gave it a try.

@chmaiwald: I got the Joanna Newsom album because of the involvement of Van Dyke Parks, and even after multiple listens haven’t been able to get into it. I’ll try again!

Speaking of Van Dyke Parks, his debut album Song Cycle is another heavily orchestrated album, and a stunner. Also an audiophile quality recording.