The difference, by ear
Glam metal is the next decade's version of the same commercial proposition, with more guitars and less keyboard.
Both are sung cleanly, but glam metal is a little faster: 120 to 160 bpm against 100 to 130. To hear the difference, play Journey next to Mötley Crüe. Arena rock / AOR comes from the rock side of the tree and glam metal from the metal side, and Arena rock / AOR came first, by five years.
In figures
Arena rock / AOR
Where it sits
Rock › Blues rock › Hard rock › Arena rock / AOR
In short
Hard rock polished for stadiums and FM radio: huge choruses, keyboards and glossy production.
How it sounds
- Interlocking keyboards and guitars with choruses harmonised across several voices.
- Glossy production and heavy compression, everything audible on a car radio.
- Structures that are predictable by design: verse, pre-chorus, enormous chorus.
Key acts
- Journey
- Boston
- Foreigner
- Toto
Start here
The pickBoston - More Than a Feeling. Recorded almost entirely in an MIT engineer's basement.
Full page →Glam metal
Where it sits
In short
Hard rock with hairspray, a radio chorus and a mandatory power ballad. It ruled MTV until 1991.
How it sounds
- Simple hard rock riffs with glossy production and gated reverb on the drums.
- Choruses with multiple vocal harmonies, built for radio and MTV.
- A mandatory ballad on every album, usually the hit single.
Key acts
- Mötley Crüe
- Ratt
- Poison
- Skid Row
Start here
The pickSkid Row - Slave to the Grind. The genre's heaviest album, released exactly too late.
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