Rockpedia

Compare

Two genres, side by side. The ratings are editorial judgements on a ten-point scale, not measurements. Where they come out level, the difference is in the prose underneath them.

First genre

Arena rock / AOR1976

Second genre

Post-grunge1994

Head to headArena rock / AOR vs Post-grunge
Arena rock / AOR: heaviness 4, melody 10, speed 5. Post-grunge: heaviness 5, melody 9, speed 5.Heaviness4 / 5Melody10 / 9Speed5 / 5
Each corner is a ten-point rating. The further out, the higher.

The difference, by ear

Both are radio genres criticised for craft without content, arriving twenty years apart in the same commercial slot.

Both are sung cleanly and move at much the same pace, around 100 to 140 bpm. To hear the difference, play Journey next to Foo Fighters. They share a root in rock, and Arena rock / AOR came first, by eighteen years. United States appears in the origins of both.

Put together from each genre's vocals, tempo, song length, key acts and place in the tree.

In figures

Heaviness
Arena rock / AOR4
Post-grunge5
+1
Speed
Arena rock / AOR5
Post-grunge5
level
Melody
Arena rock / AOR10
Post-grunge9
−1

Arena rock / AOR

1976 · USA

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 →

Post-grunge

1994 · USA / Canada

Where it sits

Rock › Alternative rock › Grunge › Post-grunge

In short

The grunge formula cleaned up for radio: same dynamics, less dirt, vastly more airplay.

How it sounds

  • The same dynamics, but with radio production: heavy compression, symmetrical guitars.
  • Melodic choruses with doubled and harmonised vocals.
  • Simplified riffing, mid tempos, fixed structures.

Key acts

  • Foo Fighters
  • Bush
  • Creed
  • Nickelback

Start here

The pickFoo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape. Dave Grohl played nearly all of it himself.

Full page →