Arena rock / AOR, from the outside in. Each step is a genre and the single record this encyclopedia would put on first. Play them in this order and the last one should sound like a next step rather than a wall.
- 1 The way in
Rock 1954
The whole family: guitar, bass, drums and a beat borrowed from blues and rhythm and blues. Every branch below grows out of this trunk, metal included.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
The Beatles - Revolver, if you want to understand why everything branched so fast.
The Beatles, Revolver (1966) - 2 Then
Blues rock 1963
Electric blues played louder, longer and with improvised solos. The direct bridge between Muddy Waters and Black Sabbath.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Cream - Sunshine of Your Love. The riff that showed how thick a trio could sound.
The pick names a track. This is the record the encyclopedia holds by them.
Cream, Fresh Cream (1966) - 3 Then
Hard rock 1968
Louder volume, thicker riffs, vocals pushed to the edge. Heavy metal splits off from it, but hard rock stays closer to the blues and to the chorus.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
- 4 What you asked about
Arena rock / AOR 1976
Hard rock polished for stadiums and FM radio: huge choruses, keyboards and glossy production.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Boston - More Than a Feeling. Recorded almost entirely in an MIT engineer's basement.
Boston, Boston (1976) - 5 Where to go next
Emo pop 1999
The emo formula with a radio chorus and polished production. The version that reached MTV and the shopping mall.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Jimmy Eat World - Clarity. The album before the success is the good one.
Jimmy Eat World, Clarity (1999)
Assembled from the tree: every genre Arena rock / AOR descends from, in order. Arena rock / AOR has no subgenres, so the last step is the genre that rates closest to it by sound.