Album-oriented rock

Album-oriented rock, abbreviated AOR and originally called Album Oriented Radio, was originally an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.

Related Topics:
American - FM radio - Rock

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When FM radio broadcast licenses were first issued by the FCC, broadcasters were slow to take advantage of the new airwaves available to them because their advertising revenues were generated primarily from existing AM radio stations and because there were few FM radio receivers owned by the general public. This void created an opportunity for the disenchanted youth counter-culture of the era to express itself by playing music that was largely ignored by the mainstream media. In this sense, AOR was more of a social response than a product marketed to fill a need.

Related Topics:
FM radio - FCC - AM - Radio stations - FM

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Prior to the advent of AOR, radio stations typically played rotations of 40 to 60 of the most popular songs at the time. Artists released either singles, in the form of 45 rpm discs, or 12 inch albums which contained several tracks. Record companies generated larger revenues from the sale of a single album compared to the sale of a single 45, and seized upon the opportunity, giving support to the fledgling format.

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The origins could well have been traced back to the classic Beatles 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, an album that did not originally spawn any hit singles, so stations were forced to play only select tracks from the album, thus AOR was unofficially born.

Related Topics:
Beatles - 1967 - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

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In some markets the term AOR was re-positioned as Adult Oriented Rock, implying that 'adults' were more likely to buy albums rather than singles.

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Some notable AOR bands:

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• AC/DC
• Aerosmith
• The Allman Brothers Band
• The Beatles
• Black Sabbath
• Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
• Boston
• The Cars
• Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Def Leppard
• Dire Straits
• The Doors
• The Eagles
• Foreigner
• Heart
• Kansas
• Jethro Tull
• Journey
• Led Zeppelin
• Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Steve Miller Band
• The Moody Blues
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
• Pink Floyd
• The Police
• Queen
• REO Speedwagon
• The Rolling Stones
• Rush
• Styx
• Survivor
• Talking Heads
• Toto
• Van Halen
• The Who
• Yes
• ZZ Top

Album-oriented rock went through many stylistic changes on commercial radio in North America, including the United States, throughout the 1980s to add hair metal bands such as Warrant and Poison, expanding the classic rock playlist on such stations, and adding new-wave acts such as The Alarm and The Church until Nirvana's sudden ascent with the album Nevermind in 1991.

Related Topics:
1980s - Warrant - Poison - Classic rock - New-wave - The Alarm - The Church - Nirvana - Nevermind - 1991

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After the aforementioned album's success, album-oriented rock drifted into several current-based hard-sounding formats. One of these was active rock (euphemism for today's mainstream album rock, and playing acts such as Stone Temple Pilots, Guns 'N Roses, and Linkin Park). The active rock format was pioneered by the formerly broadcast (now internet only) KNAC-FM out of Long Beach, California in 1986 and expanded upon by WXTB-FM out of Tampa, Florida in January, 1990.

Related Topics:
Stone Temple Pilots - Guns 'N Roses - Linkin Park - KNAC - FM - Long Beach, California - 1986 - WXTB - Tampa, Florida - January - 1990

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Another format spun off from AOR was Classic rock (mostly spanning the decades from the late 1960s to today, with more emphasis on the earlier hits).

Related Topics:
Classic rock - 1960s - Today

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Since then, hundreds of such rock stations have been playing both current-based active rock and the decades-spanning Classic rock to much commercial ratings success across the United States and Canada.

Related Topics:
Rock - Classic rock - United States - Canada

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In the mid-to-late 1990s, AOR began to be associated with another concept called "melodic rock" which, most simply stated, is the sound of hard rock and heavy metal bands of the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. It is seen as a throwback to those eras and a counter-reaction against the grunge, alternative, bubblegum, retro-disco, and Latin sounds of the mid-to-late 1990s. Many of these acts are bands, band members, and musicians from popular bands of the earlier eras, such as Toto, Foreigner, Van Halen, Styx and Europe, either regrouped or playing in new bands or reconfigured lineups. Several of the acts are British or European, and many albums are now recorded and produced in Europe and Japan, and are only available in the United States. as imports.

Related Topics:
1990s - Hard rock - Heavy metal - Bands - 1970s - 1980s - Grunge - Alternative - Bubblegum - Retro-disco - Latin - Toto - Foreigner - Van Halen - Styx - Europe - British - European - Europe - Japan - United States

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