Talk:Adult-oriented rock

I think Adult-Oriented Rock (AOR) needs a page of its own.

Adult-oriented rock (AOR), also known as melodic rock or "corporate rock" ("arena rock" is sometimes used as well, but Wikipedia seems to have a different definition for it), is one of the most popular and commercially successful styles of rock music in history, yet it doesn't even have a true Wikipedia page of its own.

Should this be remedied by turning this page into an article on the subject?

AOR is distinct from other forms of rock music, as it is shiny, slick, sleek, well-produced, radio-ready, clean-sounding, polished, and commercially-friendly (all of these things without being a type of pop-rock or power pop). Its heyday was the mid-1970s to the early-1990s, and the genre was pioneered by the likes of Journey, Boston, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, and Styx (with other major acts in the genre being Loverboy, Survivor, Toto, Asia, Night Ranger, Pat Benatar, Eddie Money, Jefferson Starship, 1980s-era Kansas, etc., etc., etc. I can provide more examples if requested). AOR is reliant on hard rock anthems, soft rock power ballads, and generally lots of keyboards.

Wikipedia's current arena rock article sort of touches on the issue of adult-oriented rock (AOR), but is ultimately more concerned with non-AOR artists like The Beatles, Grand Funk Railroad, and the bands of glam/hair/pop-metal movement. It's more about any rock popular enough to be played in a stadium or arena than the adult-oriented rock genre.

The truth is that adult-oriented rock (AOR) is different from album-oriented rock (also known as AOR). Adult-oriented rock is a true genre all by itself, having the characteristics that I listed above. Album-oriented rock is not a genre, but a radio format.

I think that this page should be transformed into a full-fledged adult-oriented rock page, because it's very much a genre that's overlooked on Wikipedia. Don't agree? Listen to any of artists I listed above when describing adult-oriented rock (like Journey, Boston, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Styx, etc., etc., etc.), and then listen to other, non-AOR rock acts like AC/DC, Aerosmith, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dio, Black Sabbath, etc., etc., etc. There's a clear difference in genre.

I don't have that many sources with me, at the moment, but I'd recommend checking out rateyourmusic.com for a treasure-trove of information on adult-oriented rock. Here is a page on RYM that discusses adult-oriented rock: the main adult-oriented rock (AOR) page on RYM (which defines the term; click "See genre chart" to see the top-rated AOR albums on the website). Here's an article from loudersound.com that lists the top fifty AOR albums of all time There's plenty that comes up on Google when doing a search for "adult-oriented rock" or "melodic rock."

So, does this prominent genre deserve a page of its own? I think that it does. BDR77777 (talk) 21:50, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

• Yes, it does, and it will when somebody finally finds a source that talks about the term. ili (talk) 13:23, 12 October 2020 (UTC)

• • Do you think that these four sources would be sufficient to start a page for adult-oriented rock?: the book The AOR Bible: 400 Essential Masterpieces by Frederic P. Slama (I don't actually own the book yet, but will purchase it if it could help with the page), this 1988 Kerrang! survey of the top 50 greatest AOR albums up to that point in time, this 2019 list of the top fifty greatest AOR albums published by loudersound.com, and the rateyourmusic.com main page on AOR. BDR77777 (talk) 18:49, 12 October 2020 (UTC)

I agree. This page, and AOR (genre), which similarly is just a redirect, is the closest Wikipedia has to any sort of article about this genre. It must be distinguished CLEARLY from the three other genres it is often conflated with: - It is not arena rock, even if some artists like Journey who performed melodic rock/adult-oriented rock achieved arena playing status.

- It is most definitely not yacht rock or "West Coast Sound" (which Wikipedia acknowledges by giving the term "adult-oriented rock" a redirect), even if some melodic rock AOR playlists include titles like "West Coast" due to most of the hi-tech AOR artists being from there (that doesnt mean its West Coast Sound! different subgenre), EVEN if WCS used the name "adult-oriented rock" first (which Wikipedia acknowledges on yacht rock's page), before it was later chiefly applied to melodic rock/AOR instead (which Wikipedia seems to NOT acknowledge whatsoever, because it does not acknowledge non-yacht, adult-oriented rock (AOR)/melodic rock as a genre whatsoever and reverses any attempts to do so even when sources are provided [because the only oppurtunities to insert information are in disambiguation pages and those do not accept references as a part of the page]). This is a problem.

- And most importantly, it is not album-oriented rock, even if they are both known by the acronym AOR! This is perhaps the most pressing issue of all, as on countless album and artist pages they will be both conflated with one another, and if a page is created, should eventually almost all be changed to adult-oriented rock, as that is a genre. And album-oriented rock is NOT, it's a radio format, and a 70s one at that (now superseded by what most will know simply as "classic rock radio", which includes such non-melodic, boogie rock artists as Led Zeppelin in constant rotation), which is why using it to categorize 80s music such as melodic adult-oriented rock is puzzling to say the least.

We must resolve this issue once and for all by either writing an article good and detailed enough to stay up on main with enough references to prove this genre's existence (and it definitely exists and warrants its own page, even if it was a fight just to get the primarytopic template back up without multiple people instantly edit-warring it out!), or if that can't be done, at least let the disambiguation page clear it up and acknowledge to the reader what this clarification of genres is all about. Look up any mentions of AOR/Melodic Rock online today. Then reevaluate if what I am saying is worthy of consideration. ~2026-34841-92 (talk) 05:22, 13 June 2026 (UTC)