UCR’s choices for the ‘Big 4’ of AOR (album oriented rock).

BOSTON -

You can’t discuss the best of AOR without giving a nod to Boston. The band’s self-titled 1976 debut helped pave the way for the next half-decade of slick, hi-fi, pop-friendly arena rock

JOURNEY -

Lead singer Steve Perry possessed some of the most incredible pipes in rock history, and guitarist Neal Schon injected the band’s pop-rock anthems with crunchy riffs and blazing solos

FOREIGNER -

Some of rock’s biggest bands needed several years and several albums to find their footing. Not so with Foreigner, who arrived fully formed with their self-titled 1977 debut album and proceeded to sell 5 million U.S. copies off the strength of career-defining hits such as “Feels Like the First Time” and “Cold as Ice.”

STYX -

The key to Styx’s versatility was the dual contributions of singer-guitarist Tommy Shaw, who wrote hard rock anthems like “Renegade” and “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)”; and singer-keyboardist Dennis DeYoung, who spearheaded ballads like “Babe” and prog-pomp epics like “Come Sail Away and “Mr. Roboto”).

Mine would be Van Halen, Led Zep, Journey and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Who else are they missing?

Axel