Some important/influential arena rock artists/songs include:
1. Foreigner: Hot Blooded
Foreigner were latecomers to arena rock, not hitting their stride until the late 70's; however, they were one of the few arena rock acts to carry momentum well into the 1980's. Led by veteran guitarist Mick Jones, who had done sessionwork for A-listers George Harrison and Peter Frampton in the past, Foreigner was envisioned as a mix of rock, r&b, progressive-rock, and pop. What ultimately was created was a very watered-down version of this vision, with an emphasis on Jones' big, giant, guitar and Lou Gramm's vocals, which were more soulful than those of most arena rock frontmen. Their debut album, Foreigner, peaked at #4, and each of their next four albums also made the top-5. 4, from 1981, reached #1. Their streak ended in 1986; Jones and Gramm both focused on solo work, and Gramm had a hit on his own with "Midnight Blue". This led to a classic rock star riff, with Gramm ultimately splitting in 1989 after the weak Inside Information and tour. Gramm's career fizzled, and he came back in 1992, but by then the band's audience had evaporated. "Hot Blooded" is a strutting piece of cock rock from their peak years, taken from their sophomore, and best, album Double Vision from 1978.
2. Journey: Any Way You Want It
Journey is another arena rock band that ended up something different from what it was conceived as. Former Santana guitarist Neil Schon formed the band in 1973 with Santana bandmate Greg Rolie and some familiar names from second-tier San Francisco bands and released three albums as Journey from 1975-1977. These were mostly instrumental jazz/rock-fusion albums that failed to find a wide audience; Next, from 1977, peaked at #85. The rap against the band was that they were good, if unadventurous musicians, and lacked a distinctive character. So, in 1978 vocalist Steve Perry was brought aboard, and the next album Infinity, broke the top-40. Perry's presence is the difference; his soaring vocals were distinctive, and the band switched to a more hard rock style musically. "Any Way You Want It", from 1980, is the perfect distillation of Journey's classic sound; a top-30 hit, it boasts a larger-than-life sound with plenty of guitar fireworks, Perry's clarion vocal, and radio friendly air-pumped production. Great art it isn't, but as a tuneful and popular entry to the genre, Journey and "Any Way You Want It" are what arena rock is all about.
Article comments
1 - The Proprietor
Frampton's signature effect is called a talkbox, not a squack box. Frampton and most 70s guitarists enamored of the effect used the Heil Sound talkbox, although there were other models from Electro-Harmonix and Kustom that enjoyed some popularity at the time.
An interesting trivia bit about "More Than A Feeling" is that Tom Scholz has said that he was very influenced by the Left Banke classic "Walk Away Renee" when writing it.
2 - uao
Thanks for the correction and bit of trivia, Proprietor. I wasn't sure what to call that darned thing. I'll fixt it in the text.
Walk Away Renee? Somehow I can't hear it, although "More Than A Feeling" does contain the line "I See my Marianne walking away..."
3 - Guppusmaximus
Nice review of some great bands... Me personally, I would've listed ASIA instead of Loverboy because Loverboy were one hit wonders(my opinion).With tracks like "only time will tell" and "Heat of the moment"... ASIA was definately Arena Rock!!
4 - uao
Asia would have been an excellent inclusion. I'm not sure I'd bump Loverboy for them, since Loverboy represents something of a road-not-taken by arena rock. Maybe I'd toss the Tubes, who only made the list at the very last moment when my mind was drawing a blank.
5 - cathi
I love your list!!!!! these are songs that I would play as well on a lazy day. thanks
6 - Uncle Fiscus
Where's AC/DC?? These hacks stink!! Or Zepplin??
7 - uao
Uncle Fiscus: Led Zeppelin and AC/DC were left off because the term "arena rock" diminishes them; they both are primarily known as heavy metal or hard rock. As for the rest being hacks, isn't that what arena rock is all about? Read the article, and you'll understand.
8 - Bruiser
Three of the bands listed - Blue Oyster Cult, REO Speedwagon, and Heart - played at the first concert I ever attended: the 1981 Texxas Jamm at the Houston Astrodome. For the record, the other two bands that played were Foghat and the long-forgotten Rockets.
The last two studio records that Cheap Trick have released are among their finest.
9 - Sister Ray
Maybe you could substitute Bob Seger for the Tubes. He would be more familiar to fans of arena rock, and you hear him a lot on classic-rock radio.
Punk just didn't catch on in the Midwest as much as the critics hoped it would. MTV really knocked off the arena bands.
Drifting a bit, remember when early MTV played "closet classics" from the 60s? There was a clip of the Doors doing "Touch Me" and videos by Blue Cheer, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Donovan. Lots of swirling lights, etc.
10 - Paul Roy
Damn, I've seen nearly every one of these bands in concert. That must make me an arena rock lover. I guess there's worst things to love.
11 - uao
I did consider Bob Seger, but he already turned up in my 'Detroit Rock' playlist, and I'm saving him for a 'Heartland/Midwestern Rock' list as well.
However, his late 70's work definitely could qualify as 'arena rock' too.
12 - Linda
Enjoyed your reviews. However, you left out a very important chapter in Nuge Tune History. In 1990, Ted's band THE DAMN YANKEES, and self-titled CD,
spawned four smash AOR hits ("Runaway," "Coming Of Age," "High Enough" and "Come Again"); High Enough reached #3 on the Billboard Charts.
Additionally, in 2000, the Ted Nugent/KISS Tour made the Top 10 Grossing Tours of the year.
13 - uao
Thanks Linda, I should have said something about Damn Yankees (and added a bit after seeing your comment). It slipped my mind completely, but yes, that was a major chapter in his bio.
14 - godoggo
A defining characteristic of what I think of as arena rock is that it would seem absurdly incongruous if played in a small club, thus disqualifying not only Cheap Trick but also Aerosmith, but of which, not coincidentally, I like.
I also think that a lot of the characteristic mannerisms of arena rock were innovated by The Who, around the time they commenced sucking (I'm sure you all agree). For me the ultimate arena rock moment is "They're all wasted" which was obviously calculated to elicit the ultimate arena rock response: "Whoooooooo!"
15 - NashTrick
Cheap Trick remains a force today. A lot of "new" bands in rock point to them as a major influence....STP,Foo Fighters,etc...all recognize Cheap Trick as their roots. Quite a compliment by todays standards.
Give Cheap Trick's 2003 release "Special One" a whirl...great as ever!!! PEACE.
16 - Christine Foster
I agree with your listing of arena rock artists but I would have left off the Tubes and put Nazareth.Also as a Canadian I loved "Loverboy" but our greatest arena rock band here is the hard workin band "Trooper".
17 - Benatarlvr
Great review of Pat Benatar. However, she hit number #1 in 1981 with Precious Time. Not 1982. And Get Nervous was #4 in 1982 not 1983. Overall a great countdown.
18 - Trigaba
Why is everyone so reluctant to classify Rush as an Arena Rock band? Are they too progressive and conceptual to break the pop seal? Geddy Lee's high-pitched voice and abundance of keyboards makes me thing they definitely belong in this countdown.
19 - guppusmaximus
Ya know... Looking back on this review, I don't believe Pink Floyd could ever be classified as Arena rock along with RUSH. They were way too progressive and pioneering for their time to be lumped in with the comercially appealing rock of the 70's. I mean if you're going to overlook those qaulities, you may as well add ELO or YES to this list. But I do feel it was a great article and I do love alot of those bands....
20 - Ray Violette
Loverboy were hardly a one hit wonder as mentioned in the comments section, with a bunch of Top 40 hits. I saw them in 1981, and they were definitely arena rock then. I saw them in 2006, and they're still arena rock, although playing smaller venues, with all original members (save their bassist who passed away). Their latest album is actually quite good and is getting some surprising airplay.
21 - Kirt
Exactly. You hit the nail on the head with this one. I would only add these bands for consideration. April Wine, Cars, ZZ Top, Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, Scorpions, Judas Priest, Joe Walsh, Black Sabbath, Molly Hatchet, Fleetwood Mac. All huge arena bands when I graduated from HS back in 1982.
22 - Eye-roller
I don't even like .38 Special, but even I know ('84? Dallas Texxas Jam, watching MTV) that the dark-haired bearded guy (Don Barnes) sang "Hold On Loosely", and nearly all of their other hits. Always seemed like Donnie Van Zandt was just there to sprinkle on some of Skynyrd's "cachet", if one can call it that...
Also, according to the latest re-writing of the Boston foundation myth (in some schwag mag I picked up at '06 Austin NAMM), Scholz actually did go back to Boston and re-record everything with the ostensible band while the label-appointed "producer" stayed back in LA and ran interference.
23 - toocrass
Loverboy were not a one-hit wonder as mentioned, but if you want the epitome of a pre-packaged arena rock band that was a one-hit wonder look no further than Survivor. Saw 'em open for REO back in the day and they were beyond boring live. Unacceptable sin in the world of arena rock.
24 - PanurgeATL
Hmmm...
1. With all due respect, most pop music genres are "notoriously adverse to change". Indie-rock is actually a prime example. And bands that change a lot, like (say) Rush and Yes, tend to get blame rather than credit, because when they do it it seems like standing down or Accepting The Inevitable, or else selling out for the sake of continued commercial success. Meanwhile, bands from AC/DC to the Foo Fighters keep writing the same song over and over and no one complains.
2. Classic rock radio seems like a "mausoleum" because the playlists aren't broad enough. There's little effort to bring arena rock into a larger lineage, which is what the old AOR format provided. A good arena-rock station today ought to be playing everything from Hendrix to Zeppelin to ELP to Boston to Van Halen to Ozzy to Ratt to Dream Theater to echolyn (who you don't know, but you should) to Porcupine Tree. Beyond that, the stations won't play those old bands' new music. Is it not as good? Is it on small labels and thereby unofficially blacklisted? If major labels knew that radio would play new music by Band X, would they be more likely to sign Band X to a new contract?
3. I guess the truly amazing thing is that this stuff still has a decent audience after all this time, even though most of the bands who made it appear to be shells of themselves by now. I think the arena experience (and let's not forget the '80s hair bands here) is an essential part of rock; it's just not the whole story, and beyond that the whole enterprise as it actually went down always seemed to have a bit of an air of compromise and artistic decline about it from the beginning, which is a shame. What would an uncompromising, "ascendant" arena-rock sound like?