Top Classic-Era AOR/Melodic Rock Artists

[Area Man]

I'm going to propose some relatively minor changes to the classic-era AOR/melodic rock artists list. Here are the proposed changes:

Alteration #1:
Add ten new artists to the main list, knocking ten artists into the honorable mentions. The new additions are:
-Diesel (#102)
-Don Johnson (#110)
-Alcatrazz (#120)
-Vow Wow (#133)
-3 (#156)
-Frank Stallone (#157)
-Grace Slick (1980-1984 output) (#187)
-Neal Schon & Jan Hammer / Neal Schon (#190)
-Bill Champlin (#234)
-Red 7 (#295)

The ten artists knocked into the alphabetically-listed honorable mentions are:
-Allies
-Fahrenheit
-Hybrid Ice
-Idle Cure
-Jerusalem
-Nantucket
-Chrissy Steele
-Urgent [United States]
-Wall of Silence
-Steve Walsh

Alteration #2:
Add ten new artists to the alphabetically-listed honorable mentions to make it an even 50. Hopefully, this will be the last expansion of the list... Anyway, the ten new honorable mentions are:
-American Tears
-Bobby Barth
-Breathless
-Dalton
-Fighter
-Grand Prix [Japan]
-Morningstar
-Network [1970s band]
-Network [1980s band]
-Urgent [Canada]

Alteration #3:
"Promote" Roadmaster to #269.

Alteration #4:
Change the date range for Uriah Heep's AOR period from 1978-1991 to 1977-1991.

Alteration #5:
Add Eric Martin Band to Eric Martin's entry, so that it reads "Eric Martin Band / Eric Martin."

Alteration #6:
Add "[United Kingdom]" to the Grand Prix currently on the list (to accommodate the Japanese band of the same name) and "[United States]" to the Urgent currently on the list (to accommodate the Canadian band of the same name).

There are currently no planned additions/alterations to the "Top 75 Artists Who Touched on the AOR/Melodic Rock Sound During the Classic Era of That Genre, but are Generally Better Classified as Something Else" side-list.

So, the page would look something like this now (with new additions in bold):

Background: Adult-oriented rock (AOR), also known as "melodic rock" and, derisively, "corporate rock," and sometimes used synonymously with "arena rock," is a genre of rock that was at the peak of its success between the mid-1970s and early-1990s. It is known for its sleek, shiny, glossy, polished, slick, well-produced, radio-ready, commercially-friendly sound. Despite this, it is a distinct genre from pop-rock and power pop (although some artists overlap with these genres). This hook-heavy genre almost always takes a sincere, unironic, earnest, sentimental, and played-straight approach to rock music and its subject matter. Other features of AOR/melodic rock are hard rock anthems, soft rock power ballads, arena rock aesthetics, sing-along choruses, heavy use of keyboards/synthesizers (most of the time), and smokin' guitars. Adult-oriented rock (AOR), a genre of music, is different from album-oriented rock (also abbreviated AOR), a radio format. This list only includes artists who released albums during the classic era of the genre. We somewhat arbitrarily used 1993 as the last year for album releases to accept nominations. Nonetheless, an artist's post-1993 output was factored into their position.

Criteria: These artists were chosen on their popularity, acclaim, and influence.

1. Journey
2. Boston
3. Foreigner
4. Styx
5. REO Speedwagon
6. Toto
7. Heart (1983-1993 output)
8. Pat Benatar
9. Chicago (1980-1991 output)
10. Eddie Money
11. Survivor
12. Jefferson Starship / Starship
13. Bryan Adams
14. ZZ Top (1983-1992 output)
15. Loverboy
16. Billy Squier
17. Rick Springfield
18. Peter Frampton
19. Asia
20. .38 Special
21. Night Ranger
22. Cheap Trick (1983-1991 output)
23. Kenny Loggins (1980-1988 output)
24. Kansas (1980-1988 output)
25. Bad Company (1986-1993 output)
26. Richard Marx
27. Rainbow (1979-1986 output)
28. Blue Öyster Cult (1977-1985 output)
29. Cher (1982-1992 output)
30. Michael Bolton (1983-1989 output)
31. Europe
32. Triumph
33. Bonnie Tyler (1983-1991 output)
34. April Wine
35. Yes (1983-1991 output)
36. Roger Daltrey (1980-1992 output)
37. John Farnham (1984-1991 output)
38. Jimmy Barnes
39. Corey Hart
40. John Waite
41. Petra
42. Gary Moore (1982-1989 output)
43. The Babys
44. Donnie Iris
45. Honeymoon Suite
46. Red Rider
47. Kim Mitchell
48. Aldo Nova
49. Trooper
50. Bad English
51. Glass Tiger
52. Lou Gramm
53. Steve Perry
54. Mike + the Mechanics
55. Saga
56. Harlequin
57. Mr. Mister
58. Magnum
59. Peter Cetera
60. Head East
61. Cutting Crew
62. Prism
63. Alannah Myles
64. The Johnny Van Zant Band / Johnny Van Zant
65. Chilliwack (1978-1984 output)
66. Uriah Heep (1977-1991 output)
67. Nelson
68. Little River Band (1983-1990 output)
69. John Parr
70. Zebra
71. Platinum Blonde
72. Gowan
73. Tommy Shaw
74. Russ Ballard
75. Robin Beck
76. Quarterflash
77. Harem Scarem
78. Benny Mardones
79. Tony Carey
80. Giant
81. Angel
82. FM
83. Scandal
84. Sheriff
85. Giuffria
86. Toronto
87. Autograph
88. Frozen Ghost
89. Dennis DeYoung
90. Streetheart
91. Axe
92. Le Roux
93. Icon
94. Michael Stanley Band
95. GTR
96. Shooting Star
97. Streets
98. White Sister
99. Strangeways
100. Henry Lee Summer
101. Paul Janz
102. Diesel
103. Praying Mantis
104. Alias
105. Noiseworks
106. Jon Butcher
107. House of Lords
108. Patty Smyth
109. Boy Meets Girl
110. Don Johnson
111. Southern Sons
112. Ian Moss
113. Trevor Rabin
114. Franke and the Knockouts
115. Joe Lynn Turner
116. Planet P Project
117. Sherbet (1976-1979 output) / Sherbs
118. I-Ten
119. Mark Free / Marcie Free
120. Alcatrazz
121. Sad Café
122. Daryl Braithwaite
123. Gamma
124. Coney Hatch
125. Sniff 'n' the Tears
126. Jude Cole
127. Ian Thomas
128. Andy Taylor
129. Stan Bush
130. Max Webster
131. 1927
132. Blackfoot (1983-1990 output)
133. Vow Wow
134. Sharon O'Neill
135. RTZ
136. Danger Danger
137. Desmond Child
138. Fiona
139. Tyketto
140. Unruly Child
141. Duke Jupiter
142. Spider
143. Charlie
144. The Law
145. Roxus
146. Benjamin Orr
147. Lee Aaron
148. Ted Nugent (1982-1988 output)
149. Saraya
150. City Boy
151. Doucette
152. Orion the Hunter
153. Haywire
154. Hardline
155. Signal
156. 3
157. Frank Stallone
158. Shadow King
159. Fortune
160. Michael Morales
161. Dakota
162. Touch
163. Red Dawn
164. Paul Carrack
165. Jean Beauvoir
166. Dare
167. Shy
168. The Storm
169. Opús
170. Tone Norum
171. David Foster
172. Witness
173. Fair Warning
174. Treat
175. Dominoe
176. Danny Spanos
177. Voyager
178. John Hall Band
179. Steel Breeze
180. Mick Jones
181. Robert Tepper
182. 707
183. Van Zant (1985 output)
184. Marilyn Martin
185. White Heart
186. Balance
187. Grace Slick (1980-1984 output)
188. Stage Dolls
189. Headpins
190. Neal Schon & Jan Hammer / Neal Schon
191. Tané Cain
192. Hughes / Thrall
193. Robin Zander
194. Legs Diamond
195. Jeff Paris
196. Sabu
197. Zinatra
198. Taxxi
199. Tycoon
200. Greg Guidry
201. Blackjack
202. Billy Satellite
203. Eddie Schwartz
204. Virginia Wolf
205. Cobra
206. Stabilizers
207. Van Stephenson
208. Spys
209. Cellarful of Noise
210. Diving for Pearls
211. Drive, She Said
212. Novo Combo
213. Talisman
214. Device
215. Phenomena
216. Greg Lake
217. Lake
218. The Arrows
219. Paul Dean
220. New England
221. Valentine
222. Aviator
223. Erika
224. Eric Martin Band / Eric Martin
225. Alien
226. Alexa
227. Glen Burtnik
228. Judie Tzuke
229. Gregg Rolie
230. Margaret Becker
231. Grand Prix [United Kingdom]
232. DeGarmo & Key
233. Black Rose
234. Bill Champlin
235. G-Force
236. Keats
237. Boulevard
238. Joe Lamont
239. Romeo's Daughter
240. The Producers
241. Airplay
242. Barry Goudreau
243. Dan Lucas
244. Planet 3
245. Robby Valentine
246. Kane Roberts
247. Mastedon
248. Crown of Thorns
249. Arc Angel
250. Trillion
251. Jimi Jamison
252. Kerry Livgren / AD
253. Airrace
254. Santers
255. Tim Feehan
256. Only Child
257. Casanova
258. Robin George
259. Missouri
260. Zeno
261. Russ Taff
262. Joshua
263. Heartland
264. Fate
265. RPM
266. Teaze
267. Orphan
268. Lisa Hartman
269. Roadmaster
270. Tobruk
271. Paul Laine
272. Michael Thompson Band
273. China Sky
274. Mitch Malloy
275. Skagarack
276. Beau Coup
277. Prophet
278. Alaska
279. Sweet Comfort Band
280. B.E. Taylor Group
281. Adrenalin
282. Return
283. Rik Emmett
284. Buck Dharma
285. Stingray
286. Stone Fury
287. Blue Tears
288. Martin Briley
289. Glass Moon
290. Cannata
291. The Innocent
292. Fandango
293. Piper
294. Stan Meissner
295. Red 7
296. Lone Star
297. Jim Jidhed
298. Myles Goodwyn
299. Steve Lukather
300. From the Fire

Honorable Mentions:
-Airborne
-Airkraft
-Allies
-Alpha Centauri
-American Tears
-Aviary
-Baby Grand
-Bobby Barth
-Breathless
-Craaft
-Dalton
-Da Vinci
-Evenrude
-Fahrenheit
-Fighter
-Fotomaker
-Glory
-Grand Prix [Japan]
-Robert Hart
-Hybrid Ice
-Idle Cure
-Jerusalem
-Lionheart
-Mayday
-Melidian
-Morningstar
-Nantucket
-Network [1970s band]
-Network [1980s band]
-Nite City
-Nuclear Valdez
-Preview
-Raw Silk
-Refugee
-Richrath
-Riggs
-Rio
-David Roberts
-Brian Spence
-Chrissy Steele
-Sugarcreek / The Creek
-Urgent [Canada]
-Urgent [United States]
-Wall of Silence
-Steve Walsh
-Wiggy Bits
-Wildlife
-Wrabit
-Ya Ya
-Zon

Top 75 Artists Who Touched on the AOR/Melodic Rock Sound During the Classic Era of That Genre, but are Generally Better Classified as Something Else:
1. Van Halen
2. Queen
3. The Who
4. Deep Purple
5. Def Leppard
6. Rush
7. Bon Jovi
8. Genesis
9. Dire Straits
10. The Cars
11. Bruce Springsteen
12. Restless Heart
13. UFO
14. Grand Funk Railroad
15. Akina Nakamori
16. S. Kiyotaka & Omega Tribe
17. Kiss
18. Fleetwood Mac
19. Nazareth
20. Meat Loaf
21. Whitesnake
22. Status Quo
23. Huey Lewis and the News
24. Belinda Carlisle
25. Sammy Hagar
26. Robert Palmer
27. Laura Branigan
28. Bachman-Turner Overdrive
29. The Outfield
30. Manfred Mann's Earth Band
31. Y&T
32. The Alan Parsons Project
33. Stevie Nicks
34. Ambrosia
35. Saxon
36. Wishbone Ash
37. The Tubes
38. David Lee Roth
39. Jennifer Rush
40. Christopher Cross
41. The Gregg Allman Band
42. Tygers of Pan Tang
43. Juice Newton
44. Helloween
45. Pablo Cruise
46. The Power Station
47. Rick Derringer
48. Dokken
49. Warrant
50. Player
51. Winger
52. Lita Ford
53. White Lion
54. Vixen
55. Starz
56. Gentle Giant
57. Utopia
58. Damn Yankees
59. John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band
60. Vandenberg
61. FireHouse
62. It Bites
63. The Firm
64. McAuley Schenker Group
65. King Kobra
66. Lucifer's Friend
67. Starcastle
68. Point Blank
69. HSAS
70. TNT
71. Bonfire
72. Hurricane
73. 220 Volt
74. Doc Holliday
75. Target

On a note unrelated to making changes to our list, when the website Ultimate Classic Rock did their "Who are the 'Big 4' of AOR?" article almost a year ago, they choose the same four artists - Journey, Boston, Foreigner, and Styx - as our list, just in a slightly different order (if it was ordered to begin with). I wonder if they read our list for it, or came to a similar conclusion as us independently.

Anyway, I'll probably submit these changes in a week or so, if there are no objections.

[Zach]

On a note unrelated to making changes to our list, when the website Ultimate Classic Rock did their "Who are the 'Big 4' of AOR?" article almost a year ago, they choose the same four artists - Journey, Boston, Foreigner, and Styx - as our list, just in a slightly different order (if it was ordered to begin with). I wonder if they read our list for it, or came to a similar conclusion as us independently.

It wouldn't surprise me if they used your list as a reference. It's likely the most complete and thorough on the net!

[Area Man]

Thank you! I must give a shout-out to all those who helped me on it, as I was originally putting REO Speedwagon at #4 and Styx at #5, and I was convinced otherwise, which is a more proper order.

[Zach]

Thank you! I must give a shout-out to all those who helped me on it, as I was originally putting REO Speedwagon at #4 and Styx at #5, and I was convinced otherwise, which is a more proper order.

I'll claim credit for that one.