A masterpiece of AOR. A highly recommended album you should listen to at least once.

Suddenly, but let me ask: are you familiar with the music genre called “AOR”? Gaining huge momentum from the late 1970s through the 1980s, AOR—known as an abbreviation for “Adult-Oriented Rock”—is a genre that has maintained strong popularity in Japan as music for grown-ups.

However, it’s actually a Japanese-coined usage; overseas, AOR refers to “Album-oriented rock.” In this article, we’ve researched classic albums from across the broad spectrum of what’s called “AOR,” gathering highly regarded works that are considered “AOR-like,” ranging from soft rock to harder-leaning sounds and even fusion.

If you’re new to AOR, be sure to check it out!