What is MOR? The appeal of an easy-listening, comfortable music genre

Love Will Keep Us TogetherCaptain & Tennille

CAPTAIN & TENNILLE ❖ love will keep us together (official video)

This upbeat track features a high-quality melody brimming with a pleasant pop flavor and a vocal performance rich in emotion.

With outstanding pop sensibilities, exceptional arranging skills, and superb musicianship, this married duo took the era by storm in a short span of time—an exceptionally rare feat in the history of popular music, with few, if any, precedents.

Feel So GoodChuck Mangione

Chuck Mangione – Feels So Good

This work excels in the beauty of its melodies and development, its accessibility, and its striking rhythms and arrangements.

In the fusion jazz genre, outstanding performance technique is also highly valued, so Mangione’s flugelhorn can’t exactly be called virtuosic; however, the flugelhorn’s mellow tone all the more makes the melodic lines shine.

SnowClaudine Longet

Claudine Longet – Snow

A Christmas song featuring an inherently whispery voice and a French-pop-style Lolita charm.

The lyrics evoke scenes of cold winter nights, and the piece leaves a strong impression by refining Randy Newman’s classic “Snow” into a sophisticated soft-rock sound.

Your SongElton John

Elton John – Your Song (Live In Las Vegas)

Beginning with a dazzling piano intro gently plucked by Elton John, it leads into a solo section where a soft vocal delivers a beautiful melody.

With each successive phrase, strings, acoustic guitar, and rhythm section parts are layered in, building a richer palette of tones in a natural flow, and the arrangement unfolds dramatically to skillfully elevate the song’s main melody.

On the surface it’s a straightforward love song, but at its core it’s a compelling work whose lyrics pursue spiritual richness and possess universality.

At the same time, it’s a highly auteur-like masterpiece whose ideas and style evoke Facundo Cabral.

White LightGene Clark

White Light

The lyrics portray the troubles of youth and the anxiety of growing older, but the simple melody and tasteful harmonica give it a pleasant folk-rock feel.

It’s an impressive track where the sensibilities of producer Jesse Ed Davis subtly shine through.

RiseHerb Alpert

Herb Alpert – Rise (HQ Audio)

Considering that since the 1960s he has released numerous high-quality instrumental albums under the name Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, it gives the impression that his work is created with a solid grasp of the times.

The ad-libs aren’t about showing off technique; they’re kept to the minimum necessary, with arrangements that consistently prioritize bringing out the melody.

It’s a work closer to easy listening than fusion, but I think he’s a musician who made significant contributions by widely popularizing and raising awareness of the instrumental genre.

There’s a Kind of Hush(All Over the World)Herman’s Hermits

Staring Love [with Japanese Translation] — Herman's Hermits

This work is characterized by lyrical lyrics, an easy-to-remember melody line, and a pleasantly smooth sound.

Its musical style is breezy beat-pop, which is why the artist is often strongly associated with commercial imagery.

In 1976, the Carpenters covered it on their seventh studio album, “A Kind of Hush.” Karen’s vocals feel warm and approachable, and the arrangement—where the tenor sax and keyboards intertwine beautifully in the outro—gives it a distinctly Carpenters feel.