It was pretty popular in the States from the mid-70's through the late 80's. But it was always a "working class" kind of popularity. Even during the heyday of 80's rock, there was a strong challenge on the intellectual side from music critics who favored new wave-inspired bands, college rock bands, and daring pop like Prince. I feel that once the grunge revolution hit, the press was able to marginalize the music (despite the rather ironic fact that a lot of grunge was just slightly messy melodic rock). A lot of the sound was based on the technological blend of electric guitar and the last generations of analog keyboards. Once sampled sounds became so cheap and easy to use, that technology pushed a lot of music to a different place. I don't think melodic rock will ever come back as something truly mainstream. But there's always a niche for well-written songs, no matter how they're arranged.