Hey folks,

So I was wondering what everyone's favorite artists or albums were outside the AOR genre? There are many other artists that help me clear me palate when the AOR gets too sugary (sacrilege!), or find music that's equally rewarding, just along a different wavelength.

In spite of formally belonging to another genre, many of these share strong similarities to AOR-style hard rock...the influences and melodies clearly cross borders and bleed into each other (indeed, they often share producers, session players, songwriters, etc). For me, it's a way of getting my fix with a refreshing twist outside of your Jeff Parises, Bon Jovis, Journeys, etc. I'll always be an AOR freak, but as I grow older, I also find myself more and more receptive to other kinds of music (while never really straying as far as hip-hop, heh).

Look at Amanda Marshall's excellent debut album - not really AOR or hard rock and quite mellow, but very enjoyable (and you do have melodic rock players participating like Dennis Ward and Dave Tyson). Or some of the new country stuff like Keith Urban's work; or power pop, which can have many similarities just in a different package. Hell, when I want to dim the lights and kick back with the girlfriend, I'd rather chill out to the atmospheric vibe of Ben Harper, Mazzy Star, or Ryan Adams than to have an anthemic AOR power ballad thumping in the background.

Melodic rock is still #1 for me, but I find that my strong focus on this genre often makes me miss gems that, strictly speaking, belong to other areas...so, any favorites or recommendations? I think a lot of us might enjoy seeing what others listen to and round out our die-hard AOR knowledge.

Cheers,
Jack.