84 - The Huge Sounds of Arena Rock

Prisoners of Rock and Roll

Rock and roll got really big in the 1970s. We don’t mean in terms of popularity, although it had that going for it too. We mean the sounds got big. The audiences got big. The performances got big. Arena rock was loose definition for commercial, radio-friendly music designed to be played in big stadiums to tens of thousands of people with singalong choruses and huge stage productions.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame calls this era the golden age of hard rock in terms of its commercial airplay, but it also has its critics. People also call it dad rock, old wave, and corporate rock because it was music for mostly middle class white dudes powered by big corporate record labels.

In this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re going to look at both sides of the argument, talk about bands like Journey, Boston, Foreigner, Kansas, and more. Let’s hit it.

Episode Playlists

Check out all of the songs we discussed in this week's episode here.

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