No Static At All: A Journey Into AOR 1976-1986 / Various - CD

3CD Deep Dive Into The Fm Radio-Friendly Sound Of Album Orientated Rock. During the second half of the 1970s, before music streaming and playlists, there was the FM dial. Enabled by crystal-clear signals and an increasingly affluent audience, radio programmers created their own universe by digging deeper than three-minute singles. Overflowing with precise musicianship, carefully crafted, melody-infused songs of love and heartache and increasingly sophisticated, digitally-assisted recordings, an idea that came to be known as "Album Orientated Rock" began to emerge. Not a scene or a movement, this was a mindset. A lifestyle choice, even. Soaring choruses, multi-layered vocals, rich synthesiser pads, gated reverb and soaring guitar solos combined to produce the perfect soundtrack for the increasingly aspirational times as the decade of gritty heavy rock and smoky prog mutated into something shinier, more controlled and inescapably more commercially-minded. 'No Static At All' takes a deep dive into that world, as absorbed through car stereos and on polished chrome hi-fi systems by young and old alike. Curated from a North American perspective, this is the sound of late nights, of freeways and arenas and of the change in economic outlook that characterised that place and time across the States and Western Europe. Many of these songs became big hits. Others were overlooked gems limited to collectors and late-night FM listeners. All of them endure today. From power ballads to the new hard pop-rock sound, 'No Static At All' is a must-hear for fans, collectors and anybody with a road trip into the sunset planned. 60 tracks. 10 years. One soundtrack.