No Static At All: A Journey Into AOR, a 3-disc collection from Cherry Red Records, encapsulates the freewheeling time between the mid-1970s and early 1980s when radio lost its freaking mind. It was a time before media conglomerates took over terrestrial radio, before every song started sounding the same. You could turn on the radio and hear crazy, brilliant, and powerful music by bands who could disappear off the face of the earth within a month. Established bands, like Kansas and Yes, were trying new things and making concerted efforts to leave their comfort zones. No Static At All: A Journey Into AOR is a testament to that tumultuous and transitional time for rock music and radio.
No Static At All: A Journey Into AOR is Boston-centric, as it should be, because Boston is arguably the band that kicked off the major AOR movement in the US. “Something About You,” from the band’s eponymous debut, was recorded in band founder Tom Scholz’s basement. Every track on that album received AOR airplay, and it gave hope to every small band that maybe they could make it to the top of the charts as well. Fittingly, the collection ends with “Can’tcha Say,” from Boston’s Third Stage, a song that became the band’s last single to chart in the Top Forty.
Somewhere in the middle of things is the song “Dreams” by Barry Goudreau, Boston’s guitarist. You wouldn’t be blamed for thinking “Dreams” is a Boston B-side, since the guitar tone is the classic Rockman sound and the singer was Boston’s lead vocalist, Brad Delp.
Boston may be considered the ultimate AOR band, but there are other songs in No Static At All: A Journey Into AOR still on heavy rotation on classic rock stations. Eddie Money’s ode to car sex, “Shakin’,” is here, as is Blue Oyster Cult’s “Burnin’ For You.” Throw in some Pat Benetar (“Shadows of the Night”) and REO Speedwagon (“Keep On Lovin’ You”), and the lasting effect of AOR becomes clear. Singles borne from the AOR generation still have a certain power, even if it is diluted by familiarity. No Static at All: A Journey into AOR allows these songs to be heard again in their proper context, not just as rejiggered jingles for pharmaceutical commercials.
It’s the deeper cuts on No Static At All: A Journey Into AOR that make it a collection worth owning. A prime example of this is 707’s “I Could Be Good For You,” a sinewy, twisty song about a Faustian pact for stardom. Keyboards wrap around the driving guitar and pounding bass before everything collides into a prog-infused breakdown that makes one shake their head and wonder how they came up with it.
Russ Ballard’s “Voices” had the advantage of being featured in a Miami Vice episode, but it was an AOR hit before that. “Voices” captures the listener immediately with music that evokes heatwaves and vultures while Ballard sings about the voices in his head. “I’ve got the key,” Ballard threatens, and the strong sense is that when he unlocks that door, Hell will spill out.
Cherry Red Records collections are always a great source of old songs I had never heard before, and No Static At All: A Journey Into AOR is no exception. Terence Boylan’s “Where Are You Hiding?” is marvelous and grim, a song of longing layered over a galloping drumbeat and background vocals that sound like a sad Greek chorus. Washington band Aviary’s “Feel the Heart” is a fascinating conglomeration of elements, including bluesy organ, harpsichord, and a singer with a range from normal tenor to ear-piercing heights. It sounds like a song The Sweet would have made if they had a producer who believed in them enough to commit it to tape.
My main nitpick about No Static At All: A Journey Into AOR is that some of the songs aren’t long enough, because the radio edits are used instead of the full-length tune. Night Ranger’s “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” is, in my opinion, the greatest twin-guitar song of all time, and I say that as a huge Iron Maiden fan. While the original album version has a length of 4:22, the version on No Static At All: A Journey Into AOR is only 3:43, which sucks away a lot of that song’s power. Aldo Nova’s “Fantasy” is missing the original machine-gun space-laser pew-pew beginning. Using the shorter cuts of these and other songs denies the listener the entire musical experience.
Why do we get the full 4:35 cut of Loverboy’s “Gangs in the Street,” but only a 4:05 version of Asia’s classic, “Only Time Will Tell?”
Despite those curious editorial choices, No Static at All: A Journey Into AOR is worth your time and your money. There are songs here I forgot existed, like the perfect pop pairing of Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry on “Don’t Fight It.” It’s nice to see bands that time forgot represented, like Quarterflash. Their “Find Another Fool” is a great song, with the perfect mix of saxophone, electric violin, and wicked vocals by Rindy Ross.
The liner notes by collection curator Kent Miller describe album-oriented rock (AOR) as “the gathering place of soft rock, melodic hard rock, power ballads, and pop rock.” That’s part of it, for sure, but not all.
Look: there was a time long ago when we sat around grimy beige kitchens late at night, drinking underage beers sold by indifferent convenience store clerks, playing cards while luckier people were having sex in another thin-walled room, and all we had left was the radio. We had AOR, its recklessness and bravery echoing our burgeoning artistry, our frustrations, and our dark joys.
No Static At All: A Journey Into AOR brings back that time. Music was malleable, cheesiness was seen as earnestness, and unclear horizons were calling our names. This collection is a sweaty drive to watch the planes land at the airport when it was too late to go to sleep, and we had to be up for work anyway.
I hope there’s another AOR collection in the works from Cherry Red Records because No Static At All: A Journey Into AOR leaves the listener wanting more.
Slated for release September 18, No Static At All: A Journey into AOR can be pre-ordered from Cherry Red Records or wherever fine music is sold.
