Arena Rock

Arena rock is the stadium-scaled commercial rock of the late 1970s and 1980s, built by *Boston*, *Journey*, *Foreigner*, *Styx* and *REO Speedwagon* for the largest rooms in America. Its marks are meticulous studio production, layered guitars and keyboards, choruses written to be sung by twenty thousand people, and a repertoire divided between power ballads and up-tempo anthems. Albums such as "Boston" (1976), "Escape" (1981) and "4" (1981) sold in the tens of millions and defined the sound of American FM radio in the format's peak years.