The music class or genre we now refer to as Classic rock was originally conceived as a radio station programming format evolving from what was then called, album oriented rock (AOR). The AOR format began life in the early-1980s.

In the United States, and many other countries in the world, this music format has grown to feature an almost unlimited playlist of songs ranging from the early 60s all the way through to the early 80s with more emphasis on the earlier hits by artists associated with the vaguely defined "classic rock radio era".

Classic Rock In common speech, the term also refers to earlier rock bands, often seen as more talented or original than later acts - this definition can be ended at a subjective date, most often between 1975, when rock became more commercialized as arena rock took hold of the scene, the early 1980s, when the blues influence faded away, or 1991, when Nirvana and grunge replaced the hair metal bands. Please, click the song links to go to the various song pages to get band info, lyrics, videos and music downloads.

Eric Clapton

Note - Songs are not ranked in any particular order.