Album Rock Tracks A - F

From 1981 to 1995 Album Rock was a dominant format on the radio. The format typically played “deep cuts” or non-hits from an album by artists that were considered rock, those that mostly played songs that were not dance oriented, but did contain guitar solos. The following is a list of songs that I preferred by artists that charted on the Album Rock charts. Keep in mind that the format began in 1981. A lot of the established artists best songs were behind them. I am only selecting a track from each artist from the Album Rock era. Also keep in mid that when you leave out multiple listings by the legends, the list weakens. Otherwise, enjoy!
AC/DC - For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
(brothers Angus and Malcolm Young were the brothers of George Young who had a hit with the Easybeats, Friday on my Mind, that helped finance their first 4 albums)

Adam and the Ants - Dog Eat Dog (Drummer Chris Hughes later produced Tears for Fears)

Bryan Adams - It’s Only Love (With Tina Turner)

Aerosmith - Love in an Elevator (Steven Tyler’s daughter Liv grew up with her step-father Todd Rundgren)

Allman Brothers Band - Good Clean Fun (1989 comeback song was the band’s first since 1981)

Jon Anderson - Cage of Freedom (From Metropolis soundtrack)

Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe - Brother of Mine (Yes members)

Animals - The Night (Inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994)

April Wine - Just Between You and Me (Canadian quintet)

Asia - Heat of the Moment (Song seemed retro when it first came out with the date check 1982 in the lyrics. Former members of Yes, ELP, Atomic Rooster, Buggles, Uriah Keep, amd Pat Travers Band were in Asia)

Axe - Rock ‘N’ Roll Party in the Streets (Band disbanded in 1984, lead guitarist Michael Osborne died in a car crash in 1984)

Dan Baird - I Love you Period (Former Georgia Sattelites front man)

Marty Balin - Hearts (Member of Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and KBC Band - thank goodness not Starship)

Russ Ballard - Voices (Former Argent guitarist)

Bangles - Hazy Shade of Winter (Bassist Michael Steele’s second all girl band following the Runaways)

Jimmy Barnes - Working Class Man (Written by Tony Carey)

Beat Farmers - California Kid (Drummer Country Dick Montana died in 1995 at age 40)

Jeff Beck - Gets us all in the End (Screaming guitars and the vocals of Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie)

Pat Benatar - Fire and Ice (married her guitarist, Neil Giraldo)

Big Country - Look Away extended version (Scottish quartet)

Big Head Todd and the Monsters - Bittersweet (Big Head Todd Mohr)

Black Crowes - Remedy (First check form first professional gig in Chattanooga bounced)

Blind Melon - No Rain (Lead singer Shannon Hoon died in 1995)

Blondie - Rapture (Only album rock track, the man from Mars plays guitars)

Blue Oyster Cult - Perfect Water (They don’t play the song anymore. Perhaps the only tune to name check Jacques Cousteau)

Blues Traveler - Hook (Nice to hear harmonicas again, NYC band)

Gary U.S. Bonds - This Little Girl (Produced by Bruce Springsteen)

Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead or Alive (Jon’s mom lived in Daytona next to my aunt)

Boston - Cool the Engines long version (Never play the single edits. Bands third of four tracks from their comeback Third Stage album)

David Bowie - Under Pressure (With Queen. Video used footage from the original Nosferatu.)

Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy (Remake of a Strangeloves tune based on the Bo Diddley beat. Band had 3 members from Adam and the Ants.)

Box of Frogs - Back Where I Started (All musicians in the band were members of the Yardbirds. Jeff Beck plays on this track.)

Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians - Mama Help Me (Edie married Paul Simon)

Martin Briley - The Salt in My Tears - (You ain’t worth the salt in my tears is a catchy pop tune from the Nick Lowe school of rock.)

Jackson Browne - For America (Politics. Jackson was born in Germany.)
Lindsey Buckingham - Go Insane (Fleetwood Mac member. Title track of a very eccentric concept album that will really test the limits of your speakers.)

Bunburys - Fight (No Matter How Long) (Band may have influenced George Harrison to form the Traveling Wilburys as it included George Harrison, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and the Bee Gees.)

Kate Bush - Rocket’s Tail (Discovered by David Gilmour who plays guitar on this track.)

John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band - Tender Years (AKA Eddie and the Cruisers)

The Call - The Walls Came Down (Featuring Garth Hudson of the Band)

Jim Capaldi - Something So Strong (Reunites with former Traffic mate Steve Winwood on this track.)

Tony Carey - I Won’t Be Home Tonight (Ex-Rainbow keyboardist, also records as Planet P. Project)

The Cars - Hello Again EP version (Contains Looney Tunes sound effects)

Tracy Chapman - Fast Car (Fresh folk approach that unfortunately has now been copied over and over again by way too many later artists.)

Cheap Trick - The Flame (Fun band that covers some fun tunes like Elvis’s Don’t Be Cruel and the Move’s Brontosaurus)

Church - Under the Milky Way (beautiful tune that shimmers by this Australian quintet)

Cinderella - Shelter Me (One of the best hair bands that is often overlooked. They are as diverse as the Allman Brothers.)

Eric Clapton - I’ve Got a Rock ‘N’ Roll Heart (I just haven’t heard this one in a while, Another Ticket is an excellent track as well.)

Clash - Rock the Casbah (Perfect Combat Rock)

Tom Cochrane - Life is a Highway (Red Rider lead singer)

Bruce Cockburn - If I had a Rocket Launcher (Canadian Bob Dylan type, perfect war song)

Phil Collins - I Don’t Care Anymore (Former Genesis drummer who once tried out for the Monkees)

Concrete Blonde - Joey (Johnette Napolitano provided vocals for the Heads a band composed of the former members of the Talking Heads. Also Concrete Blondes cover of Beware of Darkness is awesome.)

Alice Cooper - Poison (the Vincent Price of rock)

Elvis Costello - The Other Side of Summer (Instead of a Beach Boys happy feel we get the poisonous surf.)

Counting Crows - Mr. Jones (A follow-up to Dylan’s Ballad of a Thin Man that was previously referenced in the Beatles’ Yer Blues)

Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane (Remake of the Velvet Underground classic, best version was by Mitch Ryder)

Cranberries - Zombie (Nice anti-war tune by Irish band originally called Cranberry Saw Us)

Robert Cray Band - Smoking Gun (Robert was the bass player in Otis Day and the Nights and can be seen in Animal House.)

Crosby, Stills and Nash - Wasted on the Way (David Crosby was a Byrd and Graham Nash was one of the Hollies.

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young - American Dream (Interesting but skip this track and buy the déjà vu CD that included members Dalls Taylor and Greg Reeves instead.)

Sheryl Crow - All I Wanna Do (Perfect pop by the former background vocalist for Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton and Don Henley)

Cure - Friday on My Mind (Lead singer Robert Smith was a singer for Siouxie and the Banshees.)

Roger Daltrey - After the Fire (Written by fellow Who member Pete Townshend)

Damned - Alone Again Or (Cover of a Love classic)

Damn Yankees - High Enough (Former members of the Amboy Dukes, Night Ranger, and Styx)

Charlie Daniels Band - Still in Saigon (post Million Miles Reflection era, Charlie started as a session musician and played on albums by Bob Dylan and Ringo Starr)

David and David - Welcome to the Boomtown (Baerwald and Ricketts, an L.A duo)

Deep Purple - Knocking at Your Back Door (Lead singer Ian Gillan returns to the band after a short respite with Black Sabath)

Def Leppard - Photograph (Drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in an accident in 1984, yet returned to play for the band. The band, the Barbarians, found on Rhino’s Nuggets compilation, had a member with a similar ailment in the 60’s and released a song called Moulty about it.)

Devo - Working in a Coal Mine (This only Album Rock entry for the band is due to its inclusion in the movie Heavy Metal. it’s a remake of a Lee Dorsey hit.)

Dexys Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen (Insert joke here.)

Dennis DeYoung - Desert Moon (This song got so many requests that I was amazed that it would be this singer and keyboardist of Styx’s only chart listing.)

Dio - Last in Line (Rainbow in the Dark is equally deserving. Ronnie James Dio had been a singer for Rainbow and Black Sabath.)

Dire Straits - Skateaway (Anything but Money for Nothing. If you were a DJ you would hate it too.)

Dokken - Alone Again (Guitarist George Lynch and drummer Mick Brown left singer Don Dokken and bassist Jeff Pilson to form Lynch Mob in 1990.)

Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me with Science (Thomas was born in Cairo, Egypt.)

Doobie Brothers - The Doctor (I prefer this line-up over the Michael McDonald years. It rocks.)

Doors - Gloria (Naughty version of the song, though not as naughty as Jimi Hendrix’s version, from Alive, She Cried)

Duran Duran - A View to a Kill (I tend to like all the off kilter James Bond Tunes. The band is named after a robot in the Jane Fonda movie Barbarella.)

Bob Dylan - Band of the Hand (Its Dylan and all of his post 1981songs could be listed. I chose one I haven’t heard in a while from the movie of the same name. A good but more popular choice is Everything is Broken, but on the negative side this was the beginning of Dylan using a new style of singing that does not hold up to his past.)

Dave Edmunds - Slipping Away (Written by ELO’s Jeff Lynne. Dave is a rock historian and very cordial and entertaining to talk to.)

ELO - Hold on Tight (Later a coffee commercial. From the concept album Time which seems modern. It seemed strange to listen to lyrics such as …remember the good old 1980’s when things were so uncomplicated…back in the 80’s, so the meaning changed with time.)

Emerson, Lake, and Powell - Touch and Go (Keith Emerson of the Nice, Greg Lake of King Crimson, and Cozy Powell of Whitesnake who briefly replaced Carl Palmer of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown)

Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (are Made of This) (Synth Pop Duo that was mainstream but talented that evolved from the Tourists.)

Extreme - More than Words (For some reason this song always reminded me of Spirit’s Nature’s Way)

Fabulous Thunderbirds - Wrap it Up (Guitarist Jimmie Vaughn was older brother of Stevie Ray Vaughn)

Falco - Der Kommisar (Favorite German song, although if you listen carefully you will hear some English dialogue.)

Don Felder - Heavy Metal (Takin’ a Ride) (I never knew an Eagle could rock this hard.)

Firm - Radioactive (Bnad members from Zeppelin, Bad Company and Manfred Mann)

Fixx - How Much is Enough (I picked this one because it is usually the one that gets left out by them. Red Skies is cool.)

Fleetwood Mac - Big Love (Their best stuff was earlier. Rivaled the best of them with line-up changes.)

Flock of Seagulls - I Ran (The keyboard job seemed easy with this band. Good thing the song was not called I Raq.)

John Fogerty - Rock and Roll Girls (Playful lyrics, fun tune by the ex-Creedence singer)

Lita Ford - Close My Eyes Forever (Another former Runaway member, duet with Ozzy)

Foreigner - Jukebox Hero (A rocker from a band that is now best known for its ballads)

Glenn Frey - Party Town (Do not quote this tune to your boss. If you have the album read the scribbles on the inner grooves.)

Frida - I Know there’s Something Going On (Formerly of Abba with guest Phil Collins on drums)