Playlists

Ok, I might have lied. The theme from “Miami Vice” never goes out of style. And the vaporwave+synthwave combo may have made the wildest synthetic pomposity of the Eighties less off-putting than it once was. But better this way. In the late careers of Seventies rock giants and among one-hit wonders never aired on this side of the ocean, there are dazzling gems that tell the story of an era when stadium rock had no qualms about seizing the most futuristic machines on the market, flirting with dance, new wave and power pop, and pushing the grandeur pedal to the floor.

Some of the protagonists you'll surely know. Yes, reborn on American soil under the protection of Trevor Horn and South African Trevor Rabin, and then their successful spinoffs Asia and Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe. Genesis, in the thick of their synthetic abstraction during the Banks-Collins-Rutherford era. Rush, Hall&Oates, Starship (who used to be Jefferson Starship, who in turn used to be Jefferson Airplane), Chicago — with quite a bit of water under the bridge separating them from the brass rock of “I’m A Man”.

There are other household names too, but no longer human ones. Instruments, technologies whose use/abuse would expose the sound of Eighties Aor to criticism whose echoes still haven't died down today. Bland, tacky, “plastic”: that's how the hi-tech marriage of new synthesizers, drum machines and studio tricks has been labelled — a marriage that ended up defining, in the collective imagination, not just the music of the artists in question, but that of the entire decade. Among the many possible reference points, at least four are essential: the Yamaha DX-7 digital synthesizer, the first to unlock the possibilities of frequency modulation (or Fm synthesis) and among the very first to feature a Midi interface; the Simmons electronic drum kit; the LinnDrum drum machine — whose sampled sounds made it considerably more dynamic than rivals Roland 808 and 909. And then the trick of all Eighties tricks, that gated reverb perfected by Phil Collins in cahoots with Steve Lillywhite and Hugh Padgham, during the sessions for Peter Gabriel's “Intruder”.

But a genre doesn't live on heavyweights alone, and more than most, hi-tech Aor is defined by the dozens (hundreds?) of less earth-shattering successful acts who, for the fans (yes, they exist!), managed to capture the essence of the style. There are bands like Canadians FM and Saga, born in the wake of the prog/pomp saga and able to adapt masterfully to the new synthetic gospel, and others that came along a few years later, but quite happy to revive the splendour and kaleidoscopic quality of prog gone by (It Bites, Toy Matinee). One significant strand combines the more progressive side with a heavy component, while still keeping pop immediacy and the glittering synthetic sound at its core: Simon Chase, Aviator, Shooting Star are a few examples, but the two most respected names are one-man-band Jeff Cannata and Britain's Magnum, the missing link between progressive rock and epic metal. All of which confirms that the legacy of progressive rock in the Eighties wasn't picked up only by Marillion and post-punk runaways like Chameleons.

The term hi-tech Aor is also associated with a host of lighter projects, sometimes with a distinctly synth-pop bent (see the ever-famous “Sunglasses At Night”) and in other cases quite close to the new romantic splendour of Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet (Device, Nik Kershaw – the latter admittedly a somewhat borderline inclusion).

The selection on offer is rather unorthodox, and deliberately tilted towards the elements of continuity with the symphonic sound of the Seventies. The inclusion of a few less-than-paradigmatic artists is meant as a way to highlight the variety of the genre, as well as to suggest possible connections with other areas. It's up to the curious reader to venture into whichever explorations interest them most!

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01/01/2026