VH1's
Big '80s series continues with this volume of
Arena Rock, a style that actually peaked in the late '70s, but certainly endured into the MTV era. Some of these artists --
Genesis,
Dire Straits,
Billy Idol, or
Duran Duran, for example -- qualify more as album rock than arena rock, but quibbles over definition aside, this is a pretty good collection of bands who straddled the line between pop/rock and hard rock well enough to capture fans of both styles. It's all very slickly produced, of course, driven by loud guitars and chorus hooks the size of football stadiums. Although no arena rock compilation can be complete without
Journey or
REO Speedwagon, many of the genre's other big names are here, including
Foreigner,
Billy Squier,
Eddie Money,
Asia,
Styx, and
Loverboy, to name a few. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide