Rumour s - Fleetwood Mac (1977)

THE heaviest hammer blows make the sharpest swords, as the saying goes, and Rumours is a great example of this adage. The personal lives of Fleetwood Mac were taking a battering during the making of Rumours, yet it remains their greatest work. Guitarist-songwriter Lindsey Buckingham had just broken up with singer Stevie Nicks, bassist John McVie had separated from his wife and singer Christie and drummer Mick Fleetwood had split with his wife. Despite the turmoil, the five members stuck together, wrote songs about each other and crafted a slick-sounding album that belies the raw emotions at its core as the band examined relationships from many angles including optimism (Dreams, Don't Stop), anger (Go Your Own Way) and excitement (You Make Loving Fun). It's perhaps the ultimate MOR album - sonically shiny and safe, its heavy personal sentiments are glossed by catchy hooks and magical harmonies, and its mass appeal is obvious by the fact it has sold more than 30 million records worldwide and spent 31 weeks at the top of the US charts.

IV - Toto (1982)

IT can be hard to put your finger on the MOR sound, but listen to Make Believe or I Won't Hold You Back on Toto's world-conquering, award-winning fourth album and you'll get some idea. IV has been labelled everything from yacht rock to adult contemporary to easy listening to soft rock - all styles synonymous with MOR. The sappiness is laid on pretty heavy but the fact remains the album is bookended by two of the best pop hits to come out of the 1980s - the rhythmic ballad Rosanna (which is said to be written about actress Rosanna Arquette) and the enigmatic melodrama Africa.

< i>An Innocent Man - Billy Joel (1983)

INTENDED as a tip of the hat to his influences from the 1950s and 1960s, Billy Joel's An Innocent Man was filtered through the pop production techniques of the early 1980s and as a result comes with a safe-as-houses sound and appeal that is definitively MOR. Uptown Girl is a sparkly piece of upbeat pop inspired by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, the acapella The Longest Time is an unexpected doo-wop moment, while Tell Her About It hints at the likes of The Supremes and The Temptations. It's these influences that add a classic quality to the songs, but the cheesiness of songs such as Uptown Girl and Keeping The Faith keep it tied to the middle of the road.

The Man Who - Travis (1999)

BEFORE Coldplay, Keane and Starsailor, Scottish band Travis were there to poach the restrained yet anthemic pop moments from Radiohead, Oasis and other Britpop bands of a few years prior. The Man Who was a worldwide smash spurred by Why Does It Always Rain Me?, a charmingly inoffensive singalong that set the tone for the remainder of the album and made Travis the one band on Triple J at the time that your mum could enjoy. Fran Healy's near-nonsensical rhyming couplets somehow struck a chord when strapped to the gorgeous melodies of Writing To Reach You, Driftwood and Turn. The album's success and the band's MOR qualities eventually earned them the resentment of the all-powerful UK music press, who had earlier championed this record. The Man Who would unfortunately become a millstone around the band's neck, but remains a sweet album of gentle guitar pop winners.