The problem is the catagorization. "Classic Rock" is something the radio stations came up with to market to a specific demographic (mostly boomers who were teenagers in the late sixties/seventies). "Album Oriented Rock" was the counter-category, and you could hear that late at night on small independent stations scattered throughout the country.
While listening to back-to-back commercial hits might be enjoyable while driving or doing chores around the house, a much more engaging experience could be had listening to whole albums that were designed to be played in their entirety. The entire narrative sweep of an album can be taken in during a single listening session, and the individual songs have more depth and meaning within the context of the entire concept.
"Classic Rock" formats just bother and distract me. If I can't sit down and listen to a whole album, I prefer soft jazz, "easy listening", or talk radio.
Note: the iPod and other portable digital devices may have something to do with modern listening habits. The ease with which one can skip to the another song, or even worse just listen to a part of a song then move on, probably has something to do with the difficulty many have sitting down and listening to a whole album. This may be why younger people are discovering vinyl records, which tend to cause listeners to at least play a whole side.
