Most anything by Al Stewart should satisfy your need for a more refined rock sound, including orchestration and acoustic guitar, not to mention many lyrics based on historical events.
Rock with strings
Good day fellow musicheads! This goes against my inner rock child, but as I age (gasp), I find myself digging rock/pop string section Lps. Moody Blues made the definitive expression with Future days and the Zombies Odyssey is amazing. This seems a predominantly British genre, and at times very pretentious (haha), but one has to applaud the ambition. Any other suggestion? Also, I'm pretty content with the sacd version of Future Days, but curious to see what others have. Safe and happy upcoming Turkey Day to all. And...go Lions!