History of Rock Music
Silver Dragon Records is proud to present
its Rock music history resource. Here you will find a extensive list of rock
music genres such as the history of alternative
music, heavy metal music, hard
rock, grunge, emo, grindcore, garage rock,
psychedelic rock, psychedelic metal, progressive rock, punk rock,
rock and roll, house music,
grindcore, and others.
Rock has had a long and varied history and
we document it's major movements and genres here. Ever wondered what emo was or
how alternative rock differs from college rock and grunge. This is the place to
find out. Please as always let us know what you think.
Silver Dragon Records is committed
to high quality content on its site. We update our site weekly at a minimum so
check back often. We promise some very cool surprises in the coming weeks.
To check out
the Museum of Rock History follow the link below or scroll down for the entire list of
links. Enjoy your visit to our
artist based company, and enjoy our
resources for alternative indie rock music.
Check out Museum of Rock
Rock
and Roll
- Rock and roll like all
genres has almost as many definitions as it has fans. Rock and Roll generally
refers to rock music recorded around the 1950s including mostly southern artists
like Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. Rock generally is used to refer to any
popular rock music recorded since the early 60's.
Garage
Rock - In the 1960's the
British Invasion
created a wave of new musicians in the USA and throughout the world striving to
be the next Beatles or Rolling Stones. This large number of bands flooded many
local rock
music scenes playing to local audiences and eventually recording in small local
studios.
Surf
Rock -
Surf music is a combination of
rock and roll and rockabilly
music combined with the surfer lifestyle and ethic of the Southern California
Coast and fused into a new genre of music. It is a style charged by a hard rock
influenced instrumental sounds, particularly the guitar, and rockabilly grooves.
Mod
- Mod or Modern music
developed in London, England in the late 1950s to
mid 1960s. As much a lifestyle as a musical style mods sported short bobbed
haircuts and distinctive clothes. Mods were inspired by American
r&b,
soul, Jamaican ska, and bluebeat combined with hard rock influences like the The
Who and Small Faces.
British Invasion
- American
rock and roll had an
tremendous impact on the entire world and especially in
Britain. British kids were inspired by the r&b and
rock movements which began to form the beginnings of the British Invasion in the
underground of London in the late 50s. Before long bands from England were dominating the rock and roll
scene throughout the world and soon found its way back to America where the
influences had originated.
Psychedelic
Rock - Psychedelic rock evolved in the 60s as an offshoot of the
rock and roll movement combining elements of rock,
reggae, and other diverse elements. Involving the use of mind altering drugs
like
cannabis, mescaline, psilocybin, and especially LSD, psychedelic rock broke with
traditional rock and laid the roots for
psychedelic metal and
experimental rock genres.
Progressive
Rock -
Progressive rock is a very general and intertwined genre of music which
got its start in the late 60s, and continues to this day. Progressive rock is
often lumped together with other similar genres like art rock, symphonic rock, and progressive
heavy metal. The artists try to take the roots of rock and apply them to a more
classically influenced structure. The music is often very elaborate and
generally requires very exceptional musicians with a great deal of talent. It is
not unusual for prog rock pieces to be very lengthy in some cases they are over
an hour in length.
Hard
Rock - Hard rock is a form of rock & roll that finds its roots in the early 1960s
garage rock and draws from jazz, blues,
rock and roll, and other influences like folk in the case
of famed hard rock artist Led Zeppelin who's
main writer and composer Jimmy Page was a famous studio musician and expert
guitar player who was interested in Celtic and folk influences. These diverse
influence can be clearly heard in one of the most influential albums of this
style Led Zeppelin 4. Budgie, AC/DC, The Stooges, MC5, Prong, Jimi Hendrix and Deep
Purple are also classic examples of early hard rock.
Glam
Rock - Glam rock became popular in the 70s in what was mostly a British movement
with a few notable exceptions. Using lavish and effeminate clothes and heavily
made up male performers glam acts rejected the
progressive rock movement
embracing the lavish lifestyles of the rich and famous.
Power
Pop -
Power pop is a
mixture of hard rock with
pop music to product a style of music which was extremely popular in the early
days of rock
music. The term was coined by Pete Townshend of The Who in the mid-1960s
the first true power pop did not appear till the early 70s. One of
the first was the Raspberries who combined influences like the Who, the Byrds,
the Beach Boys, and the Beatles to make pop music with a harder edge.
Heavy Metal
-
Heavy metal music was born around to1964-1970 from bands like the Kinks, the
Who, Alice Cooper's The Spiders, Cream, Golden Earring, Led Zeppelin, Vanilla
Fudge, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf, Blue Cheer,
Atomic Rooster, Cactus, Grand Funk
Railroad, Deep Purple, Free, Uriah Heep,
Mountain, Bloodrock, Black Widow, and Black Sabbath between 1966 and 1970,
Iron Butterfly Heavy album and Steppenwolf's song Born to Be Wild which
contained the phrase heavy metal thunder share credit for the name heavy metal.
Punk rock
-
Punk rock got its name from the slang word punk meaning rotten and worthless.
It was originally used to describe simple guitar based rock of bands like
The Seeds, and later on Detroit bands
like The Stooges and
MC5. The anti-establishment
ethic of punk hit a fevered pitch in
1976 through 1980, started partially as a
backlash to the hippie movement of the late 60's.
Krautrock
- Krautrock was a offshoot of the rock movement during
the late 60s and 70s involving German acts such as Can,
Tangerine Dream, Faust, and Neu. Largely instrumental krautrock combined rock
elements with electronic instruments which laid the framework for the later industrial rock
and new wave
movements.
Southern Rock
-
Southern rock goes back to the origins of the
rock and roll
movement to innovators like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard
who all came from the South. Drawing heavily from the blues,
rock and roll
redefined music causing an revolution that would sweep the world continuing up
to the present time. The British Invasion and
then psychedelic rock
movement in San Francisco took rock music out of the south and to places like London, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
and New York.
Indie rock -
Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music which is often used to refer to bands that are
on small independent
or "indie" record labels or who aren't on labels at all. In the
1980s, these bands were referred to as "alternative
rock", since they were
quite different that the mainstream rock that dominated the radio at that time.
It was also interchangeable with the term
college rock which was
named after the main source of the music at the time was the college radio.
Experimental rock - Experimental rock has long been a catchall phrase used to
describe rock music that does not fit into any other genre. Other genres that
overlap somewhat are
post rock,
industrial, emo,
and progressive rock.
The form typically breaks conventions and rules and redefining what is
considered music. Proponents of the form love the freedom to explore endless
sonic possibilities and the unpredictability and excitement that the genre
presents.
College Rock -
In the early eighties
hard rock
dominated the FM radio stations in the rock format and the genre of alternative
music was all but unknown by mainstream listeners.
Alternative music was limited to
a few scattered college radio stations and small self contained local scenes and
groups. In the mid 80s as it became more popular
It began to take over college radio throughout the country and slowly made its
way into the attention of a large group of college kids and other listeners who
tuned into the local radio stations to keep up with the acts.
Gothic Rock -
Gothic rock started as a offshoot of the punk movement led by groups
like Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, and Joy Division who created
a new more introverted style of punk which focused on personal issues and ideas
while paying tribute to the influence of early punk bands like The Sex Pistols, The Buzzcocks,
The Clash, and Generation X.
Gothic Metal - Gothic metal is a crossover genre between traditional
gothic music, thrash and doom metal, and
heavy metal. Common themes are religion,
mythology, horror, pain, hopeless love and death. Traditionally the genre is
closely related to the vampirism and nihilism movements but only on the surface.
The dress is similar to the traditional
gothic
movement featuring dark clothes and makeup and religious symbols but as always
there are notable
exceptions. Goths are not as many believe linked to violence but are actually
pacifists by and large.
Speed Metal - Speed metal is a small subset of the
heavy metal
movement and even rabid hardcore fans can't always agree on which bands fit in
this category. It is very similar to
thrash metal
but combines more
progressive rock elements
with lyrical elements of apocalyptic fears and collective oppression. One thing that most agree on is that the genre is defined by blistering guitar speed, progressive rock
arrangements, twisted song structures, extremely difficult guitar solos and anti
social lyrics.
Thrash Metal - Thrash is characterized by brief uncomplicated sonic assaults charged by the
influences of hardcore punk and
heavy metal.
Formed of lightning fast guitar riffs and antisocial lyrics reminiscent of
punk rocks early years Thrash and its direct
descendant grindcore
are very socially conscious however unlike many punk and
heavy metal bands. Songs of a minute or less were not uncommon and screamed
vocal styling and compositional techniques would create all the tools necessary
for bands in the doom
metal genre soon to come.
Psychedelic Metal -
Psychedelic metal is a type of
heavy metal
music which arose in the early 1990s. Post metal bands
began to combine psychedelic rock and grunge
and other influences and combining it into an underground movement some labeled
stoner rock. Bands like Kyuss, Masters of Reality, and Monster Magnet were among
the most popular practitioners.
Alternative Metal -
Alternative Metal is an offshoot of Heavy Metal which is characterized by a
combination of hip hop, hardcore punk, and
heavy metal
combined with other genres. Alternative metal's early bands were Jane's Addiction, and Living Colour among others and incorporated blues, jazz, funk,
and hardcore in varying degrees. Faith No More, Sonic Youth, Fishbone, and Seattle's
pre grunge bands Melvins, Mudhoney, Tad and Mother Love
Bone were early pioneers in the genre.
Neoclassical Metal -
Neoclassical metal draws on classical music fused with heavy metal to create
darker more challenging compositions which redefined the genre of heavy metal
being reincorporated in the movement. Incorporating ideas like classical
composition, arpeggios, and counterpoint combining them with dark menacing
guitars and nontraditional instruments.
Progressive Metal -
Progressive metal or prog metal as some call it is a combination of progressive
rock and heavy metal which came into popularity during the late 80's with
cutting edge bands like Queensryche and Dream Theatre. Progressive metal has a
small but very loyal and devoted group of fans that have allowed it to survive
when more mainstream genres have died out.
Death Metal - Death metal was spawned in the US and Canada during the 80s with bands like Death,
Suffocation, Morbid
Angel, Entombed, Winter, and Cannibal Corpse. Death metal is known for extreme
speed and incredibly violent lyrics combining elements of
heavy metal, thrash metal,
and speed metal. The vocals
are little more than inaudible growls usually exposing very dark subjects. Known for very abrupt tempo and count changes
and blistering tempos.
Doom Metal -
Doom metal is a variation of
heavy metal music which is slow and
dark and filled with tension. Black Sabbath's early albums were a great source
of inspiration for the genre . Bands like Trouble and Candlemass combined these
influences with more modern ones to clearly define the genre in the late 80's.
Originally from Chicago, Trouble formed in 79 but did not become popular until
84.
Grindcore - Grindcore is a combination of
thrash metal,
speed metal, hardcore
punk ,and
death metal. The genre is typified
by atonal chromatic guitar riffs borrowed from thrash and speed metal and the
guttural growling vocals of death metal combined with the hardcore punk
attitude. Its name comes from the grinding of simple chromatic guitar riffs and
melodies and the attitude of
hardcore punk.
New Wave - Record executives had missed the marketing bandwagon
with the punk rock movement
(due to the fact most punk albums were released independently). Determined not
to let that happen again they began signing and promoting post punk
bands or New Wave acts as they were beginning to be called very aggressively in
the early 80's. Drawing heavily from
glam rock and the
industrial music
genres the music was defined very broadly including
everyone from acts like Devo and Madness to the Police.
Grunge -
In the mid 80's a small movement was brewing in an unlikely place, Seattle
Washington. This movement was not actually lead by Nirvana as many have said when they
released "Nevermind" in September of 91 but actually went back to other
Seattle bands like Melvins and Mudhoney. It was due in large part to Nirvana and
Pearl Jam that the movement came to the forefront of mainstream success, a move
which combined with the tragedy of Kurt Cobain's death conspired to kill the
movement
Post Rock - The term post-rock is really just a general description
of bands which don't fit a standard rock format. The term post rock first
appeared in print in 1993 when a writer was
describing the first studio album by Bark Psychosis called Hex. The album
combines thick textures, acoustic instruments, moody overtones, and other
classic staples of the genre.
Alternative rock -
Alternative music was a phrase invented in early 80s describing bands which
broke from the barrage of pop and hair metal and formed a new direction of more
focused and honest rock. It includes many subcategories including but not
limited to Grunge,
Hard Rock, Indie Rock,
Experimental Rock,
Progressive Rock,
College Rock,
Gothic Rock,
Heavy Metal, Punk Rock,
Power Pop, Hardcore Punk,
New Wave,
Nu Metal - The latest incarnation of heavy metal is usually associated with bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit,
Slipknot, Amen, the Deftones, and Papa Roach Its creation is often linked to music producer Ross Robinson
who is called the guru of nu-metal. The performing style is still a heavily
amplified theatre of blood, guts and gore, including costumed artists and
pyrotechnic blasts fused with angry detuned guitars
Industrial rock -
The term Industrial music is a very generic term for
many subgroups or genres of music like ambient, noise, techno, house, lo-fi, and
several others. The most obvious stereotype that comes to mind is a distorted, percussive, lo-fi electronic
samples weaved into the fabric of a traditional pop song or dance remixes. The
first band who are considered to be a part of this genre are Throbbing Gristle
who formed Industrial Records in the 1970's.
Emo -
Emo may be one of the hardest genres to define. Even
those who love the music may disagree
on what it actually is. The answer most people agree on is that Emo is very
similar to Hardcore Punk
except with more emotional lyrics often expressing sadness, love and even anger,
hence the term emo.
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