Hard rock
Hard rock (or heavy rock) is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock. It is typified by a heavy use of distorted electric guitars, bass guitar, drums, and often accompanied with pianos and keyboards.
Hard rock developed into a major form of popular music in the 1970s, with bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Who, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, AC/DC, and Van Halen, and reached a commercial peak in the mid to late 1980s. The glam metal of bands like Bon Jovi and Def Leppard and the rawer sounds of Guns N' Roses followed up with great success in the later part of that decade, before losing popularity with the commercial success of grunge and later Britpop in the 1990s. Despite this, many post-grunge bands adopted a hard rock sound and in the 2000s there came a renewed interest in established bands, attempts at a revival, and new hard rock bands that emerged from the garage rock and post-punk revival scenes.Hard rock is a form of loud, aggressive rock music. The electric guitar is often emphasised, used with distortion and other effects, both as a rhythm instrument using repetitive riffs with a varying degree of complexity, and as a solo lead instrument. Drumming characteristically focuses on driving rhythms, strong bass drum and a backbeat on snare, sometimes using cymbals for emphasis.The bass guitar works in conjunction with the drums, occasionally playing riffs, but usually providing a backing for the rhythm and lead guitars. Vocals are often growling, raspy, or involve screaming or wailing, sometimes in a high range, or even falsetto voice.In the late 1960s the term heavy metal was used interchangeably with hard rock, but gradually began to be used to describe music played with even more volume and intensity. While hard rock maintained a bluesy rock and roll identity, including some swing in the back beat and riffs that tended to outline chord progressions in their hooks, heavy metal's riffs often functioned as stand-alone melodies and had no swing in them. Heavy metal took on "darker" characteristics after Black Sabbath's breakthrough at the beginning of the 1970s, and in the 1980s it developed a number of sub-genres, often termed extreme metal, some of which were influenced by hardcore punk, and which further differentiated the two styles.Despite this differentiation, hard rock and heavy metal have existed side by side, with bands frequently standing on the boundary of, or crossing between, the genres.The roots of hard rock as well as heavy metal can be traced back to antecedents in the 1950s. In the early 1950s, electric blues musicians began experimenting with hard rock elements, including driving rhythms, distorted guitar solos, and power chords. This was most evident in the work of Memphis blues guitarists such as Joe Hill Louis, Willie Johnson, and particularly Pat Hare, who captured a "grittier, nastier, more ferocious electric guitar sound" on records such as James Cotton's "Cotton Crop Blues" (1954). Another important antecedent is Link Wray's instrumental hit "Rumble" in 1958, and also the instrumentals of Dick Dale, such as "Let's Go Trippin'" released in 1961. |
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Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (or referred to simply as hardcore) is a punk rock music genre that originated in the late 1970s. Hardcore is generally faster, heavier, and more abrasive than regular punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A. may have helped to popularize the term with the title of their 1981 album, Hardcore '81. One definition of the genre is "a form of exceptionally harsh punk rock."
Hardcore has spawned the straight edge movements, whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, and its associated submovements, hardline and youth crew. Hardcore was heavily involved with the rise of the independent record labels in the 1980s, and with the DIY ethics in underground music scenes. It has influenced a number of music genres which have experienced mainstream success, such as alternative rock, grunge, alternative metal, metalcore, thrash metal and post-hardcore. Hardcore sprouted underground scenes across the United States in the early 1980s particularly in Washington, D.C., California, New York/New Jersey, and Boston—as well as in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. While traditional hardcore has never experienced mainstream commercial success, some of its early pioneers have garnered appreciation over time. Black Flag's album Damaged was included in Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003, and the Dead Kennedys have seen one of their albums reach gold status over a period of 25 years. Although the music started in English-speaking western countries, scenes have also existed in Brazil, Japan, Europe and The Middle East. In the vein of punk rock, most bands followed the traditional singer/guitar/bass/drum format. The songwriting had more emphasis on rhythm rather than melody. Hardcore vocalists screamed, chanted and used spoken word poetry. Drummers would play fast D beat one moment and then drop tempo into elaborate musical breakdowns the next. Guitarists were not afraid to play solos, octave leads, and grooves as well as tapping into the various feedback and harmonic noises available to them. The guitar sound was almost always distorted and amplified. 
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Heartland rock
Heartland rock is a genre of rock music that developed in the 1970s and reached its commercial peak in the 1980s, when it became one of the best-selling genres in the United States. It was characterized by a straightforward musical style, a concern with the average, blue collar American life, and a conviction that rock music has a social or communal purpose beyond just entertainment. The genre is exemplified by the commercial success of singer-songwriters Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, Tom Petty and John Mellencamp, along with less widely known acts such as Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes and the Iron City Houserockers. It was also associated with a number of country music artists including Steve Earle and Joe Ely. In the 1990s, many established acts faded and the genre began to fragment, but the major figures have continued to record with commercial success.The term heartland rock was not coined to describe a clear genre until the 1980s. In terms of style it often uses straightforward rock and roll, sometimes with elements of Americana and country. Most artists avoided the synthezisers that dominated the electronic rock of the 1980s and placed an emphasis on guitars, with a basic rhythm and blues line-up of drums, keyboards and occasional horn section instruments like a saxophone. Lyrics are often presented in a style that is raspy and unpolished, adding a sense of "authenticity". It was most strongly influenced by American country, folk and folk rock acts such as Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the Northern Irish (but heavily American-influenced) Van Morrison, as well as the basic rock of 1960s garage and the Rolling Stones.
Verses often outline narrative stories, particularly of people undergoing hard times and choruses are often anthemic in tone. It is associated with rural and blue-collar values, particularly those of the predominately white working-class regions of the Midwest and the rust belt. It has been characterized as a predominately romantic genre, celebrating "urban backstreets and rooftops",and its major themes have been listed as including "unemployment, small-town decline, disillusionment, limited opportunity and bitter nostalgia",as well as alienation and despair. 
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Heavy metal
Heavy metal (often referred to as metal) is a genre of rock musi that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and in the United States. With roots in blues rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall loudness. Heavy metal lyrics and performance styles are generally associated with masculinity and machismo.
The first heavy metal bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath attracted large audiences, though they were often derided by critics, a status common throughout the history of the genre. In the mid-1970s Judas Priest helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its blues influence;Motörhead introduced a punk rock sensibility and an increasing emphasis on speed. Bands in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal such as Iron Maiden followed in a similar vein. Before the end of the decade, heavy metal fans became known as "metalheads" or "headbangers".
During the 1980s, glam metal became a commercial force with groups like Mötley Crüe and Poison. Underground scenes produced an array of more extreme, aggressive styles: thrash metal broke into the mainstream with bands such as Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax, while other styles of the most extreme subgenres of metal like death metal and black metal remain subcultural phenomena. Since the mid-1990s, popular styles such as nu metal, which often incorporates elements of grunge and hip hop; and metalcore, which blends extreme metal with hardcore punk, have further expanded the definition of the genre.
Heavy metal is traditionally characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, and vigorous vocals. Metal subgenres variously emphasize, alter, or omit one or more of these attributes. New York Times critic Jon Pareles writes, "In the taxonomy of popular music, heavy metal is a major subspecies of hard-rock—the breed with less syncopation, less blues, more showmanship and more brute force." The typical band lineup includes a drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist, and a singer, who may or may not be an instrumentalist. Keyboard instruments are sometimes used to enhance the fullness of the sound.
The electric guitar and the sonic power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal. The lead role of the guitar in heavy metal often collides with the traditional "frontman" or bandleader role of the vocalist, creating a musical tension as the two "contend for dominance" in a spirit of "affectionate rivalry". Heavy metal "demands the subordination of the voice" to the overall sound of the band. Reflecting metal's roots in the 1960s counterculture, an "explicit display of emotion" is required from the vocals as a sign of authenticity.
Critic Simon Frith claims that the metal singer's "tone of voice" is more important than the lyrics. Metal vocals vary widely in style, from the multioctave, theatrical approach of Judas Priest's Rob Halford and Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, to the gruff style of Motörhead's Lemmy and Metallica's James Hetfield, to the growling of many death metal performers, and to the harsh screams of black metal.
The prominent role of the bass is also key to the metal sound, and the interplay of bass and guitar is a central element. The bass guitar provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music "heavy".Metal basslines vary widely in complexity, from holding down a low pedal point as a foundation to doubling complex riffs and licks along with the lead and/or rhythm guitars. Some bands feature the bass as a lead instrument, an approach popularized by Metallica's Cliff Burton in the early 1980s.The essence of metal drumming is creating a loud, constant beat for the band using the "trifecta of speed, power, and precision". Metal drumming "requires an exceptional amount of endurance", and drummers have to develop "considerable speed, coordination, and dexterity...to play the intricate patterns" used in metal. A characteristic metal drumming technique is the cymbal choke, which consists of striking a cymbal and then immediately silencing it by grabbing it with the other hand (or, in some cases, the same striking hand), producing a burst of sound. The metal drum setup is generally much larger than those employed in other forms of rock music
The first heavy metal bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath attracted large audiences, though they were often derided by critics, a status common throughout the history of the genre. In the mid-1970s Judas Priest helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its blues influence;Motörhead introduced a punk rock sensibility and an increasing emphasis on speed. Bands in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal such as Iron Maiden followed in a similar vein. Before the end of the decade, heavy metal fans became known as "metalheads" or "headbangers".
During the 1980s, glam metal became a commercial force with groups like Mötley Crüe and Poison. Underground scenes produced an array of more extreme, aggressive styles: thrash metal broke into the mainstream with bands such as Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax, while other styles of the most extreme subgenres of metal like death metal and black metal remain subcultural phenomena. Since the mid-1990s, popular styles such as nu metal, which often incorporates elements of grunge and hip hop; and metalcore, which blends extreme metal with hardcore punk, have further expanded the definition of the genre.
Heavy metal is traditionally characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, and vigorous vocals. Metal subgenres variously emphasize, alter, or omit one or more of these attributes. New York Times critic Jon Pareles writes, "In the taxonomy of popular music, heavy metal is a major subspecies of hard-rock—the breed with less syncopation, less blues, more showmanship and more brute force." The typical band lineup includes a drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist, and a singer, who may or may not be an instrumentalist. Keyboard instruments are sometimes used to enhance the fullness of the sound.
The electric guitar and the sonic power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal. The lead role of the guitar in heavy metal often collides with the traditional "frontman" or bandleader role of the vocalist, creating a musical tension as the two "contend for dominance" in a spirit of "affectionate rivalry". Heavy metal "demands the subordination of the voice" to the overall sound of the band. Reflecting metal's roots in the 1960s counterculture, an "explicit display of emotion" is required from the vocals as a sign of authenticity.
Critic Simon Frith claims that the metal singer's "tone of voice" is more important than the lyrics. Metal vocals vary widely in style, from the multioctave, theatrical approach of Judas Priest's Rob Halford and Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, to the gruff style of Motörhead's Lemmy and Metallica's James Hetfield, to the growling of many death metal performers, and to the harsh screams of black metal.
The prominent role of the bass is also key to the metal sound, and the interplay of bass and guitar is a central element. The bass guitar provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music "heavy".Metal basslines vary widely in complexity, from holding down a low pedal point as a foundation to doubling complex riffs and licks along with the lead and/or rhythm guitars. Some bands feature the bass as a lead instrument, an approach popularized by Metallica's Cliff Burton in the early 1980s.The essence of metal drumming is creating a loud, constant beat for the band using the "trifecta of speed, power, and precision". Metal drumming "requires an exceptional amount of endurance", and drummers have to develop "considerable speed, coordination, and dexterity...to play the intricate patterns" used in metal. A characteristic metal drumming technique is the cymbal choke, which consists of striking a cymbal and then immediately silencing it by grabbing it with the other hand (or, in some cases, the same striking hand), producing a burst of sound. The metal drum setup is generally much larger than those employed in other forms of rock music
Horor punk
Horror punk (sometimes called horror rock) is a music genre that mixes Gothic and punk rock sounds with morbid or violent imagery and lyrics, which are often influenced by horror films or science fiction B-movies. The genre is similar to and sometimes overlaps with deathrock, although deathrock leans more towards an atmospheric Gothic rock sound while horror punk leans towards a 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sound. Horrorpunk music is typically more aggressive and melodic than deathrock.The Misfits are recognized as the progenitors of horror punk, releasing a series of singles and EPs beginning in 1977 before releasing their first full-length album Walk Among Us in 1982. And also T.S.O.L., who released Dance With Me in 1981.Horror punk is generally apolitical in comparison to other punk rock subgenres, although some songs do refer to political events (e.g. the Misfits' "Bullet", which discusses the assassination of John F. Kennedy), and some artists like Jack Grisham (on the left) and Michale Graves (on the right) have espoused their own political views.Horror hardcore, a term coined by Dwid Hellion, refers to a hybrid of horror punk and hardcore punk. The Misfits' 1983 album Earth A.D. inaugurated this style and the bands Septic Death, The Banner, and Integrity have also been categorized into this subgenre.
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Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, with its roots in Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s (Josef K and Orange Juice) and the dominant UK independent band of the mid-'80s, The Smiths. Indie pop was inspired by punk's DIY ethic and related ideologies, and it generated a thriving fanzine, label, and club and gig circuit. Indie pop differs from indie rock to the extent that it is more melodic, less abrasive, and relatively angst-free.
The term "indie" had been used for some time to describe artists on independent labels (and the labels themselves), but the key moment in the naming of "indie pop" as a genre was the release of NME's C86 tape in 1986. The compilation featured, among other artists, Primal Scream, The Pastels, and The Wedding Present, and "indie" quickly became shorthand for a genre whose defining conventions were identified as jangling guitars, a love of '60s pop, and melodic power pop song structures (the genre was initially dubbed "C86" after the tape itself). |
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include indie pop, jangle pop, C86, and lo-fi, among others. Originally used to describe record labels, the term became associated with the music they produced and was initially used interchangeably with alternative rock. As grunge and punk revival bands in the US, and then Britpop bands in the UK, broke into the mainstream in the 1990s, it came to be used to identify those acts that retained an outsider and underground perspective. In the 2000s, as a result of changes in the music industry and the growing importance of the Internet, a number of indie rock acts began to enjoy commercial success, leading to questions about its meaningfulness as a term.The term indie rock, derived from "independent," describes the small and relatively low-budget labels on which it is released and the do-it-yourself attitude of the bands and artists involved. Although distribution deals are often struck with major corporate companies, these labels and the bands they host have attempted to retain their autonomy, leaving them free to explore sounds, emotions and subjects of limited appeal to large, mainstream audiences.The influences and styles of the artists has been extremely diverse, including punk, psychedelia, rock and country.
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Indietronica
Indietronica (also called Indie electronic) is a music genre that combines indie, electronica, rock and pop music. Typical instruments used in indietronica music are the electronic keyboard, synthesizer, sampler, software synthesizer, MIDI controller, and drum machine. It is also closely related to the relatively less electronic and more acoustic Chillwave (glo-fi) movement.Indie electronic began in the early 1990s, with bands like Stereolab and Disco Inferno, and took off in the new millennium as new digital technology developed, and music creation tools became more widely available. This included acts such as Broadcast from the UK, Justice from France, Lali Puna from Germany, and The Postal Service and Ratatat from the US, who mixed a variety of indie sounds with electronic music. These were largely produced on small independent labels.
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Indorock
Indorock is a musical genre that originated in the 1950s in the Netherlands and Europe. It is a fusion of Indonesian and Western music, with roots that originate in Kroncong (traditional Portuguese-Indonesian fusion music). The genre was invented by Indo repatriates in the Netherlands after Indonesian independence on August 17, 1945. As an instrumental music genre, Indorock became popular in the mid-1950s.The guitar was imported to the archipelago of the East Indies by Portuguese explorers in the 16th century. The traditional Portuguese song styles, saudade and fado, played with guitar accompaniment, later became kroncong music. Kroncong is characterized by guitars which seem to be "talking" to each other. The guitarists play rhythmic and melodic parts instinctively. Many Indorock musicians had a predilection for Hawaiian music, which was popular in the Netherlands at the time. Other significant influences include American country & western, and the rock & roll repertoire played on radio stations in Indonesia via American (AFN) stations from the Philippines and Australia.
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Industrial metal
Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws from industrial dance music, thrash metal and hardcore punk, using repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals.Founding industrial metal acts include Ministry, Godflesh, and KMFDM.Industrial metal's popularity led to some criticism from other artists associated with the industrial scene. Subsequently, it is most well known in various European permutations. Industrial metal groups have produced many acclaimed music videos.Though electric guitars had been used by industrial artists since the early days of the genre, archetypal industrial groups such as Throbbing Gristle displayed a strong anti-rock stance. British post-punk band Killing Joke pioneered the crossing over between styles,and was an influence on major industrial metal bands such as Ministry, Godflesh, and Nine Inch Nails.Another pioneer industrial rock group, Big Black, also impacted some later groups.
By the late 1980s industrial and heavy metal began to fuse into a common genre,with Godflesh's self-titled EP and Ministry's The Land of Rape and Honey at the forefront. Godflesh was founded by former Napalm Death guitarist Justin Broadrick. Drawing from a wide array of influences — power electronics forefathers Whitehouse, noise rock band Swans, ambient music creator Brian Eno and fellow Birmingham hard rockers Black Sabbath—the Godflesh sound was once described as "Pornography-era Cure on Quaaludes".Though not a top-seller, Godflesh nonetheless became an influential act, their name mentioned by Korn, Metallica, Danzig, Faith No More, and Fear Factory. |
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Industrial rock
Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned and is often confused with industrial metal. The early fusions of industrial music and rock were practiced by a handful of post-punk groups, including Chrome, Killing Joke, Swans, Foetus and Big Black.Industrial rock artists generally employ the basic rock instrumentation of electric guitars, drums and bass and pair it with white noise blasts and electronic music gear (synthesizers, sequencers, samplers and drum machines). Guitars are commonly heavily distorted or otherwise treated. Bass guitars and drums may be played live, or be replaced by electronic musical instruments or computers in general. Industrial rock frequently incorporates the sounds of machinery and industry. This sound palette was pioneered by early 1980s artists (SPK, Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Krupps and Test Dept), who relied heavily on metal percussion, generally made with pipes, tubes and other products of industrial waste.
instrumental rock
Instrumental rock is a type of rock music which emphasizes musical instruments, and which features very little or no singing.Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style.
