American rock has its roots from 1940s and 1950srock and roll,rhythm and blues, andcountry music, and also draws fromfolk music,jazz,blues, andclassical music. American rock music was further influenced by theBritish Invasion of the American pop charts from 1964 and resulted in the development ofpsychedelic rock.
From the late 1960s and early 1970s, American rock music was highly influential in the development of a number of fusion genres, including blending with folk music to createfolk rock, with blues to createblues rock, with country music to createcountry rock,roots rock andSouthern rock and with jazz to createjazz rock, all of which contributed topsychedelic rock. In the 1970s, rock developed a large number of subgenres, such assoft rock,hard rock,heavy metal,glam rock,progressive rock andpunk rock.
New subgenres that were derived from punk and important in the 1980s includednew wave,hardcore punk,post-punk,thrash, andalternative rock. In the 1990s, alternative rock broke through into the mainstream withgrunge, and other significant subgenres includedindie rock andnu metal. In the 2000s genres that emerged into the mainstream includedemo,metalcore and there was agarage rock/post-punk revival. The development of digital technology led to the development of new forms ofdigital electronic rock.
The foundations of American rock music are in rock and roll, which originated in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Its immediate origins lay in a mixing together of variousblack musical genres of the time, includingrhythm and blues andgospel music; in addition tocountry and western.[1] In 1951,Cleveland disc jockeyAlan Freed began playing rhythm and blues music for a multi-racial audience, and is credited with first using the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the music.[2]
There is much debate as to what should be considered thefirst rock and roll record. One contender is "Rocket 88" byJackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (in fact,Ike Turner and his band The Kings of Rhythm), recorded bySam Phillips forSun Records inMemphis in 1951.[3] It has been argued that "That's All Right (Mama)" (1954),Elvis Presley's first major single for Sun Records was the first rock and roll record,[4] but, at the same time,Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle & Roll", later covered byBill Haley,[5] was already at the top of theBillboard R&B charts. Other artists with early rock and roll hits includedChuck Berry,Bo Diddley,Fats Domino,Little Richard,Jerry Lee Lewis, andGene Vincent.[3] Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" (1955) became the first rock and roll song to topBillboard magazine's main sales and airplay charts, and opened the door worldwide for this new wave of popular culture.[5][6] Soon rock and roll was the major force in American record sales and crooners, such asEddie Fisher,Perry Como, andPatti Page, who had dominated the previous decade of popular music, found their access to the pop charts significantly curtailed.[7]
Rock and roll has been seen as leading to a number of distinct subgenres, includingrockabilly, combining rock and roll with "hillbilly" country music, which was usually played and recorded in the mid-1950s by white singers such asCarl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis,Buddy Holly and with the greatest commercial success, Elvis Presley.[8][9] In contrastdoo wop placed an emphasis on multi-part vocal harmonies and meaningless backing lyrics (from which the genre later gained its name), which were usually supported with light instrumentation and had its origins in 1930s and 40s African American vocal groups.[10] Acts likeThe Crows,The Penguins,[5]The El Dorados andThe Turbans all scored major hits, and groups likeThe Platters, with songs including "The Great Pretender" (1955),[5] andThe Coasters with humorous songs like "Yakety Yak" (1958),[11] ranked among the most successful rock and roll acts of the period.[12] The era also saw the growth in popularity of theelectric guitar, and the development of a specifically rock and roll style of playing through such exponents as Chuck Berry,[5]Link Wray, andScotty Moore.[13] Also significant was the advent ofsoul music as a major commercial force. It developed out of rhythm and blues with a re-injection of gospel music and pop and was led by pioneers likeRay Charles andSam Cooke from the mid-1950s.[14] By the early 60s figures likeMarvin Gaye,James Brown,Aretha Franklin,Curtis Mayfield andStevie Wonder were dominating the R&B charts and breaking through into the main pop charts, helping to accelerate their desegregation, whileMotown andStax/Volt Records were becoming major forces in the record industry.[15] All of these elements, including the close harmonies of doo wop and girl groups, the carefully crafted song-writing of the Brill Building Sound and the polished production values of soul, have been seen as influencing theMerseybeat sound, particularly the early work ofThe Beatles, and through them and others the form of later rock music.[16] Some historians of music have also pointed to important and innovative technical developments that built on rock and roll in this period, particularly theWall of Sound pursued byPhil Spector.[17]
Commentators have traditionally perceived a decline of rock and roll in the late 1950s and early 1960s.[18] By 1959, the death ofBuddy Holly,The Big Bopper andRitchie Valens in a plane crash, the departure of Elvis for the army, the retirement of Little Richard to become a preacher, prosecutions of Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry and the breaking of thepayola scandal (which implicated major figures, including Alan Freed, in bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs), gave a sense that the initial rock and roll era had come to an end.[19] More recently some authors have emphasised important innovations and trends in this period without which future developments would not have been possible.[17][20] While early rock and roll, particularly through the advent of rockabilly, saw the greatest commercial success for male and white performers, in this era the genre was dominated by black and female artists. Rock and roll had not disappeared at the end of the 1950s and some of its energy can be seen in theTwist dance craze of the early 60s, mainly benefiting the career ofChubby Checker.[17] Having died down in the late 1950s, doo wop enjoyed a revival in the same period, with hits for acts likeThe Marcels,The Capris, Maurice Williams andShep and the Limelights.[12] The rise ofgirl groups likeThe Chantels,The Shirelles andThe Crystals placed an emphasis on harmonies and polished production that was in contrast to earlier rock and roll.[21] Some of the most significant girl group hits were products of theBrill Building Sound, named after the block in New York where many songwriters were based, which included the number 1 hit for the Shirelles "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" in 1960, penned by the partnership ofGerry Goffin andCarole King.[22]
The instrumental rock and roll pioneered by performers such asDuane Eddy, Link Wray, andThe Ventures was developed byDick Dale who added distinctive "wet"reverb, rapid alternate picking, as well as Middle Eastern and Mexican influences, producing the regional hit "Let's Go Trippin'" in 1961 and launching the surf music craze. Like Dale and hisDel-Tones, most early surf bands were formed in Southern California, including theBel-Airs,The Challengers, andEddie & the Showmen.[23]The Chantays scored a top ten national hit with "Pipeline" in 1963 and probably the best known surf tune was 1963's "Wipe Out", bythe Surfaris, which hit number 2 and number 10 on the Billboard charts in 1965.[24] The growing popularity of the genre led groups from other areas to try their hand. These includedThe Astronauts, fromBoulder, Colorado,The Trashmen, fromMinneapolis, Minnesota, who had a number 4 hit with "Surfin' Bird" in 1964 andThe Rivieras fromSouth Bend, Indiana, who reached number 5 in 1964 with "California Sun".[25]The Atlantics, fromSydney, Australia, made a significant contribution to the genre, with their hit "Bombora" (1963).[25]
Surf music achieved its greatest commercial success as vocal music, particularly the work of theBeach Boys, formed in 1961 in Southern California. Their early albums included both instrumental surf rock (among them covers of music by Dick Dale) and vocal songs, drawing on rock and roll anddoo wop and the close harmonies of vocal pop acts like theFour Freshmen.[18][25] Their first chart hit, "Surfin'" in 1962 reached the Billboard top 100 and helped make the surf music craze a national phenomenon.[26] From 1963 the group began to leave surfing behind as subject matter asBrian Wilson became their major composer and producer, moving on to the more general themes of male adolescence including cars and girl in songs like "Fun, Fun, Fun" (1964) and "California Girls" (1965).[26] Other vocal surf acts followed, including one-hit wonders likeRonny & the Daytonas with "G. T. O." (1964) andRip Chords with "Hey Little Cobra", which both reached the top ten, but the only other act to achieve sustained success with the formula wereJan & Dean, who had a number 1 hit with "Surf City" (co-written with Brian Wilson) in 1963.[25] The surf music craze, and the careers of almost all surf acts, was effectively ended by the arrival of the British Invasion from 1964.[25] Only the Beach Boys were able to sustain a creative career into the mid-1960s, producing a string of hit singles and albums, including the highly regardedPet Sounds in 1966,[27] which made them, arguably, the only American rock or pop act that could rival The Beatles.[26]
By the end of 1962 Britishbeat groups like The Beatles were drawing on a wide range of American influences including soul music, rhythm and blues and surf music.[28] Initially, they reinterpreted standard American tunes, playing for dancers doing thetwist, for example. These groups eventually infused their original compositions with increasingly complex musical ideas and a distinctive sound. During 1963, The Beatles and other beat groups, such asThe Searchers andThe Hollies, achieved popularity and commercial success in Britain.[29]
British rock broke through to mainstream popularity in the United States in January 1964 with the success of the Beatles. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was the band's first number 1 hit on theBillboard Hot 100 chart, starting the British Invasion of the American music charts.[30] The song entered the chart on January 18, 1964, at number 45 before it became the number 1 single for 7 weeks and went on to last a total of 15 weeks in the chart.[31] Their first appearance onThe Ed Sullivan Show February 9 is considered a milestone in American pop culture.[32] The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers, at the time a record for an American television program. The Beatles went on to become the biggest selling rock band of all time and they were followed by numerous British bands, particularly those influenced by blues music includingThe Rolling Stones,The Animals andThe Yardbirds.[29]
The British Invasion arguably spelled the end of instrumental surf music, vocal girl groups and (for a time) theteen idols, that had dominated the American charts in the late 1950s and early 60s.[33] It dented the careers of established R&B acts likeFats Domino andChubby Checker and even temporarily derailed the chart success of surviving rock and roll acts, including Elvis.[34] The British Invasion also played a major part in the rise of a distinct genre of rock music, and cemented the primacy of the rock group, based on guitars and drums and producing their own material assinger-songwriters.[35]
Garage rock was a raw form of rock music, prevalent in North America in the mid-1960s, and called so because of the perception that it was rehearsed in a suburban family garage.[36][37] Garage rock songs revolved around the traumas of high school life, with songs about "lying girls" being particularly common.[38] The lyrics and delivery were more aggressive than was common at the time, often with growled or shouted vocals that dissolved into incoherent screaming.[36] They ranged from crude one-chord music (likethe Seeds) to near-studio musician quality (includingthe Knickerbockers,the Remains, andthe Fifth Estate). There were also regional variations in many parts of the country with flourishing scenes particularly in California and Texas.[38] The Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon had perhaps the most defined regional sound.[39]
The style had been evolving from regional scenes as early as 1958. "Tall Cool One" (1959) byThe Wailers and "Louie Louie" byThe Kingsmen (1963) are mainstream examples of the genre in its formative stages. By 1963, garage band singles were creeping into the national charts in greater numbers, includingPaul Revere and the Raiders (Boise),[40]the Trashmen (Minneapolis)[41] andthe Rivieras (South Bend, Indiana).[42] Other influential garage bands, such asthe Sonics (Tacoma, Washington), never reached theBillboard Hot 100.[43] In this early period many bands were heavily influenced bysurf rock and there was a cross-pollination between garage rock andfrat rock, sometimes viewed as merely a subgenre of garage rock.[44]
The British Invasion of 1964–66 greatly influenced garage bands, providing them with a national audience, leading many (oftensurf orhot rod groups) to adopt a British Invasion lilt, and encouraging many more groups to form.[38] Thousands of garage bands were extant in the US and Canada during the era and hundreds produced regional hits.[38] Examples include: "I Just Don't Care" by New York City'sThe D-Men (1965), "The Witch" by Tacoma'sThe Sonics (1965), "Where You Gonna Go" by Detroit'sUnrelated Segments (1967), "Girl I Got News for You" by Miami'sBirdwatchers (1966) and "1–2–5" by Montreal'sThe Haunted. Despite scores of bands being signed to major or large regional labels, most were commercial failures. It is generally agreed that garage rock peaked both commercially and artistically around 1966.[38] By 1968 the style largely disappeared from the national charts and at the local level as amateur musicians faced college, work or thedraft.[38] New styles had evolved to replace garage rock (includingblues-rock,progressive rock andcountry rock).[38] In Detroit garage rock stayed alive until the early 70s, with bands like theMC5 andThe Stooges, who employed a much more aggressive style. These bands began to be labelledpunk rock and are now often seen asproto-punk or proto-hard rock.[45]
In America blues rock had been pioneered in the early 1960s by guitaristLonnie Mack,[46] but the genre began to take off in the US the mid-60s as acts developed a sound similar to British blues musicians. Key acts includedPaul Butterfield (whose band acted like Mayall's Bluesbreakers in Britain as a starting point for many successful musicians),Canned Heat, the earlyJefferson Airplane,Janis Joplin,Johnny Winter,The J. Geils Band andJimi Hendrix with hispower trios,the Jimi Hendrix Experience andBand of Gypsys, whose guitar virtuosity and showmanship would be among the most emulated of the decade.[47]
Early blues rock bands often emulated jazz, playing long, involved improvisations, which would later be a major element ofprogressive rock. From about 1967 bands likeCream had begun to move away from purely blues-based music into psychedelia.[48] By the 1970s blues rock had become heavier and more riff-based, exemplified by the work of British bands Led Zeppelin andDeep Purple, and the lines between blues rock andhard rock "were barely visible",[48] as bands began recording rock-style albums.[48] The genre was continued in the 1970s by figures such asGeorge Thorogood,[47] but bands became focused onheavy metal innovation, and blues rock began to slip out of the mainstream.[49]
By the 1960s, the scene that had developed out of theAmerican folk music revival had grown to a major movement, using traditional music and new compositions in a traditional style, usually on acoustic instruments.[50] In America the genre was pioneered by figures such asWoody Guthrie andPete Seeger and often identified withprogressive orlabor politics.[50][51] In the early sixties figures such asJoan Baez andBob Dylan had come to the fore in this movement as singer-songwriters.[52][53] Dylan had begun to reach a mainstream audience with hits including "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "Masters of War" (1963), which brought "protest songs" to a wider public,[54] but, although beginning to influence each other, rock and folk music had remained largely separate genres, often with mutually exclusive audiences.[55]
The folk rock movement is usually thought to have taken off withThe Byrds' recording of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" which topped the charts in 1965.[55][56] With members who had been part of the cafe-based folk scene in Los Angeles, the Byrds adopted rock instrumentation, including drums and 12-stringRickenbacker guitars, which became a major element in the sound of the genre.[55] Later that year Dylan adopted electric instruments, much to theoutrage of many folk purists, with his "Like a Rolling Stone" becoming a US hit single.[55][57] Folk rock particularly took off in California, where it led acts likeThe Mamas & the Papas[58] andCrosby, Stills and Nash to move to electric instrumentation, and in New York, where it spawned performers includingThe Lovin' Spoonful[56] andSimon and Garfunkel,[58] with the latter's acoustic "The Sounds of Silence" being remixed with rock instruments to be the first of many hits.[55]
Folk rock reached its peak of commercial popularity in the period 1967-8, before many acts moved off in a variety of directions, including Dylan and the Byrds, who began to developcountry rock.[59] However, the hybridization of folk and rock has been seen as having a major influence on the development of rock music, bringing in elements of psychedelia, and helping to develop the ideas of the singer-songwriter, the protest song and concepts of "authenticity".[55][60]
Psychedelic music'sLSD-inspired vibe began in the folk scene, with the New York-basedHoly Modal Rounders using the term in their 1964 recording of "Hesitation Blues".[61] The first group to advertise themselves as psychedelic rock were the13th Floor Elevators from Texas, at the end of 1965; producing an album that made their direction clear, withThe Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators the following year.[61]
Psychedelic rock particularly took off in California's emerging music scene as groups followed the Byrds from folk to folk rock from 1965.[62] The psychedelic life style had already developed in San Francisco and particularly prominent products of the scene wereThe Grateful Dead,Country Joe and the Fish,The Great Society andJefferson Airplane.[62][63] The Byrds rapidly progressed from purely folk rock in 1966 with their single "Eight Miles High",[64] widely taken[by whom?] to be a reference to drug use.
Psychedelic rock reached its apogee in the last years of the decade. TheSummer of Love of 1967 was prefaced by theHuman Be-In event and reached its peak at theMonterey Pop Festival,[64] the latter helping to make a major American star of Jimi Hendrix.[65] Key recordings included Jefferson Airplane'sSurrealistic Pillow andThe Doors'Strange Days.[66] These trends climaxed in the 1969Woodstock festival,[67] which saw performances by most of the major psychedelic acts, but by the end of the decade psychedelic rock was in retreat. The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream broke up and many surviving acts moved away from psychedelia into more back-to-basics "roots rock", the wider experimentation of progressive rock, or riff-laden heavy rock.[62]
Roots rock is the term now used to describe a move away from what some saw as the excesses of the psychedelic scene, to a more basic form of rock and roll that incorporated its original influences, particularly country and folk music, leading to the creation of country rock and Southern rock.[68] In 1966 Bob Dylan went toNashville to record the albumBlonde on Blonde.[69] This, and subsequent more clearly country-influenced albums, have been seen as creating the genre ofcountry folk, a route pursued by a number of, largely acoustic, folk musicians.[69] Other acts that followed the back-to-basics trend included the Californian-basedCreedence Clearwater Revival, who mixed basic rock and roll with folk, country and blues, to be among the most successful and influential bands of the late 1960s.[70] The same movement saw the beginning of the recording careers of Californian solo artists likeRy Cooder,Bonnie Raitt andLowell George,[71] and influenced the work of established performers such as the Rolling Stones'Beggar's Banquet (1968) and the Beatles'Let It Be (1970).[62]
In 1968Gram Parsons recordedSafe at Home with theInternational Submarine Band, arguably the first truecountry-rock album.[72] Later that year he joined the Byrds forSweetheart of the Rodeo (1968), generally considered one of the most influential recordings in the genre.[72] The Byrds continued in the same vein, but Parsons left to be joined by another ex-Byrds memberChris Hillman in formingThe Flying Burrito Brothers who helped establish the respectability and parameters of the genre, before Parsons departed to pursue a solo career.[72] Country rock was particularly popular in the Californian music scene, where it was adopted by bands including Hearts and Flowers,Poco andNew Riders of the Purple Sage,[72] theBeau Brummels[72] and theNitty Gritty Dirt Band.[73] Some performers also enjoyed a renaissance by adopting country sounds, including: theEverly Brothers;[74] one-timeteen idolRick Nelson[75] who became the frontman for the Stone Canyon Band; former MonkeeMike Nesmith[76] who formed theFirst National Band; andNeil Young.[72]The Dillards were, unusually, a country act, who moved towards rock music.[72] The greatest commercial success for country rock came in the 1970s, with artist including theDoobie Brothers,Emmylou Harris,Linda Ronstadt and theEagles (made up of members of the Burritos, Poco and Stone Canyon Band), who emerged as one of the most successful rock acts of all time, producing albums that includedHotel California (1976).[77]
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The founders of Southern rock are usually thought to be theAllman Brothers Band, who developed a distinctive sound, largely derived fromblues rock, but incorporating elements ofboogie, soul, and country in the early 1970s.[78] The most successful act to follow them wereLynyrd Skynyrd, who helped establish the "good ol' boy" image of the subgenre and the general shape of 1970s guitar rock.[78] Their successors included the fusion/progressive instrumentalistsDixie Dregs, the more country-influencedOutlaws, jazz-leaningWet Willie and (incorporating elements of R&B and gospel) theOzark Mountain Daredevils.[78] After the loss of original members of the Allmans and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the genre began to fade in popularity in the late 1970s, but was sustained the 1980s with acts like.38 Special,Molly Hatchet andThe Marshall Tucker Band.[78]
Progressive rock, a term sometimes used interchangeably withart rock, was an attempt to move beyond established musical formulas by experimenting with different instruments, song types, and forms.[79] From the mid-1960s groups includingThe Left Banke and The Beach Boys, had pioneered the inclusion ofharpsichords,wind andstring sections on their recordings to produce a form ofBaroque rock.[27][80] Instrumentals were common, while songs with lyrics were sometimes conceptual, abstract, or based infantasy andscience fiction.[81] The American brand of prog rock varied from the eclectic and innovativeFrank Zappa,[82]Captain Beefheart andBlood, Sweat and Tears,[83] to more pop rock orientated bands likeBoston,Foreigner,Kansas,Journey andStyx.[79] These, beside British bandsSupertramp andElectric Light Orchestra, all demonstrated a prog rock influence and while ranking among the most commercially successful acts of the 1970s, issuing in the era ofpomp orarena rock, which would last until the costs of complex shows (often with theatrical staging and special effects), would be replaced by more economicalrock festivals as major live venues in the 1990s.
Glam rock was prefigured by the showmanship and gender identity manipulation of American acts such asThe Cockettes andAlice Cooper.[84] It emerged from the English psychedelic andart rock scenes of the late 1960s and can be seen as both an extension of, and reaction against, those trends.[85] Musically it was very diverse, varying between the simple rock and roll revivalism to complex art rock, and can be seen as much as a fashion as a musical subgenre.[85] Visually it was a mesh of various styles, ranging from 1930sHollywood glamor, through 1950s pin-up sex appeal, pre-warCabaret theatrics,Victorian literary andsymbolist styles,science fiction, to ancient and occultmysticism andmythology; manifesting itself in outrageous clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots.[86] Glam is most noted for its sexual and gender ambiguity and representations ofandrogyny, beside extensive use of theatrics.[87] The success of British artists likeDavid Bowie led to the adoption of glam styles among acts likeLou Reed,Iggy Pop,New York Dolls andJobriath, often known as "glitter rock" and with a darker lyrical content than their British counterparts.[88]
From the late 1960s it became common to divide mainstream rock music into soft and hard rock. Soft rock was often derived from folk rock, using acoustic instruments and putting more emphasis on melody and harmonies.[89] Major artists includedCarole King,James Taylor andAmerica.[89][90] It reached its commercial peak in the mid- to late- 70s with acts likeBilly Joel and the reformedFleetwood Mac, whoseRumours (1977) was the best-selling album of the decade.[91] In contrast, hard rock was more often derived from blues-rock and was played louder and with more intensity.[92] It often emphasised the electric guitar, both as a rhythm instrument using simple repetitive riffs and as a sololead instrument, and was more likely to be used withdistortion and other effects.[92] Key acts included British Invasion bands likeThe Who andThe Kinks, as well as psychedelic era performers like Cream, Jimi Hendrix andThe Jeff Beck Group and American bands includingIron Butterfly,MC5,Blue Cheer andVanilla Fudge.[92][93] Hard rock-influenced bands that enjoyed international success in the 1970s includedMontrose, including the instrumental talent ofRonnie Montrose and vocals ofSammy Hagar and arguably the first all-American hard rock band to challenge the British dominance of the genre, released theirfirst album in 1973,[94] and were followed by bands likeAerosmith.[92]
From the late 1960s the term heavy metal began to be used to describe some hard rock played with even more volume and intensity, first as an adjective and by the early 1970s as a noun.[95] The term was first used in music inSteppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" (1967) and began to be associated with pioneer bands like Boston'sBlue Cheer and Michigan'sGrand Funk Railroad.[96] By 1970 three key British bands had developed the characteristic sounds and styles which would help shape the subgenre.Led Zeppelin added elements offantasy to their riff laden blues-rock,Deep Purple brought in symphonic and medieval interests from their progressive rock phrase andBlack Sabbath introduced facets of thegothic andmodal harmony, helping to produce a "darker" sound.[97] These elements were taken up by a "second generation" of heavy metal bands into the late 1970s, includingKiss,Ted Nugent andBlue Öyster Cult from the US.[97] Despite a lack of airplay and very little presence on the singles charts, late-1970s heavy metal built a considerable following, particularly among adolescent working-class males in North America and Europe.[98]
Rock has been criticized by some Christian religious leaders, who have condemned it as immoral, anti-Christian and even demonic.[99] However, Christian rock began to develop in the late 1960s, particularly out of theJesus movement beginning in Southern California, and emerged as a subgenre in the 1970s with artists likeLarry Norman, usually seen as the first major "star" of Christian rock.[100] The genre has been particularly popular in theUnited States.[101] Many Christian rock performers have ties to thecontemporary Christian music scene, while other bands and artists are closely linked toindependent music. Since the 1980s Christian rock performers have gained mainstream success, including figures such as the American gospel-to-pop crossover artistAmy Grant.[102] While these artists were largely acceptable in Christian communities the adoption of heavy rock and glam metal styles by bands likePetra andStryper, who achieved considerable mainstream success in the 1980s, was more controversial.[103][104] From the 1990s there were increasing numbers of acts who attempted to avoid the Christian band label, preferring to be seen as groups who were also Christians, includingP.O.D andCollective Soul.[105]
Punk rock was developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States and the United Kingdom. Rooted ingarage rock and other forms of what is now known asprotopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock.[106] They created fast, hard-edged music, typically with short songs, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces aDIY (do it yourself) ethic, with many bands self-producing their recordings and distributing them through informal channels.[107] By late 1976, acts such as theRamones andPatti Smith, in New York City, and theSex Pistols andThe Clash, in London, were recognized as the vanguard of a new musical movement.[106] The following year saw punk rock spreading around the world. For the most part, punk took root in local scenes that tended to reject association with the mainstream. An associatedpunk subculture emerged, expressing youthful rebellion and characterized by distinctiveclothing styles and a variety ofanti-authoritarian ideologies.[108][109] Since punk rock's initial popularity in the 1970s and the renewed interest created by the punk revival of the 1990s, punk rock continues to have a strong underground following.[110] A more extreme variation of punk rock,hardcore punk emerged from local scenes, particularly in Los Angeles and New York and taking root in Washington DC, Boston, and San Francisco. With louder, faster and usually shorter songs with shouted or screamed vocals it spawned bands like theDead Kennedys,Minor Threat andBlack Flag.[111]
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Although punk rock was a significant social and musical phenomenon, it achieved less in the way of record sales,[112] or American radio airplay (as the radio scene continued to be dominated by mainstream formats such asdisco andalbum-oriented rock).[113] Punk rock had attracted devotees from the art and collegiate world and soon bands sporting a more literate, arty approach, such asTalking Heads, andDevo began to infiltrate the punk scene; in some quarters the description "New Wave" began to be used to differentiate these less overtly punk bands.[114] Record executives, who had been mostly mystified by the punk movement, recognized the potential of the more accessible New Wave acts and began aggressively signing and marketing any band that could claim a remote connection to punk or new wave.[115] Many of these bands, such asThe Cars,The Runaways andThe Go-Go's can be seen as pop bands marketed as new wave;[116] other existing acts, while "skinny tie" bands exemplified byThe Knack,[117] or the photogenicBlondie, began as punk acts and moved into more commercial territory.[118]
If hardcore most directly pursued the stripped down aesthetic of punk, and new wave came to represent its commercial wing, post-punk emerged in the later 1970s and early 80s as its more artistic and challenging side. Major influences beside punk bands wereThe Velvet Underground, The Who, Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart, and the New York-basedno wave scene which placed an emphasis on performance, including bands such asJames Chance and the Contortions,DNA andSonic Youth.[118] Early contributors to the genre included the US bandsPere Ubu, Devo,The Residents andTalking Heads.[118] Although many post-punk bands continued to record and perform, it declined as a movement in the mid-1980s as acts disbanded or moved off to explore other musical other areas, but it has continued to influence the development of rock music and has been seen as a major element in the creation of the alternative rock movement.[119]
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In the late 1970sEddie Van Halen established himself as a metal guitar virtuoso after his band'sself-titled 1978 album.[120]Inspired by Van Halen's success and thenew wave of British heavy metal, a metal scene began to develop in Southern California from the late 1970s, based on the clubs of L.A.'sSunset Strip and including such bands asQuiet Riot,Ratt,Mötley Crüe, andW.A.S.P., who, along with similarly styled acts such as New York'sTwisted Sister, incorporated the theatrics (and sometimes makeup) ofglam rock acts like Alice Cooper and Kiss.[120] The lyrics of these glam metal bands characteristically emphasizedhedonism and wild behavior and musically were distinguished by rapid-fireshred guitar solos, anthemic choruses, and a relatively melodic, pop-oriented approach.[120] By the mid-1980s bands were beginning to emerge from the L.A. scene that pursued a less glam image and a rawer sound, particularlyGuns N' Roses, breaking through with the chart-toppingAppetite for Destruction (1987), andJane's Addiction, who emerged with their major label debutNothing's Shocking, the following year.[121]
In the late 1980s metal fragmented into several subgenres, includingthrash metal, which developed in the US from the style known asspeed metal, under the influence of hardcore punk, with low-register guitar riffs typically overlaid byshredding leads.[122] Lyrics often expressednihilistic views or deal withsocial issues using visceral, gory language. It was popularised by the "Big Four of Thrash":Metallica,Anthrax,Megadeth, andSlayer.[123]Death metal developed out of thrash, particularly influenced by the bands Venom and Slayer. Florida'sDeath and the Bay Area'sPossessed emphasized lyrical elements ofblasphemy,diabolism andmillenarianism, with vocals usually delivered as guttural "death growls", high-pitchedscreaming, complemented by downtuned, highlydistorted guitars and extremely fastdouble bass percussion.[124]
American working-class oriented heartland rock, characterized by a straightforward musical style, and a concern with the lives of ordinary,blue collar American people, developed in the second half of the 1970s. The term heartland rock was first used to describeMidwesternarena rock groups likeKansas,REO Speedwagon and Styx, but which came to be associated with a more socially concerned form of roots rock more directly influenced by folk, country and rock and roll.[125] It has been seen as an American Midwest andRust Belt counterpart to West Coast country rock and the Southern rock of the American South.[126] Led by figures who had initially been identified with punk and new wave, it was most strongly influenced by acts such as Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Van Morrison, and the basic rock of 60s garage and the Rolling Stones.[127]
Exemplified by the commercial success of singer songwritersBruce Springsteen,Bob Seger, andTom Petty, along with less widely known acts such asSouthside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes andJoe Grushecky and the Houserockers, it was partly a reaction to post-industrial urban decline in the East and Mid-West, often dwelling on issues of social disintegration and isolation, beside a form of good-time rock and roll revivalism.[127] The genre reached its commercial, artistic and influential peak in the mid-1980s, with Springsteen'sBorn in the USA (1984), topping the charts worldwide and spawning a series of top ten singles, together with the arrival of artists includingJohn Mellencamp,Steve Earle and more gentle singer/songwriters asBruce Hornsby.[127] It can also be heard as an influence on artists as diverse asBilly Joel[128] andTracy Chapman.[129]
Heartland rock faded away as a recognized genre by the early 1990s, as rock music in general, and blue collar and white working class themes in particular, lost influence with younger audiences, and as heartland's artists turned to more personal works.[127] Many heartland rock artists continue to record today with critical and commercial success, most notably Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp, although their works have become more personal and experimental and no longer fit easily into a single genre. Newer artists whose music would perhaps have been labelled heartland rock had it been released in the 1970s or 1980s, such as Missouri'sBottle Rockets and Illinois'Uncle Tupelo, found themselves labeledalt-country.[130]
The term alternative rock was coined in the early 1980s to describe rock artists who did not fit into the mainstream genres of the time. Bands dubbed "alternative" had no unified style, but were all seen as distinct from mainstream music. Alternative bands were linked by their collective debt to punk rock, through hardcore, New Wave or the post-punk movements.[131] Important bands of the 1980s alternative movement in the US includedR.E.M.,Hüsker Dü,Jane's Addiction,Sonic Youth and thePixies.[131] Artists were largely confined toindependent record labels, building an extensive underground music scene based oncollege radio, fanzines, touring, and word-of-mouth.[132] Few of these bands, with the exception of R.E.M., achieved mainstream success, but despite a lack of spectacular album sales, they exerted a considerable influence on the generation of musicians who came of age in the 80s and ended up breaking through to mainstream success in the 1990s. Styles of alternative rock in the U.S. during the 1980s includedjangle pop, associated with the early recordings of R.E.M., which incorporated the ringing guitars of mid-1960s pop and rock, andcollege rock, used to describe alternative bands that began in the college circuit and college radio, including acts such as10,000 Maniacs andThe Feelies.[131]
By the early 1990s, rock was dominated by commercialized and highly produced pop, rock, and "hair metal" artists, whileMTV had arrived and promoted a focus on image and style. Disaffected by this trend, in the mid-1980s, bands inWashington state (particularly in theSeattle area) formed a new style of rock which sharply contrasted with the mainstream music of the time.[133] The developing genre came to be known as "grunge", a term descriptive of the dirty sound of the music and the unkempt appearance of most musicians, who actively rebelled against the over-groomed images of popular artists.[133] Grunge fused elements of hardcore punk and heavy metal into a single sound, and made heavy use of guitardistortion,fuzz andfeedback.[133] The lyrics were typically apathetic and angst-filled, and often concerned themes such as social alienation and entrapment, although it was also known for its dark humor and parodies of commercial rock.[133]
Bands such asGreen River,Soundgarden, theMelvins andSkin Yard pioneered the genre, withMudhoney becoming the most successful by the end of the decade. However, grunge remained largely a local phenomenon until 1991, whenNirvana‘sNevermind became a huge success thanks to the lead single "Smells Like Teen Spirit".[134]Nevermind was more melodic than its predecessors, but the band refused to employ traditional corporate promotion and marketing mechanisms. During 1991 and 1992, other grunge albums such asPearl Jam'sTen, Soundgarden'sBadmotorfinger andAlice in Chains'Dirt, along with theTemple of the Dog album featuring members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, became among the 100 top selling albums.[135] The popular breakthrough of these grunge bands promptedRolling Stone to nickname Seattle "the newLiverpool."[136] Major record labels signed most of the remaining grunge bands in Seattle, while a second influx of acts moved to the city in the hope of success.[137] However, with thedeath of Kurt Cobain and the subsequent break-up of Nirvana in 1994, touring problems for Pearl Jam and the departure of Alice in Chains' lead singerLayne Staley in 1996, the genre began to decline, partly to be overshadowed byBritpop and more commercial soundingpost-grunge.[138]
The termpost-grunge was coined for the generation of bands that followed the emergence into the mainstream, and subsequent hiatus, of the Seattle grunge bands. Post-grunge bands emulated their attitudes and music, but with a more radio-friendly commercially oriented sound.[139] Often they worked through the major labels and came to incorporate diverse influences from hard rock,[139]pop rock,[140] oralternative metal.[139] The term post-grunge was originally meant as a pejorative, suggesting these groups were simply musically derivative, or a cynical response to an "authentic" rock movement.[141] From 1995, former Nirvana drummerDave Grohl's new band, theFoo Fighters, helped popularize the post-grunge genre and define a new era of rock.[142]
Some post-grunge bands, likeCandlebox, were from Seattle, but the subgenre was marked by a broadening of the geographical base of grunge, with bands like Pennsylvania'sLive and Georgia's Collective Soul, who all cemented post-grunge as one of the most commercially viable subgenres of the 1990s.[131][139] Bands likeCreed andNickelback took post-grunge into the 21st century with considerable commercial success, abandoning most of the angst and anger of the original movement for more conventional anthems, narratives, and romantic songs, and were followed in this vein by new acts includingShinedown,Seether and3 Doors Down.[141]
The origins of 1990s punk pop can be seen in the more song-oriented bands of the 1970s punk movement likeThe Buzzcocks andThe Clash, commercially successful new wave acts such asThe Jam andThe Undertones, and the more hardcore-influenced elements of alternative rock in the 1980s.[143] Pop-punk tends to use power-pop melodies and chord changes with speedy punk tempos and loud guitars.[144] Punk music provided the inspiration for some California-based bands on independent labels in the early 1990s, includingRancid,Pennywise,Weezer andGreen Day.[143] In 1994 Green Day moved to a major label and produced the albumDookie, which found a new, largely teenage, audience and proved a surprise diamond-selling success, leading to a series of hit singles, including two number ones in the US.[131] They were soon followed by the eponymous début from Weezer, which spawned three top ten singles in the US.[145] This success opened the door for the multi-platinum sales of metallic punk bandThe Offspring withSmash (1994).[131] This second wave of pop punk reached its commercial peak with Green Day'sNimrod (1997) and The Offspring'sAmericana (1998).[146]
A third wave of punk pop was spearheaded byBlink-182, with their breakthrough albumEnema of the State (1999), followed by bands such asGood Charlotte,Bowling for Soup andSum 41, who made use of humour in their videos and had a more radio-friendly tone to their music, while retaining the speed, some of the attitude and even the look of 1970s punk.[143] Later pop-punk bands, includingSimple Plan,All-American Rejects andFall Out Boy, had a sound that has been described as closer to 1980s hardcore, while still achieving considerable commercial success.[143]
In the 1980s the terms indie rock and alternative rock were used interchangeably.[147] By the mid-1990s, as elements of the movement began to attract mainstream interest, particularly grunge and then Britpop, post-grunge and pop-punk, the term alternative began to lose its meaning.[147] Those bands following the less commercial contours of the scene were increasingly referred to by the label indie.[147] They characteristically attempted to retain control of their careers by releasing albums on their own or small independent labels, while relying on touring, word-of-mouth, and airplay on independent or college radio stations for promotion.[147] Linked by an ethos more than a musical approach, the indie rock movement encompassed a wide range of styles, from hard-edged, grunge influenced bands likeSuperchunk, through do-it-yourself experimental bands likePavement, to punk-folk singers such asAni DiFranco.[131] It has been noted that indie rock has a relatively high proportion of female artists compared with preceding rock genres, a tendency exemplified by the development of feminist-informedRiot Grrrl music.[148]
By the end of the 1990s many recognisable subgenres, most with their origins in the late 80s alternative movement, were included under the umbrella of indie.Lo-fi eschewed polished recording techniques for a D.I.Y. ethos and was spearheaded byBeck,Sebadoh andPavement.[131] The work ofTalk Talk andSlint helped inspire bothpost rock, an experimental style influenced byjazz andelectronic music, taken up by acts such asTortoise,[149][150] as well as leading to more dense and complex, guitar-basedmath rock, developed by acts likePolvo andChavez.[151]Sadcore emphasised pain and suffering through melodic use of acoustic and electronic instrumentation in the music of bands likeAmerican Music Club andRed House Painters,[152] while the revival of Baroque pop reacted against lo-fi and experimental music by placing an emphasis on melody and classical instrumentation, with artists likeRufus Wainright.[153]
Alternative metal emerged from the hardcore scene of alternative rock in the US in the later 1980s, but gained a wider audience after grunge broke into the mainstream in the early 1990s.[154] Early alternative metal bands mixed a wide variety of genres with hardcore and heavy metal sensibilities, with acts likeJane's Addiction andPrimus using prog-rock,Soundgarden andCorrosion of Conformity using garage punk,The Jesus Lizard andHelmet mixingnoise-rock,Ministry andNine Inch Nails influenced byindustrial music,Monster Magnet moving intopsychedelia,Pantera andWhite Zombie creatinggroove metal, whileBiohazard andFaith No More turned tohip hop and rap.[154]
Hip hop had gained attention from rock acts in the early 1980s, including The Clash with "The Magnificent Seven" (1981) and Blondie with "Rapture" (1981).[155][156] Early crossover acts includedRun DMC and theBeastie Boys.[157][158]Detroit rapperEsham became known for his "acid rap" style, which fused rapping with a sound that was often based in rock and heavy metal.[159][160] Rappers who sampled rock songs includedIce-T,The Fat Boys,LL Cool J,Public Enemy andWhodini.[161] The mixing of thrash metal and rap was pioneered byAnthrax on their 1987 comedy-influenced single "I'm the Man".[162]
In 1990,Faith No More broke into the mainstream with their single "Epic', often seen as the first truly successful combination of heavy metal with rap.[163] This paved the way for the success of existing bands like24-7 Spyz andLiving Colour, and new acts includingRage Against the Machine andRed Hot Chili Peppers, who all fused rock and hip hop among other influences.[161][164] Among the first wave of performers to gain mainstream success as rap rock were311,[165]Bloodhound Gang,[166] andKid Rock.[167] A more metallic sound –nu metal – was pursued by bands includingLimp Bizkit,Korn andSlipknot.[162] Later in the decade this style, which contained a mix of grunge, punk, metal, rap and turntablescratching, spawned a wave of successful bands likeLinkin Park,P.O.D. andStaind, who were often classified as rap metal or nu metal, the first of which are the best-selling band of the genre.[168]
In 2001, nu metal reached its peak with albums like Staind'sBreak the Cycle, P.O.D'sSatellite, Slipknot'sIowa and Linkin Park'sHybrid Theory. New bands also emerged likeDisturbed, post-grunge-hard rock bandGodsmack andBreaking Benjamin, and evenPapa Roach, whose major label débutInfest became a platinum hit.[169] However, by 2002 there were signs that nu metal's mainstream popularity was weakening.[164] Korn's fifth albumUntouchables, and Papa Roach's second albumLovehatetragedy, did not sell as well as their previous releases, while nu metal bands were played more infrequently on rock radio stations andMTV began focusing onpop punk andemo.[170] However, Korn's albumUntouchables went platinum[171] and its single "Here to Stay" peaked at number 72 on theBillboard Hot 100[172] and peaked at number one onMTV'sTotal Request Live twice.[173] Also, nu metal band Evanescence became extremely popular in 2003 and Linkin Park continued having much mainstream success.[174] After the early 2000s, many nu metal bands changed their style, withalternative rock,post-grunge,hard rock and standardheavy metal being examples of the genres nu metal bands changed to.[170]
Emo emerged from the hardcore scene in 1980s Washington, D.C., initially as "emocore", used as a term to describe bands who favored expressive vocals over the more common abrasive, barking style.[175] The style was pioneered by bandsRites of Spring andEmbrace, the last formed byIan MacKaye, whoseDischord Records became a major centre for the emerging D.C. emo scene, releasing work by Rites of Spring,Dag Nasty,Nation of Ulysses andFugazi.[175] Fugazi emerged as the definitive early emo band, gaining a fanbase among alternative rock followers, not least for their overtly anti-commercial stance.[175] The early emo scene operated as an underground, with short-lived bands releasing small-run vinyl records on tiny independent labels.[175] The mid-90s sound of emo was defined by bands likeJawbreaker andSunny Day Real Estate who incorporated elements of grunge and more melodic rock.[176] Only after the breakthrough of grunge and pop punk into the mainstream did emo come to wider attention with the success of Weezer'sPinkerton (1996) album, which used pop punk.[175] Late 1990s bands drew on the work of Fugazi, SDRE, Jawbreaker and Weezer, includingThe Promise Ring,Get Up Kids,Braid,Texas Is the Reason,Joan of Arc,Jets to Brazil and most successfullyJimmy Eat World, and by the end of the millennium it was one of the more popular indie styles in the US.[175]
Emo broke into mainstream culture in the early 2000s with the platinum-selling success of Jimmy Eat World'sBleed American (2001) andDashboard Confessional'sThe Places You Have Come to Fear the Most (2003).[177] The new emo had a far greater appeal amongst adolescents than its earlier incarnations.[177] At the same time, use of the term emo expanded beyond the musical genre, becoming associated with fashion, a hairstyle and any music that expressed emotion.[178] The term emo has been applied by critics and journalists to a variety of artists, including multi-platinum acts such asFall Out Boy[179] andMy Chemical Romance[180] and disparate groups such asParamore[179] andPanic! at the Disco,[181] even when they protest the label.
In the early 2000s, a new group of bands that played a stripped down and back-to-basics version of guitar rock, emerged into the mainstream. They were variously characterised as part of a garage rock, post-punk or new wave revival.[182][183][184][185] There had been attempts to revive garage rock and elements of punk in the 1980s and 1990s and by 2000 several local scenes had grown up in the US.[186] The Detroit rock scene included:The Von Bondies,Electric Six,The Dirtbombs andThe Detroit Cobras[187] and that of New York:Radio 4,Yeah Yeah Yeahs andThe Rapture.[188]
The commercial breakthrough from these scenes was led by bands includingThe Strokes, who emerged from the New York club scene with their début albumIs This It (2001) andThe White Stripes, from Detroit, with their third albumWhite Blood Cells (2001).[189] They were christened by the media as the "The" bands, and dubbed "The saviours of rock 'n' roll", leading to accusations of hype.[190] A second wave of bands that managed to gain international recognition as a result of the movement includedBlack Rebel Motorcycle Club,The Killers,Interpol,the Black Keys andKings of Leon from the US.[191]
Metalcore, originally an American hybrid of thrash metal and hardcore punk, emerged as a commercial force in the mid-2000s.[192] It was rooted in thecrossover thrash style developed two decades earlier by bands such asSuicidal Tendencies,Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, andStormtroopers of Death and remained an underground phenomenon through the 1990s.[193] By 2004, melodic metalcore, influenced bymelodic death metal, was sufficiently popular forKillswitch Engage'sThe End of Heartache andShadows Fall'sThe War Within to debut at number 21 and number 20, respectively, on theBillboard album chart.[194][195]Lamb of God, with a related blend of metal styles, hit the number 2 spot on theBillboard charts in 2009 withWrath.[196] The success of these bands and others such asTrivium, who have released both metalcore and straight-ahead thrash albums, andMastodon, who played in a progressive/sludge style, inspired claims of a metal revival in the United States, dubbed by some critics the "New Wave of American Heavy Metal".[197][198][199]
In the 2000s, as computer technology became more accessible andmusic software advanced, it became possible to create high quality music using little more than a singlelaptop computer.[200] This resulted in a massive increase in the amount of home-produced electronic music available to the general public via the expanding internet,[201] and new forms of performance such aslaptronica[200] andlive coding.[202] These techniques also began to be used by existing bands, as withindustrial rock act Nine Inch Nails' albumYear Zero (2007),[203] and by developing genres that mixed rock with digital techniques and sounds, including indie electronic,electroclash anddance-punk.
Indie electronic, which had begun in the early 1990s with bands likeStereolab andDisco Inferno, took off in the new millennium as the new digital technology developed, with acts includingThe Postal Service, andRatatat from the US, mixing a variety of indie sounds with electronic music, largely produced on small independent labels.[204][205] The Electroclash subgenre began in New York at the end of the 1990s, combining synth pop, techno, punk and performance art. It was pioneered byI-F with their track "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass" (1998),[206] and pursued by artists includingFelix da Housecat[207] andPeaches.[208] It gained international attention at the beginning of the new millennium, but rapidly faded as a recognisable genre.[209] Dance-punk, mixing post-punk sounds withdisco andfunk, had developed in the 1980s, but it was revived among some bands of the garage rock/post-punk revival in the early years of the new millennium, particularly among New York acts such asLiars, The Rapture and Radio 4, joined by dance-oriented acts who adopted rock sounds such asOut Hud.[210]
In 2018, the Foo Fighters are more than just a reliable pop-rock machine and an outlet for the lead singer's creativity.
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