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French rock is a form ofrock music produced inFrance, primarily with lyrics in theFrench language.
French rock was born as early as mid-1950s, when writer, songwriter and jazz playerBoris Vian wrote parody rock songs forMagali Noël orHenri Salvador. Although Vian despised rock and wrote these songs as attacks, they are highly acclaimed by French critics today and considered precursors.
The first real French rock acts emerged at the end of the decade and in the beginning of the 1960s, withJohnny Hallyday achieving the most long-lasting success, while other acts likeLes Chaussettes noires, led by other French rock starEddy Mitchell, andLes Chats sauvages (led byDick Rivers) contributed to the emergence of the genre, the last band writing the first real classic French rock song,Twist à Saint-Tropez. The emergence of theyé-yé movement slowed the commercial success of French rock, although some names likeAntoine,Jacques Dutronc,Nino Ferrer andMichel Polnareff emerged in the middle of the 1960s and did have success, while others likeRonnie Bird orLes Variations (who are commonly considered forerunners of Frenchhard rock) achieved cult status.
In the 1970s, France saw the arrival of rock bands such asTéléphone, andAlan Stivell'sBretonfolk-rock as well as a wave ofprogressive rock bands likeAnge, Afterlife, Bottom Blues,Magma,Gong (whether they are actually a French band is debatable),Triangle,Dynastie Crisis,Shylock,Eskaton,Atoll andPulsar. There was also someglam rock acts, likeThe Frenchies or the controversial and cult artistAlain Kan.Jacques Higelin's albumBBH 75, which doesn't fit in these categories and is more of a transitional album between the classic era rock sound (à laRolling Stones) andpunk rock, is considered a seminal milestone by French critics, while ex-yé-yé starChristophe became a successful pop-rock artist, especially with his seminal albumsLes Paradis perdus andLes Mots bleus (which title song is considered a major classic). Frenchpunk rock also appeared, including bands likeStarshooter,Stinky Toys, Asphalt Jungle,Electric Callas,Oberkampf andMétal Urbain. It was during this period that variety music artists - likeCatherine Ribeiro,Bernard Lavilliers and others - flirted with rock, but without completely changing over. However, French singerSerge Gainsbourg's 70s output, which included the classicHistoire de Melody Nelson, the less accessibleL'Homme à tête de chou and thereggaeAux armes et cætera, transitioned completely fromchanson to rock (a move he started earlier in the 1960s) and offered French-language rock new classics. Another name to know is that ofGérard Manset, a cult artist who deliberately live in maintained obscurity, but whose balladIl voyage en solitaire is a major song and progressive albumLa Mort d'Orion is a reference, and who has continued to collaborate with high-profile artists up to this day. French hard rock and heavy metal took off by the end of the decade, spearheaded byTrust.
Things changed course in the 1980s with the arrival of the left in power. The notable changing of the political culture was accompanied by an explosion in youth culture. This helped the emergence of a distinct French rock that could match the lucrativeness of American and British rock music and bands. French progressive rock continued in the 1980s in relative obscurity, with the bandsDün,Minimum Vital,Terpandre andEmeraude achieving some underground success (but were met with critical indifference). The success of Téléphone (pub rock), which started in the 1970s but peaked in the 1980s, also took French rock to new levels. Thenew wave was dominated byIndochine, who sold enormously, as well as the romanticAlain Chamfort, overshadowing the works of critical darlingsTaxi Girl orJacno, but the genre also later saw the emergence ofÉtienne Daho, who would remain a major figure in French music up to this day. Another notable artist from the early 1980s isAxel Bauer, who scored a massive hit with the songCargo.Charlélie Couture also marked its time withComme un avion sans aile. Thepost-punk scene, although commercially unsuccessful, also featured critically acclaimed acts, such asMarquis de Sade,Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine,Orchestre rouge orKas Product. Theart rock bandLes Rita Mitsouko enjoyed international success, while the decade also saw the emergence ofAlain Bashung, who had been around since the 1960s but only started to have his first hits in the new wave era. Bashung would become the most critically acclaimed French rock singer in his home country, with several of his albums being now hailed as classics. There was also a second wave of French punk rock which included such acts as Lucrate Milk,Bérurier Noir, Ludwig Von 88, Les Shérifs,Les Négresses Vertes,Les Garçons Bouchers,Les Wampas,Les Satellites or the seminalMano Negra, which would make the genre evolve towardsworldbeat (and whose leaderManu Chao would later have a worldwide successful solo career). The first major French indie rock act appeared:Les Thugs, who are considered a major reference of the scene up to this day. Finally, French hard rock andheavy metal really took shape in this decade, with the continuing success of Trust or that of other bands likeADX,Warning,Shakin' Street,Sortilège orVulcain, and some earlythrash-death metal acts likeAgressor,Loudblast orMorsüre.
The 1990s, still dominated by Bashung's aura and output (includingOsez Joséphine and the major classicFantaisie militaire), also saw the emergence ofNoir Désir (their first classic album,Veuillez rendre l'âme (à qui elle appartient) dated back from the late 80s), whose sound fitted well in thegrunge movement, and their 1992 albumTostaky was a huge popular and critical success, still selling solidly decades after its release. French rock was dominated by punk (No One Is Innocent), funk (-M-,FFF,Sinclair) and Noir Désir-soundalikes likeAston Villa orSaez (a trend which would continue in the 2000s withLuke,Eiffel orDéportivo, for instance). The very popularLouise Attaque refined the Noir Désir sound to fit a more indie folk approach, which would still allow them to achieve enormous sales. More on the indie scene,Diabologum and later its offshootsExpérience andProgramme would become leaders, with a sound influenced byPavement's approach. Other notable artists includeDominique A andMiossec who would sport a more minimalistic approach, pop bandsBilly ze Kick et les Gamins en Folie,Les Innocents orL'Affaire Louis' Trio, andpost-rock bandKat Onoma. Pop-rock artistsAlain Souchon,Laurent Voulzy andFrancis Cabrel, although they had been around since the 1970s, enjoyed major commercial success during this period. French heavy metal saw the emergence of the cultblack metal scene of theLégions Noires withVlad Tepes,Mütiilation,Belkètre orTorgeist and other acts not associated with it likeBlut Aus Nord andBelenos, and somenu metal acts on the course of the decade, includingMass Hysteria,Lofofora,Eths orPleymo.
The 2000s would see, alongside bands still influenced by Noir Désir, a dilution of the rock sound, with acts likeBenjamin Biolay orPhoenix incorporating rock in their music, while being closer to chanson for the former (in a Dominique A-influenced approach) andFrench touch for the latter. Other chanson-affiliated artists flirting with rock includeJeanne Cherhal,Keren Ann,La Grande Sophie,Camille,Anaïs,Cali,Raphael,Bénabar and ex-Les Innocents leaderJ. P. Nataf, and artists more specifically influenced by Biolay includeFlorent Marchet,Arman Méliès,Bertrand Belin andAlbin de la Simone. It also saw the reemergence of ex-new wave patriarchs Indochine as anemo-influenced band, with their albumParadize selling enormously and becoming a new classic. The decades-old Frenchheavy metal would enjoy an international emergence, with acts likeGojira orAqME, while the underground black metal scene would keep on striving with bands likeDeathspell Omega,Peste Noire or the more experimentalAlcest. On the indie rock scene,Dionysos would become extremely popular with their hitSong for Jedi from their best-sellerWestern sous la neige, while other acts likeA.S. Dragon orUltra Orange would have more confidential success. Indie actsYelle andM83 would achieve most of their success abroad. The second half of the decade would see the emergence of a Frenchgarage rock revival scene, withBB Brunes,Plastiscines,the Cheeraks,Crash Normal,the Normals,Naast,Izïa,Alister,Mademoiselle K orStuck in the Sound.
In the 2010s, notable acts include the art rock/new wave outfitLa Femme andChristine and the Queens,[1] and electro-rock bandShaka Ponk also started to achieve major hits, alongside bands such as Skip The Use. Other notable acts include indie rock bandFrànçois & the Atlas Mountains (who were active since 2005 but started to obtain critical acclaim this decade, although achieving most of their success abroad), Britpop-influencedArchimède, pop artistArnaud Fleurent-Didier, art rock bandMoodoïd, andGnawa-inspired comboBab L' Bluz. Following in the footsteps of their big brothers from the 70s, some militant and/or culturalist groups like Les Ramoneurs de Menhir and Matmatah also enjoyed great success, particularly in their region of origin, French Brittany.
In the following lists, artists and groups are classified by their decade of origin, even if their career spans multiple decades, or if they took time to become famous.
Note: Magali Noël and Henri Salvador's output was parody.
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