Rock/Metal/Prog Education Thread

...not forgetting the heavy psych feel of their earliest outings.

Purple's earliest albums are very similar in style to Spooky Tooth's - ST were called Art in 1967, and surely influenced Purple's first album, "Shades of Deep Purple" and earliest style (as Purple formed in 1968). Check out Purple's interpretation of Joe South's "Hush", and compare with the style of Spooky Tooth's "Too Much of Nothing" (1968) and Art's "Think I'm Going Wierd" (1967).

Much early hard rock had a funky swing to it - it was a pervasive style in the late 1960s-early 1970s, with that distinctive "10 pence, 10 pence, 50 pence,
 
Uggg...there are too many genres where people are just splitting hairs. The great thing about classical music is it took so damned long for anyone to get anywhere that each period actually lasted some time. Now we've got so many subdivisions in each genre we might as well call each chord progression a completely different style.
 
pretty much, also banRAB like Nasum, Pig Destroyer, Gadget, and Circle of Dead Children are notable 'metal' grindcore banRAB.
 
I would like to ask everyone's opinion on the subject concerning the genre, Progressive Rock. I was talking to a friend of mine today, and he insisted that the band Rush, wasn't really a true traditional progressive rock band, like the most popular progressive rock banRAB were (for example), Genesis, and others. And that instead they should be labeled as, Technical Rock, or Heavy Metal. Instead of being labeled in the Progressive Rock genre. What is your opinion on the subject?
 
A Brief History Of Rock Music

Written by Merkaba​

Rock is an extraordinarily diverse area of music. It is widely established that Rock ‘n’ Roll was first defined in the very early 1950’s but small pieces can be traced back as early as the 1920’s through the “father of rock”, the Blues. The main reason Rock is so diverse today is that it has always been a large blend of genres right from the word go. When Rock ‘n’ Roll was first classed in the 1950’s it already had many roots planted deep in the Blues, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues with influences also coming from Gospel, Folk, Western and Country. Rock music is by no means a purebred, more or less a cross of extreme proportions.

The term Rock ‘n’ Roll itself is hard to define, as there is much debate as to how it was actually derived. Some believe it was due to the surfacing of racial tensions in America, and the white folk wanted a title for it that didn’t associate with the black nature of Rhythm and Blues. They’d be devastated if they could see today’s relationship between the genres! Others believe it was because of a Disc jockey called Alan Freed. Freed was the first to introduce such music to white folk in the 1950’s via radio and this is apparently what Freed called it when he first played the stuff.

There is a huge line of debate as to who the first Rock n Roll artist was. Generally accepted pioneers include Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Bill Haley. Many believe Chuck Berry was first in 1951, but then we have historians arguing that the first eligible piece of rock came from way back in 1940’s by Fats Domino, though it was heavily encased in other styles of music. Then we have The Press of today such as the Rolling Stone who like to think Elvis Presley was the first artist and he arrived in 1955, a year after Rock ‘n’ Roll had already spread to the rest of America and was just finding it’s feet in Britain. That obviously makes things a little misguided. However, it is Elvis who took Rock ‘n’ Roll to a new level. With Elvis and Rock ‘n’ Roll came a whole new culture and this culture revolted much of society at first. Sexual dancing, the swinging of the hips, sexual four piece beats, emphasis on every second beat created a sexual beat or “thrusting” which back then would have been highly erabarrassing for a society who had been accustomed to such mannerisms, that these days would be found only in a family of royalty. However it was this music and attitude to dancing frivolously that began pegging back some of the more outspoken racial tensions of the time. Above all else the people loved Rock ‘n’ Roll because it meant freedom. The lyrics, the music, the attitude, the realism of the artists all provoked a freedom other styles of music had not yet tapped into.

Rock ‘n’ Roll slowed in America at the end of the 50’s with Presley and co losing popularity for their “of late” ballaRAB, but was still going strong none the less. The British scene however was going like a whirlwind and in the early 60’s we saw the beginning of the British Invasion. British teens were going bonkers having been strongly influenced by the recent explosion of Rock ‘n’ Roll in America. In a matter of years The Beatles emerged and took the world by storm. Held in such regard for their musical achievements of the time, they were also held in such high regard for spreading such popular music to most parts of the world. While the Beatles were taking the world by storm out emerged another extremely important band in the Rolling Stones. This band also achieved feats similar to the Beatles but it was their image that they bought to the industry that set them apart. Rough clothes, long shaggy hair and cigarettes for miles were a catalyst for their careers. It was a true bad boy image that coupled with their music made them famous. Many say they were second only to the Beatles but it was American tours that had them being billed as the “Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll band ever” simply because they erabodied everything rock should and did stand for, which at the time was freedom to express.

Riding on the crest of the British Invasion wave saw a whole onslaught of break away styles that developed from the basis of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Back in America we saw the emergence of Garage Rock or more commonly referred to these days as Punk Rock. Then we started to see Folk emerge again sporting traces of Rock with the likes of Bob Dylan coming to the front. At first labelling the Beatles as “bubblegum pop” he soon grew on them and experimented a bit, and brought a new form of instrumentation to the masses, in the form of electrical instruments. Lets take a look at the majority of rock genres.

Arena/Stadium Rock​
Commonly referred to as Arena Rock, or Stadium Rock, this breed of music more or less is what the name says. It’s designed for artists whose music was particularly suitable to a large arena or open space, and first occured in the 70's as hard rock banRAB started gaining popularity. This genre is not very definitive as it applies to most banRAB that could also quite easily fit into another genre of rock. This genre is basically for banRAB that have fairly mainstream vocals, the likes of Freddie Mercury for example, and the music is fairly simplistic in flow or rhythm. There is some form of guitar, be it electric or acoustic and usually there is some form of drumming. Some music borders on being titled “Metal” but in general is not overly heavy. Note the varying styles of the banRAB that are in the examples.

Examples: Queen, (some) Metallica, ACDC, REO Speedwagon, Velvet Revolver, Kiss, Van Halen

Avant Rock​
This is a style of rock that is usually unique to the artist that attempts to venture into it. It is experimental and has many progressive qualities about it. Unorthodox time signatures, vocal experimentation, crossing with other genres, special instrument effects and so on. Obviously the finish product is unique and not very reminiscent of other artists around at the time.

Examples: Fantomas, Mr Bungle, Frank Zappa, Sonic Youth, The Velvet Underground

Blues Rock​
Again is what it says it is. This is basically mixing the lyrical nature of Blues music with a rock n roll style of music usually electric guitar is involved. Canned Heat are well known as pioneering the music in America while early forms of Fleetwood Mac kindled the blues rock fire in Britain.

Examples: Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Cream, The YardbirRAB or very early forms of Led Zeppelin.

British Invasion​
Does that mean the invasion of the British? Yes. Rock n Roll in Britain took off like a spark to Liquid Nitrogen. The British Invasion saw many British artists gain huge appraisal in foreign countries such as America, Australia, Canada and many parts of Europe. Cliff Richard sort of opened the Flood Gates by claiming some early recognition in America but it was The Beatles who opened the gates and proceeded to blast away the entire Dam in the process. Their music pretty much went to the top of charts in every place it reached and it set the stage for almost all other banRAB to build off of. The Rolling Stones lose a fair bit of recognition to the Beatles, but it was these guys that made being a musician look “cool”.

Examples: The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Kinks, Gerry and the Pacemakers.

Celtic Rock ​
A very European style of music derived from the musical composition of Folk Music. This music is most commonly found around Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are a few banRAB that dabble close to the definition of Celtic rock but cannot be truly classified as it, such as Thin Lizzy, The Pogues, Flogging Molly.

Examples: Fairport Convention, Tempest, Sweeneys Men, Lenahan, Wolfstone

Classic Rock ​
Classic Rock is basically early forms of rock that still had their feet firmly planted in the origins of Rock n Roll. Today Classic Rock is moving on as even some music from the early 1990’s is starting to come under scrutiny for Classic rock status. Classic Rock originally came from a bunch of Radio Stations who as they entered into the 80’s, started looking back into the 60’s when rock really found it’s feet and pretty much said “hey, I want to play some of the original rock”. So they did and playlists of all this old Beatles music and such became known as Classic Rock. The term has just evolved and evolved to today, and it’s highly likely that in 20 years time the music of today will be known as their Classic Rock.

Examples: Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd.

Comedy Rock​
Hardly a recognised and accepted genre but this is rock music with humour as a major lyrical subject. Sometimes sounRAB add to the humour. Often Comedy Rock is known as music that “takes the piss” out of the topic in discussion, usually it's something to do with everyday society.

Examples: Tenacious D, Adam Sandler, Kevin Bloody Wilson, Frank Zappa, Mojo Nixon, Weird Al Yankovic
 
Country Rock​
This is country music (a blend of blues, gospel, and folk that came from early western civilisations) fused with rock music. This style of music has generally always been around since the birth of rock but it’s around the late 60’s to early 70’s where the country sound really came across strong and there were also a few major artists making this particular style of music.

Examples: Neil Young, The ByrRAB and even later outfits such as The Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Folk Rock​
This can be referred to as the tidy genre. The music is completely clean. The guitar work is free of distortion, the vocals are crisp and harmonious and can be associated with early Northern American white people. The boundaries of this genre are always hard to define, as it is so similar to Celtic rock.

Examples: Jefferson Airplane, Crosby Stills and Nash, Bob Dylan

Funk Rock​
Four worRAB. Red Hot Chili Peppers. There are others but these are world renowned artists and attempting to define Funk Rock while separating it from Avant rock would be a nightmare. Basically Funk Rock is a large portion of drum and bass, electric guitaring and sharp vocals with an upbeat attitude. Funk Rock is meant to sound happy, enthusiastic, or happy while aggressive.

Examples: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Trapeze, Incubus, (some) Sublime

Garage/Punk Rock(See the Punk Education Thread in the Punk Forum)​
This is raw, undiluted rock. The music is fast paced, short and aggressive. Garage rock is linked to young artists or poor artists who couldn’t afford a big label so they set up shop in their own garages and belted out rock that was heavily inspired by banRAB like the Beatles and much of the British Invasion.

Examples: (Early) The Count Five, The SeeRAB. (Modern) Jet, The Hives, The Strokes.

Glam Rock ​
Like Arena Rock, this is not so much about the music, but about things associated with the music. Glam Rock is about the image an artist conveys. Generally Glam Rock meant the artist wore glittery outfits or objects of a glamorous nature. Often these costumes were outrageous and definitely earned them the spotlight.

Examples: David Bowie, Brian Eno, Slade, Merabers of T-Rex

Gothic Rock ​
Emerging after the punk surge in the 70’s gothic music was originally rooted in the punk music of that time. But later on it became more and more involved in the literary sides of syrabolism and philosophical ideas of religion and mysticism. Being involved in all this syrabolism and not so much the punk music, has made the gothic genre kind of redundant, because it now isn’t so much of a genre as it’s more of a culture or image.

Examples: Bauhaus, Alien Sex Fiend, Marilyn Manson, Southern Death Cult.

Hard Rock ​
Hard Rock in its simplest form, is aggressive Rock n Roll. While the range of Hard Rock is vast, the structures are all very similar from song to song. A general layout for a hard rock song consists of: Intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, instrumental, chorus, outro. Hard Rock is meant to consist of High Energy aggression with charged vocals and often has a menacing guitar riff of some sort.

Examples: ACDC, Guns N Roses, Def Leppard, Deep Purple.

Instrumental Rock ​
This is rock music with no singing. Usually a popular song is nothing without some form of catchy chorus but when done right these instrumentals could also become popular hits too such as Honky Tonk by Bill Doggett Corabo. The instrumentals range from funk tunes, to the Blues, to Metal.

Examples: Steve Vai, Lee Allen, Jimmy Reed, Joe Satriani.

J-Rock​
Japanese Rock. Japanese vocals accompanied by the standard rock set up of bass guitar and drums.

Examples: After Dinner, YB02, Kenso

Krautrock​
Krautrock is pretty much all things German. The earliest Krautrock took off around the world in the 60’s with their mechanical style of music, it was precise and predictable but people loved it. Since then they’ve helped develop the world of industrial, progressive and psychedelic rock. The Germans are also pretty damn prominent in the electronic department of music.

Examples: Tangerine Dream, Can, Faust, Mouse On Mars, Cluster

Math Rock​
This style emerged just before the 90’s or around the late 80’s. It is a very complex genre accompanying unorthodox meters. While most rock uses a 4 beat meter, math rock incorporates beats of 7/8, 11/8 or 13/8 creating complex structural layouts. Vocals aren’t often the main focus of math rock as the music is complex enough to pull off it’s own fan base and attention. Many Math Rock banRAB so far have been purely instrumental. For a glimpse of early, early Math Rock, check out banRAB like Genesis, King Crimson and Pink Floyd. They won’t be mentioned in the examples since they’re mainly Progressive Rock but banRAB as such, paved the way for the intentional Math Rock of today.

Examples: The Blood Brothers, Autoclave, Crain, Hella.

Medieval Rock ​
This genre does not refer to music of medieval times, but is of a medieval nature. The music is often of a Celtic or Folk genre. The interesting part is that the lyrics are often poems or melodies from medieval times. In rare occasions you will get banRAB using authentic medieval instrumentation while other banRAB require synthesisers. Harps and other various string objects are not uncommon. Be aware of the similarity this genre has with Celtic Rock, the minor differences will likely be in the style of lyrics.

Examples: Cultus Ferox, In Extremo, Subway To Sally.

Modern Rock​
Is not so much a genre, but more or less a constantly changing definition for the music of today. In the 70’s Modern Rock meant mainstream artists who were popular on the airwaves. The Modern Rock of the 70’s is now known as Classic Rock. The Modern Rock for today is music associated with pop-punk, emo and Nu metal. As you can see Modern rock simply refers to the music of today.

Examples: Linkin Park, ORABpring, Bad Religion, Heroin.

Noise Rock​
This is punk rock mixed with an Avant style of musicianship. It’s basically distorted, fast hardcore techno music with an intense amount of energy. Early influences came in the form of Velvet Underground and some of The Stooges work.

Examples: God Is My Co-Pilot, The Locust, Mindflayer, Scratch Acid

Piano Rock​
Speaks for itself. Mainly known as a sub-genre of Pop Rock, this is for artists who use Piano as their instrument of choice.

Examples: Elton john, Missy Higgins, Coldplay, Billy Joel

Pop Rock​
Okay this is both Pop music with a Rock edge and Rock music with a Pop edge. Again The Beatles are the first recognised Pop Rock artist and with the amount of success they had it’s not surprising. Pop is music that is traditionally popular with the masses and there are certain simplistic things done to make it this style of music, be it a catchy beat or a fun sing-a-long chorus. And when this is mixed with rock we get an amped version of Pop or what true rock fans regard as a watered down version of Rock music.

Examples: Lifehouse, Melissa Etheridge, Alanis Morissette, The Beatles

Psychedelic Rock​
Psychedelic refers to the experience the mind has when in an almost subliminal state. The boundaries of this genre are not clearly defined and spill into Stoner Rock, Acid Rock, and Progressive Rock among others. The aim is to create trippy pieces of music using vocals that either flitter or are of a low rurable. The bass is usually quite prominent to create a heavy, sedated feel and the guitar riRAB are very distorted and either very jumpy or smooth and paralysing. The Beatles Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band is the first recognised album to incorporate psychedelic features. BanRAB from all over the rock world can fit into this genre.

Examples: Ozric Tentacles, Kyuss, Led Zeppelin, Hawkwind

Rockabilly/Rock N Roll​
Alrighty then. This is where much of all rock music formed. A fusion of all things good and nice, some Blues, Folk, Western, Bluegrass, Country and more made up the genre of Rock. Rockabilly incorporates a good portion of Western and hillbilly music, the beat is rather bouncy and feels enthusiastic. The genre wasn’t at first noted thanks to artist experimentation but it was thanks to the work of some early producers who incorporated distinct hillbilly style instrumentation. Such producers include Sam Philips and Leonard Chess.

Examples: Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis
 
Black Sabbath was the first band called metal, right? The same way Rites of Spring is called the first emo band, but most of the banRAB it influenced don't sound like them and are no longer are hardcore punk.
 
Rap Rock​
Similar to Pop Rock, this is rock music where the vocals are tailored to those of a rap artist. In today’s time this is very popular with mainstream people who have been swept up in the hip-hop wave, although some artists were experimenting long before this wave came about. Early pioneers are the likes of Run DMC and the Beastie Boys. Nowadays much Rap Rock is referred to as Nu-metal.

Examples: Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, P.O.D, Korn

Soft Rock​
Has been around since 1970 with the likes of Fleetwood Mac. This is rock that isn’t as upbeat and animated but more an easy listening form of rock. Lyrics are user friendly in that they aren’t too mind boggling or offensive. The genre often incorporates soothing instruments like the Piano or Saxophone.

Examples: Fleetwood Mac, Meat Loaf, Phil Collins

Symphonic Rock​
Using classical instruments, themes, structures and compositions. Listeners can often make the obvious trace to orchestral music or the likes of the Famous Composers such as Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. This genre is often considered a sub genre of Prog Rock since one can hardly be classical without being Progressive.

Examples: King Crimson, Yes, Pink Floyd, Spock’s Beard, Savatage
 
Probably at it's peak between 1976 to 1980.If any group that charactaristed Pomp rock it would be Saga (Canadian).Other than that Styx (American).It was a term used by the press by for groups who sounded kind of Prog but never really took their music on a journey like Prog groups did.The music used short keyboard/guitar breaks instead of extended ones.It is was mainly uptempo/positive sounding - it was FM radio friendly.Arena rockers Journey,Boston & Kansas etc I would consider associated, Magnum had better song/musical craft to fit in easily with Pomp but related (Melodic Heavy rock).Pendragon - definately Neo-Prog.In the early 70's Rush were often refered as Pomp as well,but not as FM radio friendly & had better song/musical craft again.It basically went out of fasion when new wave & then neo-prog (about '82) emerged.
 
I'm surprised there is no entry for POMP ROCK, which can be traced back to early 80's of which banRAB like PENDRAGON, MAGNUM and ASHBURY were exponents. Blues based rock with an emphasis on orchestral sounding keyboarRAB, and lyrics that usually dealt with subjects like heroic fantasy and Lord Of The Rings-type escapism.
 
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