The genre of Rock Music is typically described as being an evolutionary typ

e of music which changes and develops with time. As far as the general sound of
it, it can be generally described as harsh and/or serious - considering how it p
aralleled the social and political stance of the time. Music before the developm
ent of rock (approximately circa the 1960â s), was far less harsh, and the lyrics w
ere comparably mundane (contrasting them to lyrics which condoned public speak o
f drug-use and anti-establishmentarianism).
The start of the Rock music era was in 1963 with blues-based rock. A good e
xample of which is above in the Yardbirds video. This music is substantially dif
ferent than most music at the time, and you can hear the blues influence in this
music. Other notable artists from this era are Cream, The Rolling Stones and Th
e Who. This birth of rock is where it was in it's infancy, around 1963 to 1970.
Art Rock was the next genre of rock that developed, in the clip above, you
can see that this type of rock music is extremely performance and costume based.
This is when artistic expression and creative performances made up a lot of roc
k, and formed this very different genre. Pink Floyd were of a new generation tha
t believed that rock had no boundaries, in both the respect of music and perform
ance. Things time of rock was extremely innovative, it was changed and experimen
ted with. The sound of Art Rock has a very 'sonic texture'. With a lot of Art Ro
ck songs, unlike other rock genres, the music was not always meant for dance pur
poses but for listening to a story, they also utilised keyboard sounds more ofte
n than guitar. This video doesn't really show well the performance side of art r
ock, but it demonstrates the sound of it very well.
The Punk sound was much more simplistic than Art Rock, it came on the scene
around 1973, and it was basically trying to reconnect to the original sound and
values of rock music. Notable artists are The Clash and The Ramones. Punk Rock
lyrics were often, if not always, confrontational and angry in nature. They were
also characterised by the briefness of their songs, The Ramones would usually c
ome on stage, play, then leave very quickly. The lyrics often are anti-establish
ment and very angry. The Music reflected social context, and at the time there w
ere things such as race riots, and afterwards in the 70s, unemployment - the lyr
ics reflect the time the artists were in.
The Heavy Metal music scene was about 1970 - 1991. Black Sabbath are the 'f
athers' of this sub-genre. The people who made up the band were all working clas
s people from working class homes, in the working class city of Birmingham of th
e time. The sound of the music really reflects the sounds of the machinery and i
s often compared to the sound of the industrial industry. Amplified distortion o
f music is a used widely amongst many metal groups and adds to the sound people
associate with the genre. The performances also often have performances which re
flect masculinity.
Stadium Rock is the kind of rock that specialized in driving audiences wild
. Led Zeppelin was a huge influence on the stadium rock scene, and theyâ re famous
for having millions and millions of aficionados, when they performed, they had
crowds of sometimes 50,000. Itâ s about having songs people really want to listen
to, but as well as this, itâ s making the concept of seeing them perform almost spi
ritual experience for fans. Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones were also revolu
tionary for changing the economics of the music industry: they took 90% of the p
rofit, leaving 10% for producers. Even though they made this move, it was still
worth it for their producers to work with them because of their huge income. The
general sound of Stadium rock is that they have â anthemicâ like choruses, which inv
olve the audience. Their shows are often very spectacular as well. With laser-sh
ows, and pyrotechnics.
The term Indie Rock, can mean many different things. In some cases, it mean
s that the said artist is not signed to a record label, so they are given more f
reedom with their lyrics etc. In some cases, indie bands have changed to major r
ecord labels halfway through their career, or earlier, but theyâ re still widely th
ought of as indie because of their â lookâ - but their status as indie is then most o
ften debated amongst aficionados. The sound is influenced slightly by folk, psyc
hedelic and post-punk music, this can be heard in much of the music.
Alternative Rock is characterized by the Seattle scene in America, Nirvana
and Kurt Cobain are important figures in the formation of Alternative Rock. Impo
rtant bands and artists for the Alternative rock scene are: Home To Grunge, Teen
Spirit, R.E.M and Nirvana. This sub-genre of Rock came out around the 1980s, an
d became widely popular in the 1990s. Alternative Rock brings out the sound of t
he American Underground, and as this sound is partially influenced by the Punk S
cene, there are some apparent similarities.