Brief History of the Rock Genre

1940's - 1960's
Rock is thought to have originated from the late 1940's, where a popular music style of the time (blues and country) were combined with a steady drum beat and an electric guitar. In the 1950's, artists such as Chuck Berry used the blues structure but displayed his own style as a performer. As this was a conservative time, the aggressive nature of rock (often suggesting sexual freedom) was found shocking by many.The Rolling Stones, inspired by Berry, tackled controversy (caused by them showing sex and youth rebellion) and took rock to a new level.

1970's
This was the time where rock became more popular as a genre. Led Zeppelin in this decade gave rock a darker, heavier tone, inventing the sub-genre hard rock or heavy metal. Around the same time, Pink Floyd created progressive rock, by combining complex arrangements and a theme maintained across albums. In response to this, in the late 70's, bands such as The Clash and The Sex Pistols shunned the "hippie" bands like Pink Floyd and stripped rock down to it's basic essence: loud guitars, attitude and enraged singing, which led to the creation of the punk sub-genre.


1980's
At this time, the sub-genres of rock began to assert their dominance and place in the music industry. English bands such as Depeche Mode were more keyboard-orientated and showed a introvereted songwriting style, leading to postpunk, whereas American groups such as REM created college rock (later known as alternative or indie, as some artists/bands were signed to small labels), named because it was popular on college radio stations. In 1988 the music magazine known as Billboard gave alternative rock music its own chart (calling it modern rock).


1990's - Present
Nirvana's 1991 album "Nevermind" made alternative rock a more dominant sub-genre, and the age of grunge (a mix between hard rock and punk) was born. By the middle of the decade after Niravana frontman Kurt Cobain's suicide, mainstream rock made a comeback after the popularity of alternative rock faded. Limp Bizkit was one of the first bands to embrace this, creating the new hybrid sub-genre of rap-rock. Bands such as Staind and Puddle of Mudd followed, but focused more on melodic hard rock than the rapping element. Red Hot Chili Peppers, who did not quite fit in with the grunge genre, continued to find new audiences throughout the 90's. Bands such as Foo Fighters re-energised mainstream rock with the influence of the alternative sub-genre. Today there are various bands from different sub-genres. Linkin Park for example combines hip-hop and metal, whereas 3 Doors Down creates a contemporary version of hard-rock traditions.