2. Rock and Roll (known as Rock) is a genre of music that
originated and evolved in the United States of America
during the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Though
elements of rock can be heard in country records from
the 1930’s and in blues records from as early as the
beginning of the 1920’s, rock and roll didn’t actually
gain its name until the 1950’s.
The term rock and roll is regarded as the music that
originated in the mid-1950s and later developed "into
the more encompassing international style known as
rock music” as defined by the Encyclopædia
Britannica.
3. Often based around beat, usually with a guitar or keyboard
driven melody with a range of influences including
country, jazz, blues and even gospel music.
Song lengths average around the four minute mark but can go on
for longer depending on what sub-genre the song is from, for
example in Prog Rock the songs are much longer some even
lasting up to 78 minutes!
Instrumental virtuosity. Rock musicians contains some of the
best drummers, guitarists and singers in the music industry, as
voted for by readers of magazines such as Rolling Stone and
Kerrang! Magazines.
Concept albums depending on the sub-genre.
Music often has a fast beat created by heavy use of the bass
drum.
4. The Beatles were an English rock band from Liverpool
in the 1960’s and one of the most commercially and
critically acclaimed bands of all time.
The Beatles most well known line up consisted of John
Lennon, Ringo Star, Paul McCartney and George
Harrison.
5. The Beatles were credited for developing a new style of rock
music that changed the genre forever.
This new style of music was a combination of rock and roll and
pop music with a tiny amount of historic rhythm ‘n’ bass.
The Beatles sound was unique and their lyrics and melodies were
catchy making it hard not to sing along to.
The Beatles new sound excited people not only in Britain but in
America also, bringing many people to a genre they hadn’t really
heard of before, even though it was not just rock and roll music
on its own, I feel that The Beatles played a dramatic role in
turning Rock music into what it is today.
Here is a link to a Beatles song called A Hard Day’s Night taken
from the album A Hard Day’s Night released in July 1964:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSm0M-BbVdY
6. The Rolling Stones are a British rock band originating from London
that formed in the early 1960’s. This band really set the standard for
other bands to live up to when choosing the perform in the rock music
genre.
They have enjoyed a lot of commercial success over their career
releasing 22 albums (24 in the USA), 11 live albums and numerous
complications.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, the
rock hall states; "critical acclaim and popular consensus has accorded
them the title of the “World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band.”.
This along with the fact that they were ranked number 4 in Rolling
Stone magazines 100 greatest artists of all time, and the fact that their
worldwide sales are estimated at more than 200 million albums proves
that they shaped Rock music right from the beginning of their career.
7. Nirvana were an American rock band formed by singer and
guitarist Kurt Cobain in 1987.
Nirvana were credited for creating the rock and roll sub
genre known as Grunge.
In 1992, Nirvana headlined the final night of the very
popular Reading Festival, showing us just how far they had
come in 5 years.
After Kurt Cobain’s suicide on April 8th 1994, the band
decided to go their separate ways. The drummer, Dave
Grohl, going on to form one of the biggest/well known rock
acts of my genereation, Foo Fighters.
Here is the music video for Smells Like Teen Spirit off the
album Nevermind released in 1991:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg
8. Within rock and roll there are many sub-genres, these are rock and roll
with a twist incorporated. These genres include:
Alternative rock
Punk rock
Prog rock
Metal
Indie rock
The list is endless…
Also within these sub-genres you have different types of genre, for
example under the sub-genre of Metal you have types such as:
Rap Metal
Nu Metal
Heavy Metal
Death Metal
In the next few slides I will talk about a couple of the different sub-
genres and how they are different to the others.
9. Nu Metal is a type of Metal, it is a fusion genre which combines elements of
Metal with other genre such as Hip Hop and Grunge.
Rock bands from the 1980’s and 1990’s including Faith No More, Red Hot Chili
Peppers and Rage Against The Machine have been identified as laying down
the groundwork for the development of Nu Metal by popularising elements of
the genre, such as combining aggressive riffs with pop structures.
Nu Metal music is mostly syncopated (syncopation includes a variety of
rhythms which are in some way unexpected which make an off-beat tune or
piece of music) and based on riffs. Mid song breakdowns and lack of solos
contrasts with it with other Metal sub-genres.
Nu metal vocal styles range between melodic
singing, rapping, screaming and death growling, sometimes using multiple of
these styles within one song. The lyrics of many nu metal bands focus on pain
and personal alienation rather than the themes of other metal subgenres.
Here is an example of Nu Metal taken from the album Thefakesoundofprogress
by Lostprophets released in 2000:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6FyvK4DO6U
10. Alternative rock is a genre of rock that emerged from the independent
music underground of the 1980’s and became widely popular during
the 1990’s and 2000’s.
Alternative bands during the 1980s generally played in small
clubs, recorded for indie labels, and spread their popularity through
word of mouth. As such, there is no set musical style for alternative
rock as a whole, although The New York Times in 1989 asserted that the
genre is "guitar music first of all, with guitars that blast out power
chords, pick out chiming riffs, buzz with fuzztone and squeal in
feedback”.
More often than in other rock-styles since the mainstreaming of rock
music during the 1970s, alternative rock lyrics tend to address topics of
social concern, such as drug use, depression, and environmentalism.
Here is an example of an alternative rock song, taken from the album
One by One by Foo Fighters released in 2002:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ04WbgI9rg
11. Punk rock is rock sub genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the
United Kingdom.
Punk rock coming from garage rock and other elements of what is know known
as Protopunk music, punk rock bands avoided excesses of mainstream 1970’s
music.
Punk bands created fast, hard-edged music, typically with short
songs, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-
establishment lyric.
By late 1976, bands such as The Ramones, The Clash and Sex Pistols were
recognised as Punk.
The following year saw Punk rock spread around the world and become a
massive part of the United Kingdom’s rock scene
By the turn of the century Punk rock had become more mainstream with bands
such as Green Day and The Offspring identifying with the genre.
Here is an example of an Punk rock song, taken from the album London
Calling by The Clash released in 1979: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfK-
WX2pa8c
12. Rock has many Supergroups, these are groups that
consist of members of other bands who are already
famous and successful.
Notable Rock Supergroups are:
Them Crooked Vultures – Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters),
John Paul (Led Zeppelin) and Josh Homme (Queens of
the Stone Age)
Velvet Revolver – Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots),
Slash (Guns N’ Roses), Duff McKagen (Guns N’ Roses),
Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses) and Dave Kusher (Wasted
Youth)
13. Guns N’ Roses are an American hard rock
band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985.
The most well known line up consisted of Axl Rose
(vocalist), Slash (lead guitar), Izzy Stradlin (rthym
guitar), Duff McKagen (bass guitar) and Steven Adler
(drums).
14. A year after release, Guns N’ Roses debut album (Appetite for Destruction) reached
number 1 on the Billboard 100, the album has now sold in excess of 28 million copies
worldwide and 18 million copies just in the United States, making it the best selling
debut album of all time in the United States.
After that album Guns N’ Roses released multiple other albums each reaching fairly high
in the Billboard 100.
There were many changes to the line up of Guns N’ Roses after Slash and Duff McKagen
left the band shortly after the release of The Spaghetti Incident in 1993.
In 2008 Guns N’ Roses released Chinese Democracy which cost an estimated 14 million
dollars in production costs, making it one of the most expensive albums to create of all
time.
Guns N' Roses have been credited with reviving the mainstream popularity of rock 'n'
roll, at a time when popular music was dominated by dance music and pop metal. Their
late 1980’s and early 1990’s years have been described as the period in which they brought
forth a "hedonistic rebelliousness" reminiscent of the early Rolling Stones.
Here is a link to a Guns N’ Roses song called Sweet Child o’ Mine taken from their debut
album Appetite for Destruction released in 1987:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w7OgIMMRc4
15. Queen are arguably one of the most well known and
commercially successful bands in the history of rock
music.
Formed in 1971, Queen are a British rock band,
originally consisting of Freddie Mercury
(vocals/piano), Brain May (guitar/vocals), Jason
Deacon (bass/guitar/vocals) and Roger Taylor
(drums/vocals).
16. Queen saw commercial success right from their debut
album, but it was the album A Night at the Opera which
featured single Bohemian Rhapsody that gained the band
international success. Bohemian Rhapsody remaining in
the UK single chart for a solid 9 weeks, as well as charting
in various other countries, and gave the band their first top
ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Their 1977 album New of the World, contained two of rocks
most recognisable anthems ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We
Are The Champions’.
By the early 1980’s Queen had become one of the biggest
stadium rock bands in the world and their performance at
Live Aid in 1985 is regarded as one of the greatest live
performances in history.
17. In 1991, sadly Freddie Mercury died but since then Brian May and Roger
Taylor have performed together.
Since the beginning of their career Queen have released 18 number one
albums, 18 number one singles and 10 number one DVDs. Estimates of
their albums sales range from 150 million to 300 million albums,
making them one of the world’s best-selling music artists.
They received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British
Phonographic Industry in 1990 and were inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
In 2009 ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’ were
inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the latter of the two was
voted the world’s favourite song in a global music pole.
Here is the performance I talked about in the previous slide, Queen’s
performance at Live Aid in 1985:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQsM6u0a038&feature=related
