Genre of Pop Rock

1. ARTIST: RON POPE
SONG: A DROP IN THE OCEAN
GENRE: POP AND ROCK
The Pop and Rock genre first came onto the scenes in the late 50s by artists such as Chuck
Berry and Elvis Presley. A guitar and bass would be the main instruments of their music,
creating the hybrid genre of POP-ROCK. Music form Elvis and Chuck Berry was becoming
famous and known of internationally and was gaining publicity by the day, making people
more aware of new waves of music around them.
In the early 60’s ‘rock and roll’ became ‘pop rock’ and broke out into sub-genre, a hybrid
genre. Bands like the Beatles were the main influence to the exposure of this new genre.
Music by The Beatles was delivered from the 1950’s rock ability genre that people had
grown up with, artists such as The Rolling Stones, The Who and Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix
helped to influence a heavier genre of new rock in the industry and in the world.
I looked at an article online based on the question ‘Is pop rock a real genre?’
( http://www.thedailytouch.com/james/is-pop-rock-a-real-genre/ )
One part of this article really interested me. This was the opening paragraph-
‘My first example: Fall Out Boy. Now at the outset of their career, Fall Out Boy’s music
could probably not be defined as pop-rock. Their sound was raw and edgy,
transcending into emo music. But as the years have gone on and they have become
more mainstream, their sound has evolved into what can now be classified as pop-
rock. Their lyrics are still creative and meaningful, but their music is more radio
friendly. That’s where they find themselves stuck in some kind of rut. Many of their
old fans disagree with the new musical direction, begging for the sound of 2003’s
‘Take This To Your Grave’, whilst other music goers are sceptical of listening to their
later works due to the emo tag given to them in their early days. It’s unfair to say the
least. I am a fan of their entire back catalogue, although admittedly I appreciate their
later pop-rock material over their earlier emo works (2008’s ‘Folie À Deux’ remains to
this day my favourite album). Fall Out Boy should not be described as pop, because
they’re not. Simple as. But they’re also not rock. Thus pop-rock. It fits.’
The person is being a critique and is comparing a famous band to the expectations of the
Pop Rock genre and how Fall Out Boy (F.O.B) do not fit into either the pop category or the
rock, so they fall into the hybrid genre of Pop-Rock, where as an artist like, p!nk (PINK) is
more pop sounding.