Music Genres
Rock Music
All Music Guide
Rock & Roll is often used as a generic term, but its sound is rarely predictable. From the outset, when the early rockers merged country and blues, rock has been defined by its energy, rebellion and catchy hooks, but as the genre aged, it began to shed those very characteristics, placing equal emphasis on craftmanship and pushing the boundaries of the music. As a result, everything from Chuck Berry's pounding, three-chord rockers and the sweet harmonies of the Beatles to the jarring, atonal white noise of Sonic Youth has been categorized as "rock." That's accurate -- rock & roll had a specific sound and image for only a handful of years. For most of its life, rock has been fragmented, spinning off new styles and variations every few years, from Brill Building Pop and heavy metal to dance-pop and grunge. And that's only natural for a genre that began its life as a fusion of styles.
Back to the topStyles of Rock
Art-Rock/Experimental
Prog-Rock/Art Rock Kraut Rock Noise-Rock
Neo-Prog Experimental Rock Canterbury Scene
Avant-Prog
Hard Rock
Christian Metal Hard Rock Southern Rock
Thrash Death Metal/Black Metal Glam Rock
Grindcore Heavy Metal Speed Metal
Hair Metal Arena Rock Alternative Metal
British Metal Boogie Rock Industrial Metal
Rap-Metal Guitar Virtuoso Progressive Metal
Neo-Classical Metal Album Rock Aussie Rock
Pop-Metal Rap-Rock New Wave of British Heavy Metal
Detroit Rock Glitter Punk Metal
Stoner Metal Scandinavian Metal Goth Metal
Doom Metal Symphonic Black Metal Sludge Metal
Power Metal
Pop/Rock
Christian Rock Early Pop/Rock Pop/Rock
Girl Group Bubblegum Teen Idol
Brill Building Pop Comedy Rock Baroque Pop
Sunshine Pop AM Pop Celebrity
Korean Rock Pop Idol Thai Pop
Taiwanese Pop Indipop
Punk/New Wave
Synth Pop Punk Hardcore Punk
New Wave Power Pop Ska Revival
Mod Revival Post-Punk New Romantic
No Wave Proto-Punk Oi!
Garage Rock Revival British Punk Christian Punk
New York Punk L.A. Punk American Punk
Straight-Edge Anarchist Punk Sophisti-Pop
Rock & Roll/Roots
Rock & Roll Blues-Rock Tex-Mex
Instrumental Rock Rockabilly Roots Rock
Surf Pub Rock Hot Rod
Rockabilly Revival Surf Revival Swamp Pop
American Trad Rock Jam Bands Heartland Rock
Frat Rock Hot Rod Revival Retro-Rock
Latin Rock Bar Band
Psychedelic/Garage
Psychedelic Garage Rock Acid Rock
Psychedelic Pop British Psychedelia Obscuro
Acid Folk
Europop
Euro-Pop Euro-Rock Swedish Pop/Rock
AustroPop Dutch Pop Eastern European Pop
Schlager
Foreign Language Rock
Rock en EspaƱol French Pop Foreign Language Rock
Italian Pop Asian Pop Japanese Pop
Japanese Rock Hong Kong Pop French Rock
Chinese Pop Chinese Pop/Rock Aboriginal Rock
Kayokyoku Okinawan Pop AustroPop
Dutch Pop Eastern European Pop Schlager
Folk/Country Rock
Country-Rock Folk-Pop
Singer/Songwriter Folk-Rock
British Folk-Rock
Soft Rock
Adult Contemporary Soft Rock
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