Portal:Rock music

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The Rock Music Portal

Rock is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles from the mid-1960s, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its roots in rock and roll, a style that drew directly from the genres of blues, rhythm and blues, and country music. Rock also drew strongly from genres such as electric blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz and other musical styles. For instrumentation, rock is typically centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar, drums, and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music with a ⁴
₄ time signature and utilizing a verse–chorus form, but the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political. Rock was the most popular genre of music in the U.S. and much of the Western world from the 1950s to the 2010s.

Rock musicians in the mid-1960s began to advance the album ahead of the single as the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption, with the Beatles at the forefront of this development. Their contributions lent the genre a cultural legitimacy in the mainstream and initiated a rock-informed album era in the music industry for the next several decades. By the late 1960s "classic rock" period, a few distinct rock music subgenres had emerged, including hybrids like blues rock, folk rock, country rock, Southern rock, raga rock, and jazz rock, which contributed to the development of psychedelic rock, influenced by the countercultural psychedelic and hippie scene. New genres that emerged included progressive rock, which extended artistic elements, heavy metal, which emphasized an aggressive thick sound, and glam rock, which highlighted showmanship and visual style. In the second half of the 1970s, punk rock reacted by producing stripped-down, energetic social and political critiques. Punk was an influence in the 1980s on new wave, post-punk and eventually alternative rock.

From the 1990s, alternative rock began to dominate rock music and break into the mainstream in the form of grunge, Britpop, and indie rock. Further fusion subgenres have since emerged, including pop-punk, electronic rock, rap rock, and rap metal. Some movements were conscious attempts to revisit rock's history, including the garage rock/post-punk revival in the 2000s. Since the 2010s, rock has lost its position as the pre-eminent popular music genre in world culture, but remains commercially successful. The increased influence of hip-hop and electronic dance music can be seen in rock music, notably in the techno-pop scene of the early 2010s and the pop-punk-hip-hop revival of the 2020s. (Full article...)

General images - load new batch

The following are images from various rock music-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Chuck Berry in 1957 (from Rock and roll)
Image 2Nirvana were at the forefront of the 1990s grunge era. (from Hard rock)
Image 3Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson's record "Roll 'Em Pete" is regarded as a precursor to rock and roll. (from Rock and roll)
Image 4Buddy Holly and his band, the Crickets (from Rock and roll)
Image 5Drum notation for a backbeat (from Hard rock)
Image 6Tommy Steele, one of the first British rock and rollers, performing in Stockholm in 1957 (from Rock and roll)
Image 7Rush on stage in Milan, Italy, 2004 (from Hard rock)
Image 8Little Richard in 1957 (from Rock and roll)
Image 9Wolfmother, 2007 (from Hard rock)
Image 10Baker, Bruce and Clapton of Cream, whose blues rock improvisation was a major factor in the development of the genre (from Hard rock)
Image 11Poison, seen here in 2008, were among the most successful acts of the 1980s glam metal era. (from Hard rock)
Image 12Led Zeppelin live at Chicago Stadium, January 1975 (from Hard rock)
Image 13Aerosmith performing at Quilmes Rock in Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 15, 2007 (from Hard rock)
Image 14Kiss onstage in Boston in 2004 (from Hard rock)
Image 15Foo Fighters performing an acoustic show in 2007 (from Hard rock)
Image 16Original member Izzy Stradlin' on stage with Guns N' Roses in 2006 (from Hard rock)
Image 17The Who on stage in 1975 (from Hard rock)
Image 18Bill Haley and his Comets performing in the 1954 Universal International film Round Up of Rhythm (from Rock and roll)
Image 19Sign commemorating the role of Alan Freed and Cleveland, Ohio, in the origins of rock and roll (from Rock and roll)
Image 20"There's No Romance in Rock and Roll" made the cover of True Life Romance in 1956. (from Rock and roll)
Image 21Golden Earring receives a gold record in 1970. (from Hard rock)
Image 22Elvis Presley in a promotion shot for Jailhouse Rock in 1957 (from Rock and roll)

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Oasis are an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. The group initially consisted of Liam Gallagher (lead vocals), Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar), Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass guitar) and Tony McCarroll (drums), with Liam asking his older brother Noel Gallagher (lead guitar, lead vocals) to join as a fifth member a few months later to finalise their formation. Noel became the de facto leader of the group and took over the songwriting duties for the band's first four albums. They are characterised as one of the defining and most globally successful groups of the Britpop genre.

Oasis signed to independent record label Creation Records in 1993 and released their record-setting debut album Definitely Maybe (1994), which topped the UK Albums Chart and quickly became the fastest-selling debut album in British history at the time. The following year they released follow up album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) with new drummer Alan White in the midst of a highly publicised chart rivalry with peers Blur. Spending ten weeks at number one on the British charts, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? was also an international chart success and became one of the best-selling albums of all time, the fifth-best-selling album in the UK and the best-selling album in the UK of the 1990s. The Gallagher brothers featured regularly in tabloid newspapers throughout the 1990s for their public disputes and wild lifestyles. In 1996, Oasis performed two nights at Knebworth for an audience of 125,000 each time, the largest outdoor concerts in UK history at the time. In 1997, Oasis released their highly anticipated third studio album, Be Here Now, which became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history but retrospectively was seen as a critical disappointment.

Founding members Arthurs and McGuigan left in 1999 during the recording of the band's fourth studio album Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (2000). They were replaced by former Heavy Stereo guitarist Gem Archer on guitar and former Ride guitarist Andy Bell on bass guitar. White departed in 2004, and he was replaced by guest drummer Zak Starkey. Oasis released three more studio albums in the 2000s: Heathen Chemistry (2002), Don't Believe the Truth (2005) and Dig Out Your Soul (2008). The group abruptly disbanded in 2009 after the sudden departure of Noel Gallagher. The remaining members of the band continued under the name Beady Eye until their disbandment in 2014. Both Gallagher brothers have had successful solo careers. In 2024, Oasis announced that they would reform in 2025 for performances around the world as part of the Oasis Live '25 Tour.

As of 2024, Oasis have sold over 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. They are among the most successful acts in the history of the UK Singles Chart and the UK Albums Chart, with eight UK number-one singles and eight UK number-one albums. The band also achieved three Platinum albums in the US. They won 17 NME Awards, nine Q Awards, four MTV Europe Music Awards and six Brit Awards, including one in 2007 for Outstanding Contribution to Music and one for the "Best Album of the Last 30 Years" for (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. They were also nominated for two Grammy Awards. (Full article...)

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Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in Dallas and raised there and in Miami, he was the first solo white rapper to achieve commercial success following the 1990 release of his best-known hit "Ice Ice Baby".

Ice released his debut album, Hooked, on the independent Ichiban Records before signing a contract with SBK Records, a record label of the EMI Group, which released a reformatted version under the title To the Extreme; it became the fastest-selling hip hop album of all time and "Ice Ice Baby" was the first hip hop single to top the Billboard charts. Followed by the live album Extremely Live (1991), Ice made a cameo appearance on the film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) where he performed "Ninja Rap", which he co-wrote. He was soon offered and starred in his own film, Cool as Ice (1991), which included the single "Cool as Ice (Everybody Get Loose)" with Naomi Campbell; the film itself was a box office failure.

His fast rise in popularity was quickly marred by media controversies about his background, and criticism about his appeal of hip hop to a mainstream audience alongside MC Hammer. Ice later regretted his business arrangements with SBK, who had also published fabricated biographical information without his knowledge. Ice's second studio album, Mind Blowin' (1994), featured a major image change but was commercially unsuccessful. Following rap rock performances in the underground scene and playing in a local grunge band, Ice released the dark nu metal album Hard to Swallow (1998), followed by the independently released Bi-Polar (2001) and Platinum Underground (2005).

In the 2000s, Ice began appearing on television reality shows including The Surreal Life. In 2010, Ice began hosting The Vanilla Ice Project on DIY Network which ran for nine seasons until 2019. In 2022, he started another home improvement television program, The Vanilla Ice Home Show. He is also involved in motocross racing and real estate. (Full article...)

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Too Much Too Soon is the second album by the American hard rock band New York Dolls. It was released by Mercury Records on May 10, 1974, and recorded earlier that year at A&R Studios in New York City. Dissatisfied with the recording of their 1973 self-titled debut album, the Dolls' lead singer David Johansen enlisted veteran producer Shadow Morton to produce the sessions. Morton, who had been disenchanted by the music industry, found renewed motivation in the band's energy and undertook the project as a challenge.

Although the Dolls shared an affinity for Morton, they produced little original material with him. To complete Too Much Too Soon, they covered older songs and re-recorded their past demos. Johansen impersonated different characters while singing some of the novelty covers, and Morton incorporated many studio sound effects and female backing vocals in his production. For the album, lead guitarist Johnny Thunders wrote and recorded "Chatterbox", his first recorded performance singing lead.

Too Much Too Soon sold poorly and only charted at number 167 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape. After a problem-ridden national tour, the New York Dolls were dropped by Mercury and disbanded a few years later. The album received positive reviews from most critics, some of whom felt Morton's production highlighted the group's raw sound and made it a better record than their first. Like their debut album, Too Much Too Soon became one of the most popular cult records in rock music and has since been viewed by music journalists as a precursor to punk rock. (Full article...)

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"Since U Been Gone" is a song recorded by American singer Kelly Clarkson from her second studio album, Breakaway (2004). The song, which was written and produced by Max Martin and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, was released as the lead single from Breakaway two weeks before the album was released. It is an uptempo pop rock and power pop power ballad that infuses electronic sounds with a mixture of a soft and loud pop rock sound. Martin originally wrote "Since U Been Gone" with Pink in mind, but she turned it down. It was then given to Hilary Duff, but she rejected the song because she could not reach its higher notes. The song was finally given to Clarkson after Clive Davis convinced the writers to give it to her. Clarkson decided to add heavier guitars and harder drums to the song after noticing that the demo had an obvious pop sound. Lyrically, the song is written from a woman's point of view where she expresses her sense of relief with the end of her troubled relationship.

"Since U Been Gone" received positive reviews from music critics who considered the song to be the highlight of Breakaway. Critics also felt that it was one of the best pop songs in the last decade. Rolling Stone ranked it at number 482 of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2010 and at number 93 in the revamped 2021 ranking, while Billboard ranked it as the fifth greatest pop song of all time. "Since U Been Gone" was a commercial success. In the United States, the song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. It topped the US Pop 100 for six consecutive weeks and the US Pop Songs for seven consecutive weeks respectively. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of over one million copies sold. It was also the fourth-bestselling song of 2005 in the US. "Since U Been Gone" was also a worldwide success, peaking in the top five in Austria, Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It also peaked in the top ten in Norway, Germany, and Switzerland.

Clarkson performed "Since U Been Gone" at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards and at the 2006 BRIT Awards. It has been included on the set-list of Clarkson's many tours. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Alex De Rakoff, which shows Clarkson ruining her ex-boyfriend's apartment. The music video was nominated for three awards in the 2005 MTV Music Awards, winning two out of the three awards namely Best Female Video and Best Pop Video. At the 48th Grammy Awards, the song won the award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. "Since U Been Gone" was covered by many artists, notably the American rock band A Day to Remember, indie rocker Ted Leo as well as the Canadian indie rock band, Tokyo Police Club, and used in the musical & Juliet. (Full article...)

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Credit: Rama

Juliette Lewis of Juliette and the Licks at the Eurockéennes of 2007.

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that before charting on the UK Albums Chart with Are We There Yet?, the indie rock musician James Marriott had made a career of mocking other YouTubers' music?
... that the British rock musician Hannah Grae went viral online with an anti-sexual harassment parody of Aqua's "Barbie Girl"?
... that Rolling Stone listed Ácido Argentino as the most essential album of Argentine heavy metal?
... that Desulfovibrio vulgaris can remove toxic heavy metals from the environment?
... that when rock musician Warren Zevon received a terminal diagnosis of lung cancer, he learned to "enjoy every sandwich"?
... that raw material waste from the West influenced a generation of rock music in China?

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Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Fear Factory, Rammstein, KMFDM, and Godflesh.

Industrial metal developed in the late 1980s, as industrial and metal began to fuse into a common genre. Industrial metal did well in the early 1990s, particularly in North America, with the success of groups such as Nine Inch Nails, but its popularity began to fade in the latter half of the 1990s. (Full article...)

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