Music genre
Electronic rock
|
---|
Other names
| Electro rock, synth rock
|
---|
Stylistic origins
|
|
---|
Cultural origins
| Late 1960s
|
---|
Typical instruments
|
|
---|
|
|
|
|
Electronic rock
(also known as
electro rock
and
synth rock
) is a
music genre
that involves a combination of
rock music
and
electronic music
, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s when rock bands began incorporating
electronic instrumentation
into their music. Electronic rock acts usually fuse elements from other music styles, including
punk rock
,
industrial rock
,
hip hop
,
techno
and
synth-pop
, which has helped spur subgenres such as
indietronica
,
dance-punk
and
electroclash
.
Overview
[
edit
]
Being a fusion of rock and electronic, electronic rock features instruments found in both genres, such as
synthesizers
,
mellotrons
,
tape music
techniques,
electric guitars
and
drums
. Some electronic rock artists, however, often eschew guitar
[2]
in favor of using technology to emulate a rock sound. Vocals are typically mellow or upbeat,
[3]
but instrumentals are also common in the genre.
[4]
A trend of rock bands that incorporated electronic sounds began during the late 1960s. According to critic
Simon Reynolds
, examples included
the United States of America
,
White Noise
and
Gong
.
[5]
Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco, authors of the 2004 book
Analog Days
, credit
the Beach Boys
' 1966 hit "
Good Vibrations
" with having "popularly connected far-out, electronic sounds with rock 'n' roll."
[6]
Other early acts to blend
synthesizers
and
musique concrete
's
tape music
techniques with rock instrumentation included
Silver Apples
,
Fifty Foot Hose
,
Syrinx
,
Lothar and the Hand People
,
Beaver & Krause
and
Tonto's Expanding Head Band
.
[7]
Many such 1960s acts blended
psychedelic rock
with
avant-garde
academic or underground influences.
[7]
In the 1970s, German
krautrock
bands such as
Neu!
,
Kraftwerk
,
Can
and
Amon Duul
challenged rock boundaries by incorporating electronic instrumentation.
[8]
In 2004,
Uncut
described Kraftwerk's "incalculable" impact on electronic rock as being felt on major records like
David Bowie
's
Low
(1977) and
Radiohead
's
Kid A
(2000).
[9]
Since the late 2000s, electronic rock has become increasingly popular.
[2]
Subgenres and other terms
[
edit
]
The term "
progressive rock
" (or "prog rock") was originally coined in the 1960s for music that would otherwise be described as "electronic rock,"
[4]
but the definition of "prog" later narrowed into a specific set of musical conventions as opposed to a sensibility involving forward-thinking or experimental approaches.
[10]
Electronic rock is also associated with
industrial rock
,
synth-pop
,
dance-punk
,
indietronica
, and
new wave
,
[4]
with
electroclash
,
new rave
,
post-punk revival
,
post-rock
, considered as subgenres.
[2]
Sometimes, certain other electronic subgenres are fused with rock, such as
trance
and
techno
, leading to the use of the terms trance rock and techno rock, respectively.
[11]
[12]
Synth-punk
[
edit
]
Synth-punk
|
---|
Other names
| Electropunk, techno-punk
[13]
|
---|
Stylistic origins
|
|
---|
Cultural origins
| Late 1970s
|
---|
Typical instruments
|
|
---|
|
|
|
|
Punk rock
has been mixed with electronic music as well, creating subgenres like
synth-punk
(also known as
electropunk
) and
dance-punk
.
[15]
[16]
Suicide
, formed in 1970, is known as one of the most influential artists in the genre.
[17]
Their sound over their five studio albums mixed punk rock with various electronic-based genres such as electronic rock,
[18]
synth-pop
, and
disco
. Their
first album
is widely regarded for setting the stage for subsequent
post-punk
, synth-pop and industrial rock acts.
[19]
The Screamers
were labeled "techno-punk" by the
Los Angeles Times
in 1978.
[20]
Rather than the usual electric guitars, the band's instrumentation included a heavily distorted
Fender Rhodes
electric piano
and an
ARP Odyssey
synthesizer
.
Devo
, whilst better known for their 1980 synth-pop song "
Whip It
", also had an electronic sound rooted in punk rock.
The term synth-punk (or electropunk) was coined in 1999 by Damien Ramsey.
[21]
In the early 1980s, synth-punk fused with various electronic genres to create
electronic body music
, which would influence a number of subsequent
industrial dance
, industrial rock and industrial metal acts. It also influencedthe
hardcore punk
inspired
digital hardcore
, which combines hardcore punk with electronic music,
noise
and
heavy metal
.
[22]
[23]
It typically features fast tempos and aggressive
sound samples
.
[23]
In addition,
pop punk
fused itself with synth-punk to create a genre known as
neon pop
.
Synth-metal
[
edit
]
Synth-metal
|
---|
Stylistic origins
|
|
---|
Cultural origins
| Early 1980s
|
---|
Typical instruments
|
|
---|
|
|
Synth-metal
is the fusion of heavy metal and electronic music. It was pioneered in the 1980s with
Iron Maiden
's album
Somewhere in Time
and
Judas Priest
's album
Turbo
, both of which notably incorporate
guitar synthesizers
.
[24]
[25]
Besides synth-metal,
electronicore
,
electrogrind
,
coldwave
and
dungeon synth
, heavy metal is also sometimes mixed with other electronic genres and their subgenres, inspiring terms such as electronic metal, electronic dance metal, trance metal and techno metal.
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]
[
text?source integrity?
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Electronic Rock : On the History of Rock Music
. 10 September 2014.
ISBN
9783653979206
. Retrieved
24 November
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
Kearney, Mary Celeste (13 July 2017).
Gender and Rock
. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
9780190297695
. Retrieved
24 November
2017
– via Google Books.
- ^
Macan, Edward (24 November 1997).
Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture
. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
9780195098877
. Retrieved
24 November
2017
– via Google Books.
- ^
a
b
c
"The ABC's of…Electronic Rock in the Studio: The Doors to Depeche Mode & LCD Soundsystem"
.
SonicScoop
. 19 November 2013
. Retrieved
24 November
2017
.
- ^
Reynolds, Simon (21 April 2007).
"King of the Cosmos"
.
The Observer
. Retrieved
4 January
2020
.
- ^
Pinch, T. J; Trocco, Frank (2009).
Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer
. Harvard University Press.
ISBN
978-0-674-04216-2
.
- ^
a
b
Reynolds, Simon.
"Synthedelia: Psychedelic Electronic Music in the 1960s"
.
Red Bull Music Academy
. Retrieved
5 January
2020
.
- ^
Demby, Eric.
"OLD NEU! Albums Finally Coming Stateside"
.
MTV News
. Retrieved
25 January
2020
.
- ^
Dalton, Stephen (April 2004).
"Kraftwerk: OK Computer"
.
Uncut
. Retrieved
6 November
2023
.
- ^
Robinson, Emily (2017).
The Language of Progressive Politics in Modern Britain
. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 117.
ISBN
978-1-137-50664-1
.
- ^
Buckley, Peter (24 November 2017).
The Rough Guide to Rock
. Rough Guides.
ISBN
9781858284576
. Retrieved
24 November
2017
– via Google Books.
- ^
Prophet, Elizabeth Clare (24 November 1989).
Year of Prophecy
. Summit University Press.
ISBN
9780916766962
. Retrieved
24 November
2017
– via Google Books.
- ^
Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb 1978
"L.A. PUNK ROCKERS - Six New Wave Bands Showcased"
- ^
Hillegonda C Rietveld (1998)
This Is Our House: House Music, Cultural Spaces and Technologies
Aldershot: Ashgate.
ISBN
978-1-85742-242-9
- ^
Felix, Stanford (2010).
The Complete Idiot's Guide Music Dictionary
. DK Publishing. p. 257.
ISBN
978-1-101-19809-4
.
- ^
Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978?1984
.
Simon Reynolds
. Faber and Faber Ltd, April 2005,
ISBN
0-571-21569-6
(U.S. Edition: Penguin, February 2006,
ISBN
0-14-303672-6
)
- ^
"Alan Vega, Agitational Vocalist for Synth-Punk Innovators Suicide, 1938-2016"
.
- ^
DK (2013).
Music: The Definitive Visual History
. Penguin. p. 337.
ISBN
9781465421265
.
- ^
"Suicide - Suicide Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic"
.
AllMusic
.
- ^
Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb 1978
"L.A. PUNK ROCKERS - Six New Wave Bands Showcased"
- ^
The Complete Idiot's Guide Music Dictionary: Music Explained in the Simplest Terms
. Penguin. 6 July 2010.
ISBN
9781101198094
.
The term was invented in 1999 by Damien Ramsey to retroactively name a small subgenre of punk in which the musicians used synthesizers instead of guitars.
- ^
Kutner, Moshe (22 May 2014).
"Neo-Nazi Fighting Digital Hardcore Musician Comes to Israel"
.
Haaretz
. Retrieved
9 July
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Interview with J. Amaretto of DHR, WAX Magazine, issue 5, 1995. Included in liner notes of
Digital Hardcore Recordings, Harder Than the Rest!!!
compilation CD.
- ^
Bigna, Dan (4 February 2016).
"Canberra gigs: British 1980s pop stars Bananarama to play Southern Cross Club"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
. Retrieved
23 February
2022
.
- ^
Schafer, Joseph (14 April 2016).
"Judas Priest's 'Turbo' Turns 30"
.
Invisible Oranges
.
Archived
from the original on 21 April 2016
. Retrieved
23 February
2022
.
- ^
"10 Current Artists That Effortlessly Blend Metal With Other Genres - Page 2 of 2"
.
Metalinjection.net
. 2 November 2016
. Retrieved
24 November
2017
.
- ^
"IS ELECTRONIC DANCE METAL THE NEXT BIG THING???"
.
Metalsucks.net
. 19 September 2012
. Retrieved
24 November
2017
.
- ^
"30 Second guide to: Trance Metal"
.
Mensxp.com
. 14 December 2012
. Retrieved
24 November
2017
.
- ^
"Unearthing The Electronic Metal Underground"
.
Metalunderground.com
. Retrieved
24 November
2017
.
|
---|
|
Subgenres
| |
---|
Related genres
| |
---|
Other topics
| |
---|
|
|
---|
Components
| |
---|
Genres by
decade of origin
(sub-subgenres
not included)
| 1950s
| |
---|
1960s
| |
---|
1970s
| |
---|
1980s
| |
---|
1990s
| |
---|
|
---|
Regional scenes
| North America
| |
---|
South America
| |
---|
Europe
| |
---|
Asia
| |
---|
Africa
| |
---|
Oceania
| |
---|
|
---|
Radio formats
| |
---|
| |
---|
Related
| |
---|
|