Rock and Roll History
Each movement as a reaction to the last.
Rock's history reads most clearly as a sequence of reactions. Each movement defines itself partly against what immediately preceded it, which is why the pendulum swings between elaboration and stripping back.
| Era | Movement | Reacting to |
|---|---|---|
| 1950s | Rock and roll | Big band and crooner pop |
| Early 60s | Surf, girl groups, British beat | Post-Elvis lull |
| Late 60s | Psychedelia, art rock | Three-minute single format |
| Early 70s | Progressive, glam, heavy | Sixties idealism |
| Mid 70s | Punk | Progressive rock's virtuosity and scale |
| 80s | Post-punk, new wave, metal | Punk's limited musical vocabulary |
| Early 90s | Grunge, alternative | Eighties polish and excess |
| 2000s– | Indie, revivals, hybrids | Fragmentation; no single mainstream left |
Technology drives as much as taste
Multitrack recording made the studio a compositional tool rather than a documentation device. Synthesizers and drum machines changed what a band could be. Digital recording and then distribution removed the cost barrier to releasing music, which dissolved the gatekeeping that had produced coherent 'eras' in the first place.
Related: rock and roll, jazz.