Introduction to Rock and 1950’s
Rock and Roll has been one of the most popular genres of music for decades.  Since rock and roll emerged in the 1950s, numerous popular sub genres and bands have formed.  Iconic rock songs from the past have lived on over the years and are still played on radio stations to this day.  Many people out there enjoy past and present rock songs.  People often wonder where the music they listen to today evolved from. You could go on forever, in any direction, about any genre or any part of the history of rock. It’s huge.

Rock and roll emerged in the early 1950s.  The roots of rock and roll came from African American Blues and Gospel music.  When African Americans had migrated north, whether that was during slave times or during the 1940s and 50s, they brought their music with them. The term “Rock and Roll” came from a man by the name of Alan Freed. Freed was a “disc jockey” at a radio station in Cleveland, Ohio.  He started a radio show that played Rhythm and Blues music.  As the popularity of his radio show grew, he came up with the term “Rock and Roll.”  The pop charts during this time were dominated by artists such as Doris Day, Nat King Cole, and Frank Sinatra.  Record producers saw the rising popularity of R&B and wanted to find white people that could have the same energy, feel, and overall sound that the African American artists had.  A record producer by the name of Sam Phillips found that person.  That person’s name was Elvis Presley.  People loved Elvis’s music.  He became the most popular name in the entertainment business within two years of his discovery. 

Although Elvis is considered by many to be “the King of Rock,” he didn’t have the first rock song to hit the mainstream.  The first true rock song to hit the Top 100 charts was “Crazy Man Crazy” by Bill Haley and his Comets in 1953.  The song peaked at #10 on the Top 100 pop charts. Two years later in 1955, Bill Haley and his Comets struck again with another song to hit the charts.  Instead of doing moderately well on the charts, Bill Haley and his Comets song, “Rock Around The Clock,” topped the Top 100 charts.  During this time, both R&B artists Chuck Berry and Little Richard had a song on the charts.   
     
Many people would say that Elvis Presley was, arguably, the best rock artist of his time. From the start of his career, when he signed a record label with The Memphis Recording Service (what we know as Sun Studio, today), all the way up until his death, Elvis continuously grew, and became more famous around the world every day. His career kicked off with his 2 demos released in 1953; “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin”. In November of 1955, he signed with RCA Records, and had his first recording session in January of 1956. This recording session was for the song “Heartbreak Hotel”, which sold over 300,000 copies within the first three weeks of the record’s release. It later on went on to be Presley’s first single to sell over 1,000,000 copies. Elvis released 4 more singles following “Heartbreak Hotel”. His final single was “I Forgot To Remember To Forget”, which hit #1 on the billboard’s national country singles chart. From here, Elvis just kept growing. He made appearances in shows, such as the Ed Sullivan show, and acted in many movies, such as Jailhouse Rock (1957). He continued to release music, and continued to make people fall in love with Rock and Roll, all the way until his death, caused by a prescription drug overdose, at the age of 42.

Aside from Elvis Presley, there were many other artists in the 50’s. Fred Lincoln “Link” Wray Junior was a guitarist that created the power chord with his song, “Rumble”, which was released in 1958. The power chord is the basis of modern rock guitar-playing from thrash, to heavy metal styles of rock music. 

Chuck Berry, best known for his song “Johnny B. Goode” in 1958, was a very well known black artist, as well as Ray Charles, best known for his song “Hit The Road Jack”. Since race was such a big problem in the ‘50s, music by black artists wasn’t allowed to be played on radio stations that were owned by white men. Becoming as famous as Chuck and Ray did, as black artists, was a big accomplishment.

The 50’s were a great start to Rock and Roll, and opened up a very promising future for the new style of music. From the 50s, all the way until the present day, the genre has continued to grow and change. Many more genres have formed from this simple style of rock, and many great and famous names, such as Ginger Baker, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Paige started to appear, just within the next ten years or so. This is the beginning of something huge.

Rock in the 1960’s and 1970’s
The 60s and 70s was arguably one of the greatest times during the lifespan of rock.  This time period saw the rise of some of the world’s greatest musicians and classic rock bands.  Also, this era changed the way that rock music sounded with the development of distortion on electric guitars, electronic synthesizers, and the creation of the subgenres metal and punk rock.  Rock, punk rock, and metal have all equally influenced the music of the 80s.  Even to this day, aspects of these genres are still used.

The 1960s saw the rise of three of the most influential rock bands.  Those bands were the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Cream.  One interesting fact about these bands is that they all came from the United Kingdom.  It is possible that the Beatles are the greatest rock band in the world.  Formed in the year 1960, the band started playing local venues in their hometown of Liverpool, England and in Hamburg, Germany.  Their music ranged from pop to psychedelic rock to hard rock.  They gained major success in the United Kingdom with their 1962 song called “Love Me Do.”  The Beatles gained worldwide popularity during the “British Invasion.”  The British Invasion was when a bunch of rock and pop artists in the United Kingdom had their music spread internationally.  This resulted in numerous bands gaining huge worldwide success.  The band had released five albums between 1965 and 1969.  The band broke up in the year 1970.  Today, the Beatles are the best selling music artist in the United States with over 178 million certified units sold.  They also have the most number one albums and singles in the United Kingdom.  They are also the best selling band history with over 600 million records sold worldwide. (The Beatles Biography)

Another really influential band of the 60s and 70s is Led Zeppelin.  Led Zeppelin was formed in 1968 in London.  Their music was really based around guitar work rather than vocals.  Their early albums were influenced by blues and psychedelic music.  They were signed to Atlantic Records in 1968.  The next year they released their first and second albums which were mostly written by their guitarist Jimmy Page. Since they were signed to Atlantic Records, their albums were released in both the United States and the United Kingdom.  Their first album hit number 10 on the billboard chart and hit number 6 in the UK.   For their third album, the band used more folk and celtic styles in their songs.  They released their third album in 1970.  The band became very successful after their third album.  They bought a Boeing 720 Jet and rented out entire sections of hotels. The song “Stairway to Heaven,” off of their untitled fourth album which was released in 1971, is easily their most popular song.  The song was never released as a single and the album became one of the best selling albums in history. Their fifth album wasn’t as popular as their first four albums due to their experimentation with synthesizers and and mellotron orchestration.  The next year, 1974, Led Zeppelin created their own record label called Swan Song.  Swan Song was named after one of their unreleased songs.  In 1975, they took a break from touring and recording.  At this time, they were considered the number one rock act.  They returned in 1977 to start recording their eighth studio album.  Even though the album had mixed reviews from critics, the album still made it to number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom.  In 1980, Led Zeppelin had announced their first North American Tour since 1977.  During the rehearsals for the tour, John Bonham, the drummer, had begun to drink very heavily and later died of asphyxiation.  This marked the end of Led Zeppelin’s career. (Led Zeppelin Biography)  

Another one of the most influential bands of the time was a band called Cream.  Consisting of singer/bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker, the band formed in London in 1966.  Cream’s career only lasted from 1966 to 1968.  In that time, they released three albums as a band.  One last album titled “Goodbye” was released in 1969.  The reason why Cream became so popular was because of five songs.  These songs were “I Feel Free,” “Sunshine of Your Love,” “White Room,” “Crossroads,” and “Badge.” The band, along with Jimi Hendrix, popularized the wah pedal. The wah pedal is a foot pedal that adds a “wah” effect to the sound of a guitar.  The bands music influenced rock acts such as Rush.  Cream’s first album was released in 1966 and reached number six on the UK charts.  Their second album, Disraeli Gears, is considered their greatest album even though the songs on the album weren’t played live very well.  There third album feature the hits “White Room” and “Crossroads.” The second guitar solo in “Crossroads” is in multiple top 20 guitar solo lists.  After the release of this album, the band decided that they had enough of being a band and went their own ways. (Cream Biography) 

Eric Clapton is one of the greatest guitar players of all time.  He is listed as number two on the Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.  His two most popular songs are “Layla” which he recorded while he was in the band Derek and the Dominoes and “Crossroads” which was recorded while he was in Cream.  Clapton was influenced by B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Buddy Guy, and many other blues guitarists.  He even states that his single greatest influence was Robert Johnson and that is why he covered Johnson’s song “Crossroads” with Cream.  His style has influenced many guitars players such as Slash, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Eddie Van Halen.  Another great musician to come from the band Cream was Ginger Baker.  He is considered to be the first rock drummer even though he was a jazz drummer.  Baker is also one of the first drummers to use two kick drums instead of one.  He was also heavily influenced by drum beats from Africa.  He even influenced John Bonham, the drummer for Led Zeppelin, and Alex Van Halen, the drummer for Van Halen. (Eric Clapton Biography)

Jimi Hendrix was regarded as one of the greatest musicians of the 60s.  In the mid 1960s, he moved from the United States to the United Kingdom in order to avoid the racism that was going on during that time.  The main reasoning behind Hendrix going to England was that his music would have been playable on all radio stations.  Black music artists were only allowed to have their music played on black radio stations in the United States during this time. In 1966, he formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience in London.  His band released three albums between 1967 and 1968.  The band had five singles that were major successes in both the United States and the United Kingdom.  Hendrix had a major influence on the sound of guitar playing.  Instead of playing blues that was slightly distorted, Hendrix preferred high gain and high volume overdriven amps.  This sound wasn’t as popular before Hendrix had started using it.  Other guitar players had experimented with high gain amps and creating feedback but were not able to master it the way the Hendrix was able to.  Hendrix died at the age of 27 from barbiturate-related asphyxia. (Jimi Hendrix Biography)                    

Eddie Van Halen, who formed the band Van Halen, was a great guitarist. As a teenager, he started a band with his brother and called it Mammoth. In 1974, they acquired vocalist, David Lee Roth, and bassist, Michael Anthony. This lead to the change of the band name from Mammoth to Van Halen. It only took a few years for Van Halen to become a big band in the LA scene. In 1977, Kiss bassist, Gene Simmons, discovered the band, and helped them with their first recording session which lead to Van Halen’s signing with the Warner Bros (“Eddie Van Halen Biography”). That created a great start to Van Halen’s career and caused them to become one of the biggest bands of their time. Most people would argue that it was Eddie’s fast guitar riffs and David’s “tongue in cheek antics” that made the band so popular. Van Halen went through a lot of changes in their history, mainly with their vocalists. However, there is no doubt that throughout the years, Van Halen has created their own style of rock. (“Van Halen Biography”)

As technology evolved, so did rock. Rush was possibly the most technologically advanced band of their time. Formed in August of 1968, Rush soon became one of the most famous bands of their era. Some of their songs, such as “Tom Sawyer” and “The Spirit of Radio” are still heard on the Radio today. After playing for a couple years in Toronto, Rush released their first single. It was a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away”. The record wasn’t very successful. This lead the band to form their own record label. After forming “Moon Records”, the band released their first album, “Rush”, in 1974. This album consisted of songs such as “Finding My Way” and “Working Man”. From this point, Rush’s career took off. As time flew by, their music changed occasionally. The style of their music influenced rock tremendously. The use of their electronic instruments, such as the electronic drums, which were a new thing in their time, changed the sound of the music and formed a completely different style of music. Eventually, Rush started to use synthesizers in the music, adding a different style to their music, once again. Synthesizers became a big thing when the Monkees started using them in their music in 1967 (“Rush Biography”).

The Monkees were a band that was originally formed by TV producers. The intention was to form a fictional band for a show called “The Monkees”. The characters in the show got to perform one or two songs a week written by top industry names. They didn’t even get to play their own instruments. The Monkees became frustrated that they couldn’t write their own songs or play their own instruments, so they broke away and became a real band. In 1967, they went on a huge tour, proving to the world that they could perform live. They bought a Moog Synthesizer and started using that in their music. It was probably the first pop/rock band to use a Moog Synthesizer in their music. This changed rock once again, influencing other bands to use the Moog Synthesizer in rock music (“The Monkees Biography”).

One of the biggest changes in rock in this era was the formation of Metal. The first ever heavy metal band was a band called “Black Sabbath”. Influenced by British blues bands, such as Cream and Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward formed the band, trying to escape factory life, for a life of music. They formed Earth Blues Company (which later was shortened to Earth) in 1968, and started their career from there. Butler was a fan of horror movies and black magic themed novels. He messed around for a little bit with the black arts. One night he saw what he thought to be a figure from the dark side at the foot of his bed one night, and told the band of the experience. The band later released a song about the experience called “Black Sabbath”. The song was a hit. However, the band had to change their name, as there was already a band named Earth, so they named the band after their first song. Black Sabbath. This band’s riff-based songs, extreme volume, and dark, demonic subject matter formed the genre of metal, and once again, changed rock forever (“Black Sabbath Biography”).

There were many heavy metal bands that followed Black Sabbath in the late 60s and early 70s. Judas Priest, for example, was another heavy metal band that arose from England (“Judas Priest Biography”). Deep Purple is a band formed in the 70s that is still together and touring around the world today (“Deep Purple Biography”). Black Sabbath was a huge start to heavy metal, which lead to well known bands today such as Metallica and Iron Maiden. Metal was a huge change in rock. But it didn’t stop there. Metal, like everything else, reformed over and over again, creating different styles of metal and bands such as death, which was the first band to ever scream in their music. Black Sabbath forming was just the start of a historical thing.

Another big genre that formed in this era was punk rock. Some people may argue that punk rock arose in the 60s, however, the first punk rock scene arose in New York in the mid 70s. However, in the UK, punk rock was formed for a completely different reason than in the US. At the time of the formation of the genre, the UK was having economic issues. Unemployment rates were extremely high. The youth of England were angry and out of work. This gave them a lot of free time (Cooper).This lead to the formation of bands such as Sex Pistols. By the late 70s, punk rock was a huge thing, and had already started breaking apart into sub-genres. There are still sub-genres forming off of punk to this day.

In the 60’s and 70’s, a lot happened. Some might say it was the most eventful time period in the history of rock. Between the change of technology, and the many different bands rising to fame in this time, rock changed in a huge way. Whether it’s the use of the synthesizer that changed the music, or a different style of rock all together, such as metal, rock took on a completely different form. By this point in time, it had also expanded a lot. Many more genres had formed, and many more bands had formed. To this day, bands everywhere use methods, instruments, and styles that were formed in the 60’s and 70’s.

Rock in the 1980’s and 1990’s
Although there wasn’t as big of a change throughout the 80’s and 90’s as there was in the 20 years prior, there was quite a bit of change in rock in this time period. Metal became a much bigger genre than it was originally. New bands rose to fame; some of which are still famous and performing today, such as Metallica, and Avenged Sevenfold. Other bands, such as Van Halen, got bigger and evolved to match the present day style of rock. More and more genres and subgenres started to form. Rock has never stopped growing and evolving.

Although Metal was formed many years before and was already becoming a big thing, it wasn’t until the 80’s that it really started to explode and become a huge thing. Not only was Metal becoming a huge thing, but other genres were forming off of metal. Different styles of metal, such as Speed Metal and Thrash formed and started to become popular in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Speed Metal was sort of a cross between British heavy metal and hardcore punk. It was a much faster style of metal, and required a lot of technique. Thrash metal is a lot like speed metal, however, it focuses a little less on technique, and more on aggression. It has a much deeper sound to it than most metal.An example of an early speed metal band would be Metallica. They are one of the most well known speed metal bands that still performs today.

Metallica is a band that formed in 1981. Started by drummer, Lars Ulrich, Metallica has grown to become the 7th biggest selling act in American History. Metallica started out just like any other band. They started with small gigs in Los Angeles, and their career took off when they released their first demo. “No Life ‘Til Leather”, which was the title of their demo, made it’s way from LA, all the way over to New York, where it ended up on Jon Zazula’s record shop, which was known as the Metal Heaven. Jon requested that Metallica come out east and record an album as well as perform a couple shows. They arrived in New York in a stolen U-Haul as fast as they could. Their first album, “Kill ‘Em All”, was released towards the end of 1983. Not only did this record cause their fame to skyrocket in the U.S., but they also became huge in Europe. One of their biggest, most well known albums, “Master of Puppets”, was recorded in 1985, through the same studios as “Kill ‘Em All” was recorded with. After the recording of “Master of Puppets”, the band was asked to go on a tour by Ozzy Osbourne, who was previously the vocalist for Black Sabbath. However, a terrible tragedy happened on this tour. On an overnight drive in Sweden, the tour bus skidded out of control, and flipped. The accident killed the biggest influence on the bands music, Cliff Burton. Although Cliff was gone, the band decided that Cliff would’ve wanted the band to go on and finished the tour, and that’s exactly what they did. After 40 auditions, the band decided on Jason Newsted as the new bassist for Metallica.

By 1988, the band had already released their 4th album, “...And Justice For All”. Three years later, their self titled album, “The Black Album”, was released, and instantly became the #1 album in the world. It sold more than 15 million copies, and earned many awards, such as a grammy, MTV, and American Music Awards. By 1999, Metallica had released another album, titled “S&M”. This was Metallica’s 9th album since their formation, finishing off the decade with another significant Chapter in Hall of Fame history.

Another significant thrash metal act to come out of the 80s was Slayer.  Formed in Huntington Park, California in 1982, the band started out by playing covers of songs by Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.  They realized that they could easily gain attention by using satanic influences and imagery in their performances.  The band was signed to Metal Blade and soon after released their first album.  “Show No Mercy” was described as very amateurish compared to their later albums.  1984 saw the release of two EPs called “Haunting the Chapel” and “Live Undead.” In 1985, they release their second full length album called “Hell Awaits.” This album was a dark themed concept album about hell.  This album helped Slayer gain a slight following.  After the release of this album, they were signed to Def Jam Recordings.  They then went on to record their most popular album “Reign in Blood.”  Often regarded as the best thrash metal album of all time, CBS refused to distribute the album because of the graphic lyrics.  Slayer gained more fame because of this incident.  Soon after, Geffen Records came in and released the album.  The album became very popular because of their intense speed, structure, and disturbing lyrics.  Slayer released their fourth album called “South of Heaven” in 1988.  The album disappointed many of their fans because the band didn’t make the album as hardcore or as fast as their previous albums.  Drummer Dave Lombardo took a break from the band and came back two years later to record their fifth album. “Seasons in the Abyss” was released in 1990.  Many Slayer fans were very happy with the album because the songs on the album sounded more like their first album in both speed and intensity.  Once again, Lombardo left the band to form another band called Grip Inc.  The band took a break for a few years and hired Paul Bostaph to record their sixth album which was released in 1998. 

During the explosion of hard rock and pop-metal in the 1980s, a band formed that would develop the reputation as the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band.  That band was Motley Crue.  Formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981, the band combined the glam and theatrics of Kiss with the hard rock and pop aspects of other bands. Once the lineup of the band was finalized, the recruited Allan Coffman as their manager. Coffman financed the recording of the bands first album called “Too Fast For Love.” The band and Coffman released it through a record label they made called Lethur Records.  The album sold 20,000 records and prompted them to go on tour in Canada.  Because of their popularity in Los Angeles, Elektra Records signed Motley Crue.  The first album they released on Elektra was a remastered version of their debut album. They then went to work on their second album.  “Shout at the Devil” was released in 1983.  This album featured the single “Looks that Kill” which became widely popular.  As a result, “Shout at the Devil” went platinum.  During the celebration of their success, Motley Crue hit a road block.  On December 8th, singer Vince Neil crashed his car which killed the passenger and left others with broken bones and brain damage.  Neil was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter and drive while under the influence. 

Even though Neil was in jail, their third album, “Theatre of Pain,” had already seen major success.  The band had their first top 40 hit which was a cover of Brownsville Station’s “Smokin’ in the Boys Room.” The band then hired managers Doug Thaler and Doc McGhee.  The band then recorded and released their fourth album in 1987.  The title track earned them their second top 40 hit.  During the celebration of the success of their fourth album, bassist Nikki Sixx overdosed on heroin and was pronounced dead on route to the hospital.  Luckily, two shots of adrenaline in the heart had revived Sixx.  When Sixx got home after being released from the hospital, he immediately did more drugs.  Both managers urged them to go to rehab and clean themselves up.  They remained out of the spotlight until 1989.  They released their best selling album called “Dr. Feelgood.”  It was their first album to top the Billboard charts.  The title track became their first top ten hit and the album had three other singles off of the album as well.  During the 90s, Motley Crue renewed their contract with Elektra Records and created their own record label called Motley Records.  While recording an album in 1992, Vince Neil got into an argument with the rest of the band which led to his departure.  Neil was then replaced by singer John Corabi.  They released their self titled album in 1994 with a more grungier sound.  The new grunge sound did not work for Motley Crue.  In 1997 at the request of their label, they fired Corabi and rehired Vince Neil. They released a greatest hits album and an album called “Generation Swine” in 1997 and 1998.  Drummer Tommy Lee was arrested for spousal abuse in 1998 which led to Motley Crue taking a break. 

With the emergence of grunge in the 90s, there was also a punk revival.  Green Day, formed in 1988 by childhood friends Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt, were one of the most popular punk acts of the 90s. In 1989, Green Day released their first EP called “1000 Hours.”  Both Armstrong and Dirnt were 15 when they released it.  Green Day was signed to a local independent label later that year where they released their first album called “1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hour.” Shortly after its release, the band replaced their current drummer with Tre Cool who became the band's permanent drummer.  In 1992, Green Day gained more of a following with the release of their second album  “Kerplunk.”  After this release, they were signed to Reprise Records.  Green Day release their major label debut in 1994.  That album was called “Dookie.” Four charting singles came off of the album and over 15 millions copies have been sold.  The most popular being “When I Come Around” which spent five weeks as number one on the American Rock Charts. Green Day made another album in 1995 called “Insomniac.”  The album did well but didn’t do as well “Dookie” had done even though “Insomniac” debuted at number 2 on the rock charts.  Following the release of the album, they planned on doing a European tour.  They cancelled the tour in order to write “Nimrod.”  In late 1997, they released “Nimrod” and then decided to take a break until 2000.          

Another popular style of rock that was formed in this era was Grunge. Grunge was inspired by genres such as hardcore punk, heavy metal and indie rock. It is a style of music that is usually characterised by distorted music. Normally, Grunge uses distorted guitars. It uses contrasting song dynamics, and usually angry lyrics. One of the most popular grunge bands during the formation of the genre is Nirvana.

Although Nirvana had a very short life of only 7 years, they were a huge part of rock in the 90’s. They were especially huge in the grunge area of rock. Nirvana released 3 official albums in their time. “Bleach” was released in 1989, followed by “Nevermind” in 1991. Their final album was titled “In Utero”, which was released in 1993. Two years after the release of “In Utero”, the band encountered a tragic event. Singer, Kurt Cobain, took his own life, at the age of 27. However, Kurt didn’t leave before he had made a huge impact on the rock world. At the time of his death, Nirvana had become a very popular and loved band. Although Kurt’s death also brought the death of Nirvana, some of the band members moved on to other bands and kept their music legacy going. To this day, Nirvana continues to be a very popular band.

Inspired by people such as Bruce Springsteen and Asbury Jukes, another rock artist rose to fame in the rock world in 1980. His name was John Francis Bongiovi, better known as Jon Bon Jovi. After recording his first single, “Runaway”, in his cousin’s studio, Bon Jovi slowly rose to fame. After the recording of his single, Jon realized he’d need full time players, instead of session players to become successful, bringing Alec John Such, Tico Torres, and Richie Sambora into the picture. Their first album was released on January 21, 1984, and a year later, “7800 Fahrenheit” was released  in April. Their first album had some signature guitar riffs and well written melodies, which helped the band to expand their fame. Their second album was a huge hit with the fans, but the press wasn’t too impressed. The band started to be the opening act on tours for bands such as Kiss, Scorpions, and Judas Priest, which helped them to build their fan base. This helped to make their third album a much more successful album than the first two. This album, titled “Slippery When Wet”, featured some of Bon Jovi’s most well known and famous songs, such as “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “Wanted Dead or Alive”. This album sold more than 14 million copies within 6 weeks of its release. In 1989, the band took a temporary retirement, and Jon went on to marry and work on his solo career. In 1984, the band reformed and released another album, “Keep The Faith”. After the release of this album, Jon went back to his solo career, and released his solo album, “Destination Anywhere” in 1997. The band regrouped once again in 1999, and released their album, “Crush”, which was later nominated for a grammy.

Rock in the 2000’s and Today
Rock has changed tremendously since it’s formation way back in the times of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. Today, there are a lot of more technical and heavier rock styles. Some of the popular genres today are alternative rock, post hardcore, metalcore, and many others. Rock didn’t stop growing and changing in the 90s. Today, there are many popular bands forming, and even more not-so-popular bands forming in, not only the US and UK, but all over the world. Rock has become a genre that is loved in many countries and many different languages.

Even though there are many new bands, genres, and styles of rock forming today, there are still several classic rock and metal bands that still live on today. Metallica is still one of the most popular classic metal bands to this day. However, the band has made a couple changes. In 2001, Jason Newsted, who was the bassist that replaced Cliff Burton after his passing, left the band for many long standing reasons. Many people expected this to be the end of Metallica, however, all it did was slow them down a bit. They set up in an old abandoned army barracks, called the Presidio, and played there for a while, deciding not to try and find a new band member quite yet. Instead, they’d have producer, Bob Rock, perform all the bass parts for their music. After taking a break and coming back together in 2002, the band was ready to release another album. “St. Anger” was released in 2003. The album was influenced by the free thinking that had been caused by all their “jamming sessions” back when they played in Presidio. It was a very fierce, raw, and passionate album. More so than their previous albums. In fall of 2002, the band finally decided that they were going to find a new bassist. Robert Trujillo, formerly the bassist for Ozzy Osbourne (“History” 3). Many years after picking up Robert, the band released their most recent album, “Death Magnetic” (“History” 5). Metallica still continues to perform today and is expected to release more albums in the future.

Although formed in 1996, Linkin Park became one of the most successful music acts of the 2000’s and is still very popular to this day.  Their style of music is a mix between alternative metal, hip hop, and electronica.  The band originally had their name as “Hybrid Theory” but later settled on “Linkin Park.” They released their debut album in 2000 which was titled “Hybrid Theory.” Even though they didn’t use the name for their band, they still wanted to use the name for something.  Two songs even charted on the Billboard charts and one of them peaked at number two.  Today, “Hybrid Theory” has sold over ten million copies which has made it one of the most successful debut albums ever.  Linkin Park released their second album in March of 2003.  “Meteora” featured a heavier sound and more rap rock elements.  Three songs, “Numb,” “Somewhere I Belong,” and “Breaking the Habit,” were all on the Hot 100 charts at the same time.  After doing some touring and a collaborative album with rapper Jay-Z, Linkin Park started writing their third album.  The album “Minutes to Midnight” was released in 2007.  The album debuted at number 1 in several countries and featured the top ten single “What I’ve Done.”  After another two year break from writing songs, the band went to work on their fourth album. They later released the album “A Thousand Suns” in 2010.  The album featured more electronic music on their songs.  This divided their fans in two.  There were the ones that enjoyed the electronic sound and the ones that enjoyed their older work which was a mix of alternative metal, hip hop, and electronica.  The next year, the band stated that they wanted to work on releasing an album every 18 months rather than going on an over the top and exhausting touring schedule.  The following year, Linkin Park released their fifth studio album called “Living Things.” This album featured material that was similar to their older stuff.  The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard charts and sold over 220,000 copies in the week after its release.  Because of singer Chester Bennington taking over vocals for the band Stone Temple Pilots, Linkin Park’s sixth album was delayed by six months.  It took two years from the release of their fifth album to release “The Hunting Party.” The album was inspired by punk, metal, and hardcore music and feature a heavier sound than their previous albums. (Leahey)

Green Day was a band that had become a huge success in the 90s. However, they became an even bigger band in the 2000’s..  In 2003, Green Day recorded an album called “Cigarettes and Valentines.” They left the studio one night and they returned the next morning to find all of the tracks were stolen.  So they decided to write something bigger and better than the stolen album.  Green Day then released “American Idiot” in 2004. Singer Billie Joe Armstrong wrote the title track because of the news coverage of the war in Iraq and to express his feelings about the state of the United States.  Surprisingly,the album was very successful.  The album was a chart topper worldwide and a Multi-Platinum Grammy winner.  The album had five singles and two of them shot to the top of the Billboard charts.  After the release of this album, the band was selling out stadiums that had over 65,000 people in them. In 2006, Green Day collaborated with U2 to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.  They also started a small side project called the Foxboro Hot Tubs.  This band released one EP and one album and were a 60’s tribute band.  Five years after the release of “American Idiot,” Green Day released the album “21st Century Breakdown.”  Like “American Idiot,” “21st Century Breakdown” was a concept album about two punk rockers trying to change post-Bush America but failed to do so.  The album wasn’t as successful as their previous album but still managed to win a Grammy. (Erlewine)  In 2012, the band announced that they would be releasing a series of three albums called “¡UNO!,”“¡DOS!,” and “¡TRE!.”  They were all released in the later month of 2012.  In 2014, the band was announced as a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Green Day Biography)

Another band that has become very popular is Three Days Grace.  Three Days Grace was formed in Norwood, Ontario in 1997. The band relocated to Toronto and hired manager Gavin Brown.  Brown selected a few of the songs that Three Days Grace had written that were good enough to be feature on an album.  They recorded the song “(I Hate) everything About You.”  This song got the band a publishing deal with EMI Music Publishing Canada and a contract with JIVE Records.  Three Days Grace and their manager were sent to Boston, Massachusetts to record their debut album.  Their debut album was released in July of 2003.  By this time, “(I Hate) Everything About You” was already a mega hit on tons of radio alternative rock stations all over Canada.  The band toured a lot for the next two years as a headlining or supporting act.  Three Days Grace then traveled back to the Ontario countryside to write and record their second album.  “One-X” was released in June of 2006 and hit number 5 on the Billboard Top 200.  One of their songs, “Animal I Have Become,” reached number 1 on the modern rock hits chart.  This album also was the debut of their second guitarist Barry Stock.  After three years of touring and writing, the band released their third album in 2009 called “Life Starts Now.”  They then went on tour and went to record their fourth studio album. (Sutton)

After the release of their fourth studio album, “Transit of Venus,” singer Adam Gontier announced that he would be leaving the band.  Gontier had developed a non life threatening health issue and didn’t want to be a part of the band.  Many speculated that Gontier had relapsed back into drugs.  In 2005, Gontier entered rehab to clean himself up.  He even admitted that time was probably the darkest and most depressing time of his life.  The band announced that Gontier’s role would be taken over by Matt Walst. (MacNeil)

Metal and punk rock were still becoming more and more popular every year and still are to this day. However, another subgenre has formed off of these two genres. Metalcore was a genre that actually formed back in the 80’s, started to become popular in the 90’s, and really became a huge success in the 2000’s (“Description of the Metalcore Genre"). This subgenre uses the aggression from metal, but still possessed kind of punk style. Some of the biggest metalcore bands of today are Asking Alexandria, Killswitch Engage, All That Remains, and Avenged Sevenfold. 

Avenged Sevenfold formed in Huntington Beach, California in 1999 (“Avenged Sevenfold: All Excess”). It only took them 2 years to make their first official debut, titled “Sounding The Seventh Trumpet” through the Goodlife label. After releasing this debut, they changed record labels to Hopeless Records. In 2003, they released their second album, “Waking the Fallen”. These albums caught the attention of Warner Bros. records. Due to this interest, Warner Bros. helped to release their next album, “City of Evil”, which was released in 2005. “City of Evil” jumped to the 30th most popular album on the billboards top 200 albums. This album was what made A7X so popular so fast. The music video for the song “Bat Country”, which was a song featured on “City of Evil”, was shown on MTV and Fuse many times. After many live performances, the band earned the “Best New Artist” award during the 2006 MTV video music awards. Avenged Sevenfold was due to go on tour in 2006. However, the demand for their music grew, and they were forced to cancel in order to find time to write new music. Their goal was to make their fourth album a “grittier” album than the previous three albums. In 2007, the album was released. “Avenged Sevenfold” jumped to number four on  the Billboard top 200. This album included some of A7X’s most popular songs, “Almost Easy” and “Afterlife”. This album also became a very popular album in the UK. Three of the songs from “Avenged Sevenfold” made it to the top five of the UK rock charts. After releasing the album, the band took a tour around North America, causing their fame to grow more and more every day. In 2009, the band settled down and started to write another album. Later that year, drummer, Jimmy Sullivan, died of an accidental overdose at the age of 28. However, the death of their friend only slowed down the release of their next album. “Nightmare” was released in 2010. Jimmy was replaced by Mark Portnoy in order to complete this album. In 2013, the band released the album, “Hail to the King”. This album didn’t feature Mark Portnoy, but instead, Arin Ilejay of the band “Confide” ("Avenged Sevenfold | Biography | AllMusic"). Avenged Sevenfold is still a young band and is expected to grow and perform for many years to come.

Asking Alexandria is a band originally started by Ben Bruce in 2003 in Dubai. In 2006, Asking Alexandria broke up, due to Ben Bruce leaving and going back to England, where he reformed the band 2 years later with new people. The original Asking Alexandria was a band that focused more on post-hardcore style music. However, the new Asking Alexandria was more of a metalcore band. They started their career going on tours with small metalcore bands. In 2009, the band signed with Sumerian Records. They then released their first album, “Stand Up and Scream”. It wasn’t until 2011 that the band became mainstream. This was due to the release of their second album, “Reckless & Relentless”. This album hit number nine on the billboard, and was the band’s greatest success. After their album was released and they became mainstream, the band encountered problems with drugs, and stopped performing. Two years later, the band reappeared, and released their newest album, “From Death to Destiny”. This album focused more on a mature hard rock sound than a metalcore style ("Asking Alexandria | Biography | AllMusic").

Some rock was changing, some genres were starting to form off of others, but some things stayed the same. Punk rock is still a popular style of rock music today. One of the biggest modern punk rock bands, although short lived, was My Chemical Romance. My Chemical Romance was an American rock band formed in 2001. The band was named after a book written by Irvine Welsh titled, Ecstasy: Three Tales Of Chemical Romance. The band started out recording demos in, drummer, Matt Pelissier’s attic. By 2002, the band released their first album, “I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love” with Eyeball Records. Soon after, the band signed with Reprise Records, where they released their second album, “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge”, in 2004. After the release of this album, Pelissier left the band. He was soon replaced by Bob Bryar, who was previously the sound tech for a band called The Used. 2005 was spent mostly on tour with Green Day as their opening act. In 2006, their most popular album, “The Black Parade”, was released. Within the first week of its release, “The Black Parade” had already sold 240,000 copies ("My Chemical Romance Biography”). In March of 2013, the band announced their break up. Gerard wrote a 2,200 word essay explaining the breakup to his fans. Still, no one really understands the reason for the break up (Kozinn).

Rock has come a long way since its start in the 50’s. Starting from people like Elvis, to people like Jimi Hendrix and bands like Van Halen, all the way to bands like Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold, and Asking Alexandria. There have been many sound changes, and a lot more styles have formed. Rock continues to grow today. Many genres are forming off of older genres making new styles of rock every day. Rock has become one of the most loved styles of music in the history of man.