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My Chemical Romance & The Used - Under Pressure

2007-05-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

"Under Pressure" is a 1981 song by Queen and David Bowie. It marked Queen's first released collaboration with another recording artist, and is featured on their 1982 album Hot Space. The song was a hit at the time, reaching #1 in the UK singles chart.

The song is remembered for its distinct bassline, which was sampled in 1990 by Vanilla Ice in his most popular hit, "Ice Ice Baby".

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Underoath - A Boy Brushed Red Living In Black And White - Live

2007-05-02T16:06:00.001-07:00

Underoath (sometimes stylized as Underøath, underOATH, or UnderOath) is an American rock band. They are current signed to Tooth & Nail/Solid State Records.

Though their musical style has changed substantially since its inception in 1998, the band's latest work has been primarily in the vein of post-hardcore, and considered to be screamo[1] or emo-influenced by some. Underoath is also a Christian band,though they are popular among both Christian and secular audiences.

Underoath can be considered a poster child for the success of hard music in the early 21st century. Despite limited airplay on radio and television outlets such as MTV and VH1, the band has achieved Gold status because of constant touring and its popularity on internet sites such as MySpace and PureVolume.

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Chiodos - Theres No Penguins In Alaska - Live

2007-05-02T16:01:00.001-07:00

Chiodos (pronounced Chee-Yo-Dose) is a six-member post-hardcore/emo band from Davison, Michigan. Originally known as "The Chiodos Bros.," the band's name was a nod to filmmakers Stephen, Charles, and Edward Chiodo, responsible for movies such as Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Chiodos is currently working on a new record, due out in the Fall of 2007.

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Aiden The Last Sunrise - Live

2007-05-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

Aiden is an American band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 2003. The current members of Aiden are wiL Francis (vocals), Jake Wambold (guitar), Jake Davison (drums), Nick Wiggins (bass), and Angel Ibarra (guitar). wiL originally played bass but took over lead vocals when their original vocalist left. Nick joined prior to the recording of Our Gang's Dark Oath.

The Song
The Last Sunrise: is about something that happens in your life that takes control, like doing drugs, or being rejected because you're different, ect ect. It's sung at the point of your own conscience telling you that whatever is happening in your life, it wont last long and if you stick it out, you'll be ok.

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Power FX 2.10

2007-05-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

Audioburst PowerFX is a new technology that enhances digital audio by increasing the power output from your speakers, and has been created with help from professional recording engineers. Extensive listening tests have been used to create an outstanding sound enhancement technology like no other.

Active equalisation techniques have been implemented that can dramatically raise the overall quality of your music collection.

Traditional audio enhancers use multi-band compressors to make the sound louder but not necessarily kind to the ears, these techniques are prone to listeners fatique.

PowerFX is different to other audio enhancers in that it truely remasters the music using exclusive AudioBurst technology and ideas, to create an inviting sound that draws the listener in and keeps thier attention for extended more enjoyable listening periods. One way to think about it is an upgrade to your sound system and your ears!

Technical advantages:

Exclusive sound shaped 32-bit (floating point) digital processing with 44.1, 48, 64, 96 and 192khz professional resampled output with distortion levels lower than -130dB, music CDs have a dynamic range of 96dB.

Dynamic range enhancer increases overall perceived power (attack & punch).

Unique psychoacoustic techniques ensure a clearer perceptually louder sound with no audible distortion.

High precision spectrum analyser

Exclusive power analyser to visualise the effect of increased power.

Musical advantages:

Increases the scale and impact of instruments in a mix.

Produces a sound that will nail you to your seat whilst energising your whole sound system.

Reveals the expression of the artist and highlights the rhythm of music creating a more involving experience to remember.

Hi-Fi advantages:

Larger soundstage from your speakers

Wider frequency range response from smaller speakers

Precise imaging and separation

Room-filling power without distortion

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Pixelfusion v1.50

2007-05-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Pixelfusion is a new technology that enhances digital video, and has taken over 2 years to develop to its current standard. From the start, it was designed so that it could be implemented in software and run in realtime on a home PC, but we also made sure that quality was a high priority.

We noticed that most downloaded or streamed video tend to look 'blurry' due to a reduction in the resolution of the video in order to reduce download time. When viewed, it is usually stretched, or resampled, to a higher resolution. This process is what causes the video to become blurry. Video could be viewed at the original resolution, but it tends to be very small, making it difficult to watch.

The key is in the algorithm which enlarges the video to a reasonable viewing size. Usually, a standard bilinear or bicubic algorithm is performed, which work by interpolating the existing pixels in an image to create more pixels. Because they only perform a simple mathematical interpolation which reproduces smooth transitions from one pixel to another, they will always cause an image to appear more blurry.

Pixelfusion is different, in that it attempts to more accurately predict the pixels that existed in the original high resolution source, to create a much crisper and perceptually clearer image.

We have incorporated the technology into a wmp plugin for Windows Media Player, which is available for free via the download link at the bottom of this page. The technology has also been implemented in the Neuview media player, with more options than the WMP plugin.

Features of the plugin -

* Pixelfusion resolution enhancement at Medium quality (150% x 150%)

* 5 sharpness settings.

* Auto lighting option, to allow automatic adjustment of brightness and contrast according to how dark or bright a scene is.

* Ability to manually enable/disable Pixelfusion, or let the plugin automically decide depending on the CPU speed and video resolution.

* Fully optimized code, utilizing MMX and SSE2 instruction sets where available.

Release notes

6 April 2005 - First release of free WMP plugin version 1.20, based on Pixelfusion technology v1.2

* Plugin tested and currently works with DivX, XviD, MPEG-4, WMV and MPEG-1, some compression formats are currently not fully supported.
* RGB colour formats are currently not supported, due to an apparent incompatibility in WMP to allow resizing of RGB video.

25 April 2005 - Version 1.21 released.

* Compatibility improved for some MPEG-4 resolutions, and processing now works correctly when using the MainConcept MPEG-2 decoder.

3 July 2005 - Version 1.30 released.

* Updated to reflect new version of Pixelfusion technology v1.3. Processing is more precise and faster, giving an even clearer and sharper image.

15 December 2005 - Version 1.40 released.

* Bug fix - Sharpness slider was ignored when processing in YV12 mode, which resulted in a non-sharpened image.

21 Feb 2006 - Version 1.50 released.

* Updated to reflect new version of Pixelfusion technology v1.5. Updated pixelfusion lighting and sharpness algorithm, to better complement 200-300 kbs streaming video content

* Minimum spec machine : 1.0Ghz CPU, 128Mb RAM, 16Mb Graphics Card, Windows Media Player 7.0
* Recommended spec machine : 2Ghz CPU, 256Mb RAM, 32Mb Graphics Card, Windows Media Player 10

Plugin properties

Edge crispness - Allows adjustment of output sharpness to suit personal taste.

Pixelfusion - Manually enable/disable Pixelfusion resolution enhancement, or automatically depending on source resolution and CPU speed.

Enable Automatic lighting control - Allow auto contrast/brightness and anti-glare filter, to increase dynamic range and visibility of details in dark/bright areas.

Bypass on High Definition Video - Bypass all processing on HD video, only uncheck with modern PCs.

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Emo Band - Firts Wave

2007-04-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

In 1985 in Washington, D.C., Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, veterans of the DC hardcore music scene, decided to shift away from what they saw as the constraints of the basic style of hardcore and the escalating violence within the scene. They took their music in a more personal direction with a far greater sense of experimentation, bringing forth MacKaye's Embrace and Picciotto's Rites of Spring. The style of music developed by Embrace and Rites of Spring soon became its own sound. (Hüsker Dü's 1984 album Zen Arcade is often cited as a major influence for the new sound.) As a result of the renewed spirit of experimentation and musical innovation that developed the new scene, the summer of 1985 soon came to be known in the scene as "Revolution Summer".

Where the term emo actually originated is uncertain, but members of Rites of Spring mentioned in a 1985 interview in Flipside Magazine that some of their fans had started using the term to describe their music. By the early 90s, it was not uncommon for the early DC scene to be referred to as emo-core, though it's unclear when the term shifted.

Within a short time, the D.C. emo sound began to influence other bands such as Moss Icon, Nation of Ulysses,Dag Nasty, Soulside, Shudder To Think, Fire Party, Marginal Man, and Gray Matter, many of which were released on MacKaye's Dischord Records. The original wave of DC emo finally ended in late 1994 with the collapse of Hoover.

As the D.C. scene expanded, other scenes began to develop with a similar sound and DIY ethic. In San Diego in the early 1990s, Gravity Records released a number of records in the hardcore emo style. Bands of the period included Heroin, Indian Summer, Drive Like Jehu, Angel Hair, Antioch Arrow, Universal Order of Armageddon, Swing Kids, and Mohinder. Also in California, Ebullition Records released records by bands of the same vein, such as Still Life and Portraits of Past, as well as more traditional hardcore punk bands, all having various social and political themes in common.

At the same time, in the New York/New Jersey area, bands such as Native Nod, Merel, 1.6 Band, Policy of 3, Rye Coalition, Iconoclast,and Quicksand were feeling the same impulse. Many of these bands were involved with the ABC No Rio club scene in New York, itself a response to the violence and stagnation in the scene and with the bands that played at CBGBs, the only other small venue for hardcore in New York at the time. Much of this wave of emo, particularly the San Diego scene, began to shift towards a more chaotic and aggressive form of emo, nicknamed screamo.

By and large, the more hardcore style of emo began to fade as many of the early era groups disbanded. However, aspects of the sound remained in bands such as Four Hundred Years and Yaphet Kotto. Also, a handful of modern bands continue to reflect emo's hardcore origins, including Circle Takes the Square, Hot Cross, City of Caterpillar, Funeral Diner, and A Day in Black and White.

Following the disbanding of Embrace in 1986, MacKaye established the influential group Fugazi, and was soon joined by Picciotto. While Fugazi itself is not typically categorized as emo, the band's music is cited as an influence by popular second-wave bands such as Sunny Day Real Estate, Braid, and Jimmy Eat World.

Emo Style

2007-04-25T23:28:00.000-07:00

Most people have a horribly limited idea of what emo is, simply because the most important records in the development of emo were largely released on vinyl, in small numbers, and with limited distribution. These were however very influential, so nowadays you have the situation that a lot of kids listen to third- and fourth-generation emo styles without even knowing it. I hope to expose such people to a wealth of great preceding music that's getting easier to find all the time...

I'm going to split up the mass of "emo" bands into a few distinct genres. Like any categorization effort, there will be exceptions, crossovers, and tangential relations. That's fine. The intent is only to lay out some general trends, general notes on sounds, musical and lyrical themes, and how to listen for them.

Some notes on nomenclature. There isn't a real consensus on what "emo" and "emocore" are, or if they are even different. It's pretty clear these days what you're talking about with terms like "punk," "postpunk," "no-wave," "hardcore punk," "old-school/new-school," etc (although the difference between "hardcore punk" and "hardcore" is lost on a lot of people - "hardcore punk" is punk rock made heavier, faster, louder; "hardcore" is what happened after the hardcore punks realized they didn't have to sound like punk rock anymore - still heavy, fast, loud, but with a different foundation.) I hope to draw clear distinctions between my categories, assign them names, and use them consistently. That's all that language is.

EMO Music History

2007-04-25T22:29:00.000-07:00

After Minor Threat broke up in late 1983, the vibrant DC hardcore-punk scene that exploded in 1981 seems to start to run out of steam and fresh ideas within the established DC hardcore sound. The wistful, posthumous Minor Threat 7" "Salad Days" comes out in 1984 and drives the final nail into the coffin of DC hardcore punk. Bands all over the country begin casting about for new things to do : DRI and Bad Brains start going cheeze-metal, New York bands start doing tough-guy mosh, 7Seconds goes jangly U2 alternative, etc. The prevailing change in D.C. is toward melodic rock with punk sensibilities.

1984 marks the release of Zen Arcade by Minneapolis band Hüsker Dü, documenting their new mature sound combining furious, intense vocal delivery and driving guitars with slowed-down rockish tempos and more-complex, melodic songwriting.

In spring 1984, a new band called Rites Of Spring forms from members of The Untouchables/Faith and Deadline. This band retains a punk speed and frenzy, but brings a totally new vocal approach to the mix. Singer Guy Picciotto keeps an out-of-breath punk style most of the time, at times delving into intensely personal lyrics dripping with emotion and sweat. His voice breaks down at climactic moments into a throaty, gravelly, passionate moan.

The summer of 1985 becomes known as "Revolution Summer" when a new wave of rock-tempo, melody based, sung-vocal bands forms out of the DC punk musician pool with diverse rock sounds - Three, Gray Matter, Soulside, Ignition, Marginal Man, Fire Party, Rain, Shudder to Think, etc. Few bands retain the fast hardcore punk-based sound with the new vocal approach, Dag Nasty being the notable exception.

Minor Threat's singer, Ian MacKaye's, sings for a band called Embrace (compare the band name to earlier DC bands Minor Threat, Void, and State Of Alert) whose lyrics are emotional and deeply self-questioning, but still clear and unambiguous. Musically, the group (formed mostly of ex-Faith members) writes midtempo, somewhat jangly music with a lot of pop guitar hooks. MacKaye's vocals retain his trademark bold enunciation, with only occasional sparks of emotive delivery.

These bands' sound eventually becomes known as the classic "D.C. sound." Some of it is derisively labeled "emo," as shorthand for "emotional." One account has this term first appearing in a Flipside interview with Ian MacKaye. Shortly thereafter DC bands aquire the tag "emo-core."

Slightly later (1986), some bands begin to focus on the "emo" element itself. The Hated in Annapolis (near D.C.) seem to be the first post-Rites of Spring to do this. Shortly thereafter, Moss Icon appears in in the same town. Moss Icon strips the "emo" element down to the core, and adds a great deal of intricate, arpeggiated guitar melody (by Tonie Joy, later of Born Against, Lava, Universal Order of Armageddon, etc.) with a strong focus on loud/soft dynamics. The vocals, too, break new ground by building up to actual top-of-the-lungs screaming at songs' climaxes.

Moss Icon, as a relatively well-known band that toured some, introduces the punk scene to music that has core emphasis on emotion instead of punk energy. As such, I consider them the starting point for the emo movement, not Rites of Spring as is more commonly asserted. Later emo bands draw heavily from the Moss Icon dynamics, guitar style, and vocal delivery.

Rock Music

2007-04-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

Rock
is a form of popular music with a prominent vocal melody accompanied by guitar, drums, and often bass. Many styles of rock music also use keyboard instruments such as organ, piano, or synthesizers. Rock music usually has a strong back beat, and usually revolves around the electric guitar.

Rock music has its roots in 1950s-era rock and roll and rockabilly. In the late 1960s, rock music was blended with folk music to create folk rock, and with jazz, to create jazz-rock fusion. In the 1970s, rock incorporated influences from soul, funk, and latin music. In the 1970s, rock developed a number of subgenres, such as soft rock, blues rock, heavy metal-style rock, progressive rock, art rock, techno-rock, synth-rock and punk rock. Rock subgenres from the 1980s included hard rock, indie-rock and alternative rock. In the 1990s, rock subgenres included grunge-style rock, Britpop, and Indie rock.

Origins: Rock and Roll and Rockabilly

Main article: Origins of rock and roll

Rock and Roll came from rhythm & blues, country, and in turn its influence fed back to these cultures, a process of borrowings, influences that continues to develop rock music. Rock 'n' Roll had runaway success in the U.S. and brought rhythm and blues-influenced music to an international audience. Its success led to a dilution of the meaning of the term "rock and roll", as promoters were quick to attach the label to other commercial pop.

Rock 'n' Roll started off in the early-to-mid 1950s in the United States. African-American artists such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, and Fats Domino played predominantly to African American crowds. While these key early rockers were indisposed to racism, local authorities and dance halls were very much divided upon racial lines.

Mainstream acceptance of rock and roll came in the mid-1950s when what Bo Diddley describes as 'ofay dudes' (or Caucasians) signed to major labels and started covering their material. Elvis Presley and Bill Haley and the Comets, Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash often toured and played together in dance halls and clubs across the US and Britain.

Towards the end of the 1950s "chessboard" crowds (both black and white patrons) would emerge at Rock and Roll concerts as fans discovered the original artists of the songs they knew from television and the radio, such as Little Richard's Tutti Frutti. The genre ignited British enthusiasm for rhythm and blues and the development of British rock.

Early British rock

Main article: British rock

In the United Kingdom the Trad jazz movement brought visiting blues music artists to Britain. Lonnie Donegan's 1955 hit "Rock Island Line" was a major influence, and helped to develop the trend of skiffle music groups throughout the country, including John Lennon's The Quarry Men, the 1957 precursor to The Beatles. Britain developed a major rock and roll scene, without the race barriers which kept "race records" or Rhythm and Blues separate in the U.S.

Cliff Richard had the first British rock 'n' roll hit with "Move It", effectively ushering in the sound of British rock. At the start of the 1960s, his backing group The Shadows was one of a number of groups having success with Surf music instrumentals. And while Rock 'n' Roll was fading into lightweight pop and schmaltzy ballads, at clubs and local dances British rock groups were starting to play with an intensity and drive seldom found in white American acts, heavily influenced by Blues-rock pioneers like Alexis Korner.

By the end of 1962, the British rock scene had started, with groups drawing on a wide range of American influences including soul music, rhythm and blues and surf music. Initially, they reinterpreted standard American tunes, playing for dancers doing the Twist, for example. These groups eventually infused their original rock compositions with increasingly complex musical ideas.

The Beatles brought together an appealing mix of image, songwriting and personality. In mid-1962 the Rolling Stones started as one of a number of groups increasingly showing blues influence, along with The Animals and The Yardbirds. In late 1964, The Kinks, followed by The Who, represented the new Mod style. Towards the end of the decade, British rock groups began to explore Psychedelic musical styles that made reference to the drug subculture and hallucinogenic experiences.

After their initial success in the UK, The Beatles launched a large-scale US tour to a frenzy of fan interest known as Beatlemania. The Beatles first visit to the US in 1964 included an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. In the wake of Beatlemania, other British bands headed to the US, notably the Rolling Stones, The Animals, and The Yardbirds.

1960s garage rock

Main article: Garage rock

The British Invasion spawned a wave of imitators that played mainly to local audiences and made inexpensive recordings, a movement later called Garage Rock. Some music from this trend is included in the compilation album Nuggets. Some of the better known bands of this genre include The Sonics, ? & the Mysterians, and The Standells.

1960s Surf music

Main article: Surf music

The rockabilly sound influenced a wild, mostly instrumental sound called surf music, though surf culture saw itself as a competing youth culture to Rock and Roll. This style, exemplified by Dick Dale and The Surfaris, featured faster tempos, innovative percussion, and reverb- and echo-drenched electric guitar sounds. In the UK, British groups included The Shadows. Other West Coast bands, such as The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean slowed the tempos down and added lush harmony vocals to create what became known as the "California Sound."

Rock as a counterculture movement (1963-1974)

Main article: Counterculture

In the late 1950s the US Beatnik counterculture was associated with the wider anti-war movement building against the threat of the atomic bomb, notably CND in Britain. Both were associated with the jazz scene and with the growing folk song movement.

Folk rock

Main articles: Bob Dylan and Folk rock

The folk scene was made up of folk music lovers who liked acoustic instruments, traditional songs, and blues music with a socially progressive message. The folk genre was pioneered by Woody Guthrie. Bob Dylan came to the fore in this movement, and his hits with Blowin' in the Wind and Masters of War brought "protest songs" to a wider public.

The Byrds, who playing Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man, helped to start the trend of Folk rock, and helped to stimulate the development of Psychedelic rock. Dylan continued, with his "Like a Rolling Stone" becoming a US hit single. Neil Young's lyrical inventiveness and wailing electric guitar attack created a variation of folk rock. Other folk rock artists include Simon & Garfunkel, The Mamas & the Papas, Joni Mitchell and The Band.

In Britain, Fairport Convention began applying rock techniques to traditional British folk songs, followed by groups such as Steeleye Span, Lindisfarne, Pentangle, and Trees. The same approach was done in Brittany by Alan Stivell .

Psychedelic rock

Main article: Psychedelic rock

Psychedelia began in the folk scene, with the Holy Modal Rounders introducing the term in 1964. With a background including folk and jug band music, The Grateful Dead fell in with Ken Kesey's LSD fuelled Merry Pranksters, playing at their Acid Tests then providing an electric Acid rock soundtrack to their Trips Festival of January 1966 , together with Big Brother & the Holding Company.

The Fillmore was a regular venue for groups like another former jug band, Country Joe and the Fish, and Jefferson Airplane. Elsewhere, The Byrds had a hit with Eight Miles High. This song was also the breakthrough for Dutch band Golden Earring on their first tour of the USA in 1969, when they also were regulars at The Fillmore and stretched their version of "Eight Miles High" to over 40 minutes filled with jammes and solo's. The 13th Floor Elevators titled their album The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators. The music increasingly became associated with opposition to the Vietnam War.

In England, Pink Floyd had been developing psychedelic rock since 1965 in the underground culture scene. In 1966 the band Soft Machine was formed. Donovan had a folk music-influenced hit with Sunshine Superman, one of the early psychedelic pop records. In August 1966 The Beatles released their Revolver album, which featured psychedelia in Tomorrow Never Knows and in Yellow Submarine. The Beach Boys responded in the U.S. with Pet Sounds. From a blues rock background, the British supergroup Cream debuted in December, and Jimi Hendrix became popular in Britain before returning to the US.

January 1967 brought the first album from The Doors. As the year went by many other pioneering groups got records out, with Pink Floyd's Arnold Layne in March only hinting at their live sound. The Beatles' groundbreaking album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in June, and by the end of the year Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Cream's Disraeli Gears.

The culmination of rock and roll as a socially-unifying force was seen in the rock festivals of the late '60s, the most famous of which was Woodstock in 1969 which began as a three-day arts and music festival and turned into a "happening", as hundreds of thousands of youthful fans converged on the site.

Progressive rock

Main article: Progressive rock

Progressive rock bands went beyond the established rock music formulas by experimenting with different instruments, song types, and musical forms. Some bands such as Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, Procol Harum, and Golden Earring experimented with new instruments including wind sections, string sections, and full orchestras. Many of these bands moved well beyond the formulaic three-minute rock songs into longer, increasingly sophisticated songs and chord structures. A good example is Golden Earring's Radar Love. With inspiration from these earlier artists, referred to as "proto-prog," it flowered into its own genre, initially based in the UK, after King Crimson's 1969 genre-defining debut album. Progressive rock bands borrowed musical ideas from classical, jazz, electronic, and experimental music. Progressive rock songs ranged from lush, beautiful songs to atonal, dissonant, and complex songs. Few achieved major mainstream success, but large cults followed many of the groups. Pink Floyd, Yes, Jethro Tull, and a few less notable others were able to work in hit singles to their otherwise complex and untraditional albums to garner a larger audience.

Progressive rock bands include: Barclay James Harvest, Camel, Can, Caravan, Dream Theater, Marillion, Electric Light Orchestra, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Faust, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Gong, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Magma, The Nice, Pavlov's Dog, Procol Harum, Rush, Steve Hillage, Soft Machine and Yes.

Main article: Krautrock

By the late-1960s, German audiences began listening to progressive rock bands from Britain and the United States. During this period, avant-garde musicians in Germany were playing electronic classical music. These German avant-garde musicians adapted their electronic instruments for a style of music that blended progressive rock and psychedelic rock sounds. By the early 1970s, German progressive rock (later called krautrock) bands were blending jazz (Can) and Asian music (Popol Vuh). The music by bands such as and influenced the development of techno and other related genres.

Main article: Italian rock

In Italy progressive rock was also popular in the 1970s. Some Italian progressive rock bands were Premiata Forneria Marconi, Le Orme, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and Area International Popular Group.

Soft rock

Main article: soft rock

Rock music had a short-lived "bubble gum pop" era, of soft rock, including groups such as The Partridge Family, The Cowsills, The Osmonds, and The Archies. Other bands or artists added more orchestration and created a popular genre known as soft rock. Performers included Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, Olivia Newton-John, and Eric Carmen, and groups such as Bread, The Carpenters, Electric Light Orchestra, and England Dan & John Ford Coley. Another well-known artist performing soft rock was Tina Turner.

Heavy Metal

Main article: Heavy metal music

A second wave of British rock bands became popular during the 70's, with groups that were more steeped in American blues music than their more pop-oriented predecessors. Bands such as Cream, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Queen and Black Sabbath played highly amplified, guitar-driven blues-rock. These bands laid the foundations for the heavy metal rock sound.

Heavy metal languished into obscurity in the mid 1970s. A few bands including Queen, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith maintained large followings and there were occasional mainstream hits such as Blue Öyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) the Reaper". Music critics overwhelmingly disliked the genre. This began to change in 1978 following the release of Van Halen's eponymous debut. The album helped to usher in an era of high-energy rock and roll, based out of Los Angeles, California. Kiss was also considered a highly famous rock band.

Arena Rock

Main article: Arena rock

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who began the practice of live performances for large audiences in stadiums and arenas. The growing popularity of metal and progressive rock led to more bands selling out large venues. Entertainment companies marketed a series of arena rock bands, such as: Journey, Boston, Styx and Foreigner in the late 70s.

Punk rock

Main article: Punk rock

Punk rock started off as a reaction to the lush, producer-driven sounds of disco, and against the perceived commercialism of progressive rock that had become arena rock. Early punk borrowed heavily from the garage band ethic: played by bands for which expert musicianship was not a requirement, punk was stripped-down, three-chord music that could be played easily. Many of these bands also intended to shock mainstream society, rejecting the "peace and love" image of the prior musical rebellion of the 1960s which had degenerated, punks thought, into mellow disco culture. Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone stated, "In its initial form, a lot of [1960s] stuff was innovative and exciting. Unfortunately, what happens is that people who could not hold a candle to the likes of Hendrix started noodling away. Soon you had endless solos that went nowhere. By 1973, I knew that what was needed was some pure, stripped down, no bullshit rock 'n' roll".^[1]

While the Ramones were often regarded as the first punk band,^[2],^[3] they had many contemporaries from the same era in the New York scene. Artists like Patti Smith, The Heartbreakers, and Television, played the same fast paced, stripped-down, style of rock, and often played shows along with the Ramones at burgeoning club CBGB's.

In 1976 the Ramones, along with British punk band the Sex Pistols, went on a tour of the United Kingdom. The tour was widely credited for inspiring the first wave of English punk bands such as, The Clash, The Damned, and the Buzzcocks. In England, the music became a more violent and political form of expression, represented with the Sex Pistols first two singles "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen". Despite an airplay ban on the BBC, the records rose to the top chart position in the UK. Other bands, like the Clash, were less nihilistic but more overtly political and idealistic.

As the Sex Pistols toured America, they spread their music to the West Coast. Before, punk was mostly an East-coast phenomenon in the US, with scenes in New York and Washington D.C.. In the late 70's California punk bands such as the Dead Kennedys, X and Black Flag, gained greater exposure.

New Wave

Main article: New Wave music

Punk rock attracted devotees from the art and collegiate world and soon bands sporting a more literate, arty approach, such as the Talking Heads, Devo and Saxon began to infiltrate the punk scene; in some quarters the description New Wave began to be used to differentiate these less overtly punk bands.

If punk rock was a social and musical phenomenon, it garnered little in the way of record sales (small specialty labels such as Stiff Records had released much of the punk music to date) or American radio airplay, as the radio scene continued to be dominated by mainstream formats such as disco and Album-oriented rock. Record executives, who had been mostly mystified by the punk movement, recognized the potential of the more accessible New Wave acts and began aggressively signing and marketing any band that could claim a remote connection to punk or New Wave. Many of these bands, such as The Cars and The Go-Go's were essentially pop bands dressed up in New Wave regalia; others, including The Police and The Pretenders managed to parlay the boost of the New Wave movement into long-lived and artistically lauded careers.

Between 1982 and 1985, influenced by Kraftwerk and Gary Numan, New Wave went in the direction of such New Romantics as Duran Duran, A Flock of Seagulls, Psychedelic Furs, Talk Talk and the Eurythmics, sometimes using the synthesizer entirely in place of other instruments. This period coincided with the rise of MTV and led to a great deal of exposure for this brand of synth-pop. Some rockbands reinvented themselves and profited too from MTV's airplay, for instance Golden Earring, who had a second round of success with Twilight Zone, but in general the times of guitar-orientated rock were over. Although many "Greatest of New Wave" collections feature popular songs from this era, New Wave more properly refers to the earlier "skinny tie" rock bands such as The Knack or Blondie.

Post Punk

Main article: Post-punk

Alongside New Wave, post-punk developed as an outgrowth of punk rock. Sometimes thought of as interchangeable with New Wave, post-punk was typically more challenging, arty, and abrasive. The movement was effectively started by the debut of Public Image Ltd. in 1978, formed by former Sex Pistols singer John Lydon (formerly Rotten), and was soon joined by bands such as Joy Division, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Fall, Gang of Four, and Echo & the Bunnymen. Predominantly a British phenomenon, the genre continued into the 1980s with some commercial exposure domestically and overseas, but the most successful band to emerge from post-punk was Ireland's U2, which by the 1980s had become one of the biggest bands in the world.

Rock diversifies in the 1980s

Main article: Timeline of trends in music (1980-1989)

In the 1980s, popular rock diversified. This period also saw the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. The early part of the decade saw Eddie Van Halen achieve musical innovations in rock guitar, while vocalists David Lee Roth (of Van Halen) and Freddie Mercury (of Queen as he had been doing throughout the 1970s) raised the role of frontman to near performance art standards. Bono of U2 would continue this trend. Concurrently, pop-New Wave bands remained popular, with performers like Billy Idol and The Go-Go's gaining fame. American heartland rock gained a strong following, exemplified by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, John (Cougar) Mellencamp and others. Led by the American folk singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the British former prog rock star Peter Gabriel, rock and roll fused with a variety of folk music styles from around the world; this fusion came to be known as "world music", and included fusions like Aboriginal rock.

Glam metal

Main article: Glam metal

One genre that grew in popularity in the 1980s was glam metal. Taking influence from various artists such as Aerosmith, Alice Cooper (though they were not glam bands themselves), Sweet and the New York Dolls. The earliest glam metal bands to gain notability included: Mötley Crüe, W.A.S.P. and Ratt. They became known for their debauched lifestyles, teased hair and use of make-up and clothing. Their songs were bombastic, aggressive, and often defiantly macho, with lyrics focused on sex, drinking, drugs, and the occult.

By the mid 1980s, a formula developed in which a glam metal band had two hits -- one a "power ballad" (slow-dance tempo, but is just as loud and driving as anything else by the group), and the other a hard-rocking anthem. In 1987 a second wave of glam metal acts emerged including: L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat. Guns N' Roses' debut album, Appetite for Destruction, became a huge seller. The band would continue its success into the early 90s, with the release of Use Your Illusion I & II.

Instrumental rock

See also: Hard rock, Heavy metal music, and Instrumental rock

Instrumental rock was also popularised during this period with Joe Satriani's release of "Surfing with the Alien". With many heavy metal guitarists being virtuosos, many of them felt constrained by their bands and were releasing solo albums. Guitarists such as George Lynch, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Morse have all greatly contributed to the genre.

Alternative music and the indie movement

Main article: Alternative rock

The term alternative music (also often known as alternative rock) was coined in the early 1980s to describe bands which didn't fit into the mainstream genres of the time. Bands dubbed "alternative" could be most any style not typically heard on the radio; however, most alternative bands were unified by their collective debt to punk. Important bands of the '80s alternative movement included R.E.M., Sonic Youth, The Smiths, Pixies, Hüsker Dü, The Cure, and countless others. Artists largely were confined to indie record labels, building an extensive underground music scene based around college radio, fanzines, touring, and word-of-mouth. Although these groups never generated spectacular album sales, they exerted a considerable influence on the generation of musicians who came of age in the 80s and ended up breaking through to mainstream success in the 1990s. Notable styles of alternative rock during the 80s include jangle pop, gothic rock, college rock, and indie rock. The next decade would see the success of grunge in the US and Britpop in the UK, bringing alternative rock into the mainstream.

Grunge

Main article: Grunge music

By the late 1980s rock radio was dominated by hard rock artists, slick and glam metal; MTV had arrived and brought with it a perception that style was more important than substance. Disaffected by this, some young musicians began to reject glam metal and arena rock, created instead angst-ridden music. The American Pacific Northwest region, especially Seattle, became a hotbed of this style, dubbed grunge.

A few grunge bands, such as Mudhoney and early Nirvana, were very much inspired by garage rock/punk rock. Other grunge bands, particularly Alice in Chains and Soundgarden, took much of their sound from early heavy metal and much of their approach from punk, though they eschewed punk's ambitions towards political and social commentary to proceed in a more nihilistic direction. Grunge remained a mostly local phenomenon until the breakthrough of Nirvana in 1991 with their album Nevermind. Nirvana was more melodic than their predecessors and had signature stop-start dynamics, which became a part of grunge convention nearly as recognizable as fuzzy, distorted guitars. Having more completely produced variation on the present rock groups, Nirvana was an instant sensation worldwide and made much of the competing music seem stale and dated by comparison, after Guns N' Roses' successful 1991 double-album Use Your Illusion I and II experimental hard-rock faded almost completely from the mainstream.

Nirvana whetted the public's appetite for more direct rock music, leading to the success of bands like Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and Soundgarden who took a more traditional rock approach than other grunge bands but shared their passion and rawness. Pearl Jam were a major commercial success from their debut but, beginning with their second album, refused to buy in to the corporate promotion and marketing mechanisms of MTV and Ticketmaster, with whom they famously engaged in legal skirmishes over ticket service fees.

While grunge itself can be seen as somewhat limited in range, its influence was felt across many geographic and musical boundaries; many artists who were similarly disaffected with commercial rock music suddenly found record companies and audiences willing to listen, and dozens of disparate acts positioned themselves as alternatives to mainstream music; thus alternative rock emerged from the underground.

By 1994 grunge rock had produced some of the most famous bands of the 20th century. In 1991 Nevermind was released, along with Pearl Jam's Ten, and grunge became very popular. In 1992 Alice in Chains released Dirt and thus the genre became even more popular. In early April 1994, grunge took a sudden shift in popularity with Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's sudden death. The scene stayed alive with Alice in Chains releasing their Jar of Flies EP earlier that year, and Soundgarden released their follow up to 1991s Badmotorfinger entitled Superunknown with the huge hit "Black Hole Sun." Alice in Chains released their self-titled album in 1995, but by 1996 the grunge fad was declining in popularity, with unsuccessful albums from Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots.

Britpop

Main article: Britpop

While America was full of grunge, post-grunge, and hip hop, Britain launched a 1960s revival in the mid-90s, often called Britpop, with bands like Suede, Oasis, Supergrass, The Verve, Radiohead, Pulp and Blur. These bands drew on myriad styles from the 80s British rock underground, including twee pop, shoegazing and space rock as well as traditional British guitar influences like the Beatles and glam rock. For a time, the Oasis-Blur rivalry was similar to the Beatles-Rolling Stones rivalry. While bands like Blur tended to follow on from the Small Faces and The Kinks, Oasis mixed the attitude of the Rolling Stones with the melody of the Beatles. The Verve and Radiohead took inspiration from performers like Elvis Costello, Pink Floyd and R.E.M. with their progressive rock music, manifested in Radiohead's most famous album, OK Computer. These bands became very successful, and for a time Oasis was given the title "the biggest band in the world" thanks to an album selling some 14 million copies worldwide but slowed down after band breakups, publicity disasters in the United States and slightly less popular support. The Verve disbanded after on-going turmoil in the band, but on the other hand Radiohead threw themselves into electronic experimentation in their latest records and have stood the test of time in both the U.K and the USA as a major act.

History and Meaning of Music

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Allegory of Music, by Filippino Lippi

Music is an art form that involves organized sounds and silence. It is expressed in terms of pitch (which includes melody and harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo and meter), and the quality of sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, and texture).

Music may also involve generative forms in time through the construction of patterns and combinations of natural stimuli, principally sound. Music may be used for artistic or aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, ceremonial or religious purposes.

The definition of what constitutes music varies according to culture and social context, with varied interpretations of the term being accepted under sub-genres of the art. Within "the arts", music can be classified as a performing art, a fine art, or an auditory art form.

HISTORY :

The history of music predates the written word and is tied to the development of each unique human culture. The development of music among humans occurred against the backdrop of natural sounds such as birdsong and the sounds other animals use to communicate. Prehistoric music, once more commonly called primitive music, is the name given to all music produced in preliterate cultures (prehistory), beginning somewhere in very late geological history.

The earliest records of musical expression are to be found in the Sama Veda of India and in 4,000 year old cuneiform from Ur. Instruments, such as the seven holed flute and various types of stringed instruments have been recovered from the Indus valley civilization archaeological sites. The Indian music is one of the oldest musical traditions in the world, and Indian classical music (marga) can be found from the scriptures of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas. Chinese classical music, the traditional art or court music of China has a history stretching for more than three thousand years. Music was an important part of cultural and social life in Ancient Greece. In ancient Greece, mixed-gender choruses performed for entertainment, celebration and spiritual ceremonies, and musicians and singers had an important role in Greek theater. Music was part of children's basic education in ancient Greece.

Ancient music

While musical life was undoubtedly rich in the early Medieval era, as attested by artistic depictions of instruments, writings about music, and other records, the only repertory of music which has survived from before 800 to the present day is the plainsong liturgical music of the Roman Catholic Church, the largest part of which is called Gregorian chant. Several schools of polyphony flourished in the period after 1100. Alongside these schools of sacred music a vibrant tradition of secular song developed, as exemplified in the music of the troubadours, trouvères and Minnesänger.

Medieval and Renaissance music

Much of the surviving music of the 14th century in European music history is secular. By the middle of the 15th century, composers and singers used a smooth polyphony for sacred musical compositions such as the mass, the motet, and the laude; and secular forms such as the chanson and the madrigal. The invention of printing had an immense influence on the dissemination of musical styles.

Baroque and Classical music

German Baroque composers wrote enormous amounts of organ music, establishing the basis for the later flowering of the Baroque organ style which culminated in the work of J.S. Bach. The first operas, written around 1600, also define the end of the Renaissance and the beginning of the Baroque eras. Instrumental music became dominant in the Baroque, and most major music forms were defined. Much Baroque music was designed for improvisation, with a figured bass.

Allegory of Music on the Opéra Garnier

The music of the Classical period is characterised by homophonic texture, or an obvious melody with accompaniment. These new melodies tended to be almost voice-like and singable. The now popular instrumental music was dominated by several well-defined forms: the sonata, the symphony, and the concerto.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the central figure of the Classical period. Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert were transitional composers, leading into the Romantic period, with their expansion of existing genres, forms, and functions of music.

Romantic and 20th Century music

In the Romantic period, music became more expressive and emotional, expanding to encompass literature, art, and philosophy. The late 19th century saw a dramatic expansion in the size of the orchestra, and in the role of concerts as part of urban society. Later Romantic composers created complex and often much longer musical works. The 20th Century saw a revolution in music listening as the radio gained popularity worldwide and new media and technologies were developed to record, capture, reproduce and distribute music. 20th Century music brought a new freedom and wide experimentation with new musical styles and forms that challenged the accepted rules of music of earlier periods.

Music in the West

In the West, much of the history of music that is taught deals with the Western civilization's art music. The history of music in other cultures ("world music" (or the field of "ethnomusicology") is also taught in Western universities. This includes the documented classical traditions of Asian countries outside the influence of western Europe, as well as the folk or indigenous music of various other cultures.

Popular styles of music varied widely from culture to culture, and from period to period. Different cultures emphasised different instruments, or techniques, or uses for music. Music has been used not only for entertainment, for ceremonies, and for practical and artistic communication, but also for propaganda in totalitarian countries.

There is a host of music classifications, many of which are caught up in the argument over the definition of music. Among the largest of these is the division between classical music (or "art" music), and popular music (or commercial music - including rock and roll, country music, and pop music). Some genres don't fit neatly into one of these "big two" classifications, (such as folk music, world music, or jazz music).

As world cultures have come into greater contact, their indigenous musical styles have often merged into new styles. For example, the United States bluegrass style contains elements from Anglo-Irish, Scottish, Irish, German and African instrumental and vocal traditions, which were able to fuse in the US' multi-ethnic "melting pot" society. Genres of music are determined as much by tradition and presentation as by the actual music. While most classical music is acoustic and meant to be performed by individuals or groups, many works described as "classical" include samples or tape, or are mechanical. Some works, like Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, are claimed by both jazz and classical music. Many current music festivals celebrate a particular musical genre.

Production

Main article: Music industry

Music is composed and performed for many purposes, ranging from aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment product for the marketplace. Amateur musicians compose and perform music for their own pleasure, and they do not attempt to derive their income from music. Professional musicians are employed by a range of institutions and organisations, including armed forces, churches and synagogues, symphony orchestras, broadcasting or film production companies, and music schools. As well, professional musicians work as freelancers, seeking contracts and engagements in a variety of settings.

Although amateur musicians differ from professional musicians in that amateur musicians have a non-musical source of income, there are often many links between amateur and professional musicians. Beginning amateur musicians take lessons with professional musicians. In community settings, advanced amateur musicians perform with professional musicians in a variety of ensembles and orchestras. In some rare cases, amateur musicians attain a professional level of competence, and they are able to perform in professional performance settings.

A distinction is often made between music performed for the benefit of a live audience and music that is performed for the purpose of being recorded and distributed through the music retail system or the broadcasting system. However, there are also many cases where a live performance in front of an audience is recorded and distributed (or broadcast).

Performance

Main article: Performance

Chinese Nakhi musicians

Performance is the execution of music. While music cannot technically exist without performance, we generally think of performance as being the exhibition of a musical work before an audience. A musical work is performed once its structure and instrumentation are satisfactory to its creators; however, as it gets performed more and more over time, it can evolve and change in any number of ways.

A performance can either be rehearsed or improvised. Improvisation is a musical idea created on the spot, with no prior premeditation, while rehearsal is vigorous repetition of an idea until it has achieved cohesion. Musicians will generally add improvisation to a well-rehearsed idea to create a unique performance.

Solo and ensemble performances

Many cultures include strong traditions of solo and performance, such as in Indian classical music, and in the Western Art music tradition. Other cultures, such as in Bali, include strong traditions of group performance. All cultures include a mixture of both, and performance may range from improvised solo playing for one's enjoyment to highly planned and organised performance rituals such as the modern classical concert, religious processions, music festivals or music competitions.

Chamber music, which is music for a small ensemble with only a few of each type of instrument, is often seen as more intimate than symphonic works. A performer may be referred to as a musician.