The 80s were marked by several very diverse musical genres, rock being one of them, when you think of the 80s, you immediately think of legendary bands like AC/DC, Def Leppard, or KISS, so dive in with us in this unforgettable time!
The different types of rock in the 80s
This era was largely influenced by the Rock and Pop genres, and with regard to rock, we can distinguish several variants and a wide range of different sounds and rhythms that had a considerable impact on the musical culture of the time. .
“College rock” or “Indie rock”
This type of rock which earned its name Indie Rock in the UK in the 80s, is a category of music whose artists and bands rose to prominence on campus and university radio stations.
Although there are exceptions, all the bands belonging to this category have a musical style centered on the electric guitar with a very marked punk-rock inspiration .
“Hair Metal”
Hair Metal , which literally means hair metal, is a rock style that is very easy to spot, we can cite essential groups from that time (and still now) such as:
- def Leppard;
- Bon Jovi ;
- poison.
Often called “pop metal” or even “glam metal” because of the highly crafted and sought-after aesthetics of the artists on stage, Hair Metal was a musical genre that filled arenas complete with extremely dedicated fans as spectators, which is what What we particularly appreciate in Hair Metal is probably its ability to take heavy metal and hard rock influences and transform them into a more pop formula!
The Jangle Pop
Jangle pop is a sub-genre of College Rock, it’s a kind of reincarnation of 60s rock, we can find in Jangle Pop sounds reminiscent of post-punk and old folk rhythms, we can cite several well-known groups such as Hootie, blowfish or Refreshments.
The New Wave
This musical genre was all the rage in the 80s with groups that crossed continents to play all over the world, such as at the La route du Rock festival which is organized twice a year in the city of Saint-Malo, it is also in this musical genre that we owe certain elements typical of the sounds of the 80s, this genre also gave rise to artists belonging to the fairer sex who knew how to prove themselves!
Post-Punk
This category was known for giving themselves more freedom and experimenting a little more with their music, Post-Punk is generally louder and more “aggressive” than new wave for example, it is also known to be a little more “dark as demonstrated by artists like The Cure and Psychedelic Furs.
80s rock instruments
In addition to the essential electric guitars and drums, not to mention the vocals, 80s rock used a lot of the synthesizer more commonly known as “synthesizer”, an element that makes 80s rock so recognizable!