Main article: Counterculture
As part of the societal ferment in
As early as the mid-1960s, the image of rock and roll became less like
previous musical forms. The Rolling Stones are credited with being the first band to dispense with band uniforms;
band members simply wore whatever clothes they wished, and these clothes were
often outlandish or controversial. Hair styles also became longer and less
tamed. As trivial as these changes may sound today, this break from tradition
was shocking to audiences used to clean-cut musical groups in matching suits.
Main article: Progressive rock
The music itself broadened past the guitar-bass-drum
format; while some bands had used saxophones and keyboards before, now acts
like The Beach Boys and The Beatles (and
others following their lead) experimented with new instruments including wind
sections, string sections, and full orchestration. Many bands moved well beyond
three-minute tunes into new and diverse forms; increasingly sophisticated chord
structures, previously limited to jazz and orchestrated pop music, were heard.
Dabbling heavily in classical, jazz, electronic, and experimental music
resulted in what would be called progressive rock (or, in its German wing, krautrock). Progressive rock could be lush and beautiful or atonal and dissonant,
highly complex or minimalistic, sometimes all within the same song. At times it
was hardly recognizeable as rock at all. Some notable practitioners include King Crimson, Genesis, Gentle Giant, The Nice, Yes, Gong, Magma, Can, and Faust.
Main article: Krautrock
In the mid-1960s, American and British rock entered
A second wave of British bands and artists gained great popularity
during this period dominant; these bands typically were more directly steeped
in American blues music than their more pop-oriented predecessors but their
performances took a highly amplified, often spectacular form. These were the
bands that were led by the guitar; Cream and Led Zeppelin were
early examples of this blues-rock form and were followed by heavier rock bands including Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. This
style of rock would come to be known as heavy metal music.
Main article: Arena rock
The Beatles and the Rolling Stones had set the table for massive live
performances in stadiums and arenas. The growing popularity of metal and
progressive rock led to more bands selling out large venues. The corporate
world saw the chance for huge profits and began marketing a series of what came
to be called arena rock
bands. Bands whose roots were in other genres, like Pink Floyd and Genesis,
paved the way by putting on extravagent live shows drawing a large number of
fans. Following in this wake, Boston, Styx, Foreigner, Journey, and
many other bands began playing similar music, often less progressive and
metal-like. This movement became a precurser to the power pop of
future decades, and set the mold for live performances by popular artists.
Main article: Psychedelic rock
The music took on a greater social awareness; it was not just about
dancing and smooching anymore, but took on themes of social justice. The
counterculture that was emerging (partly as a reaction to the Vietnam War)
adopted rock and roll as its defining feature, and the music began to be
heavily influenced by the various drugs that the youth culture was experimenting with. In
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 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.