The Pretty RecklessResearch into genres

Hard rock/Heavy rock• Hard rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock. Its earliest roots were in the 1960s with genres such as

garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock (a type of rock influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the of psychedelic drugs).

• It generally includes heavy use of aggressive vocals, distorted electric guitars, bass guitar, drums and often accompanied with pianos and keyboards.

• In the 1970s it became a form of popular music with bands such as The Who, Aerosmith and AC/DC.

• During the 1980s some hard rock bands moved away from their hard rock roots and more towards pop rock, while others stayed with the hard rock sound.

• In the mid-1980s, established bands made a comeback and hard rock reached it’s commercial peak and became very popular in this time, with metal bands like Bon Jovi, Van Halen and Guns N’ Roses which had a rawer sound.

• However this particular genre began to lose popularity when grunge and Britpop became more popular later on in the 1990s.

• Although there were other post-grunge bands that adopted a hard rock sound in the 2000s, only a few of these bands that emerged from garage rock and post-punk revival scenes were able to sustain highly successful recording careers.

Hard rock/Heavy rock

• The actual definition of this type of rock is said to be a form of loud, aggressive rock music.

• The electric guitar is often said to be one of the main instruments and is emphasised with distortion and other effects. Drumming characteristically focuses on driving rhythms, strong bass drum and a backbeat on snare. The bass guitar works in conjunction with the drums.

• The vocals are often growling, raspy or even involve screaming or wailing in high range.

• It was often performed and consumed by men. However this doesn’t link with ‘The Pretty Reckless’ as their main vocalist is in fact a woman, yet they way she is portrayed could suggest she is part of the ‘male gaze’.

• This type of rock can also be traced back long ago in the 1950s when electric blues began experimenting with hard rock elements.

• Later in the 1960s, American and British rock bands began to modify rock and roll by adding harder sounds e.g. louder vocals.

Alternative rock

• Alternative rock emerged more from indie music in the 1980s.

• This type of rock then became widely popular by the 1990s.

• The 'alternative' definition refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream rock music.

• It is expressed primarily in a distorted guitar sound, subversive and/or transgressive lyrics and generally a casual, defiant attitude.

• Nowadays, the term ‘alternative’ is used to describe any music from underground rock artists that receives mainstream recognition, whether it is rock or not.

• ‘Alternative rock’ is also a broad term itself consisting of music that differs greatly in terms of sound, social context and its regional roots.

• Promotion such as magazines, radio and word of mouth increased the diversity of different types of alternative rock, leading to many other styles such as gothic rock, jangle pop, noise pop, indie rock, indie pop, industrial rock and shoegazing.

• Although some bands became successful, many were limited in commercial success compared to other genres of music at the time. This means that many remained signed to independent labels, not major ones.

Alternative rock

• However, with the breakthrough of Nirvana and the popularity of genres such as grunge and Britpop on the rise in the 1990s, alternative rock entered the musical mainstream and this is when many bands who were a part of this genre started to become commercially successful.

• Even though Britpop later faded out, alternative rock bands still continued to emerge e.g. The Strokes

• In our current time, this term has now faded and ‘indie rock’ is more commonly used.

• Alternative bands are known for playing in small clubs, recorded for independent/ indie labels and gaining success through much cheaper means of advertising (word of mouth).

• Although there seems to be no set music style for this genre, The New York Time once said it consist of guitar music at first with guitars that then blast out power chords, pick out chiming riffs etc.

• The sounds of alternative rock range from the gloomy soundscapes of gothic rock to the jangling guitars of indie pop to the dirty guitars of grunge to the '60s/'70s revivalism of Britpop. More often than in other rock-styles since the mainstreaming of rock music during the 1970s, alternative rock lyrics tend to address topics of social concern such as drug use, depression, suicide, and environmentalism.

Post-grunge

• This is another type of music genre that ‘The Pretty Reckless’ are considered to be, however it is also a subgenre of the previous genres mentioned (a subgenre of both alternative rock and hard rock).

• It emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge and included sounds and aesthetic of grunge but with a more commercially acceptable tone.

• This means that bands such as the Foo-Fighters, Nickelback, Creed and Matchbox Twenty were very commercially successful rock acts in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

• Certain characteristics of post-grunge included thick, distorted guitars but with a more radio-friendly commercially-oriented sound.

• As they had a more commercially friendly sound, post-grunge bands were among the biggest selling rock artists of the later 1990s and early 2000s in the US.

• These bands often gained a lot of airplay and therefore were able to compete with alternative metal and rap rock artists. This is because they had a more mainstream sound.

• Despite this, they were sometimes criticised by the press and music fans as they said they lacked artistic sound and authenticity in comparison with the original bands of post-grunge.