Rock songs rely heavily on a strong base line, tempo and chord progression – yet bassists often receive little recognition as vital members of their genre’s compositional team.
Rock is often associated with keyboards and pianos as instruments of expression. Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl is renowned for writing great rock songs using various effects pedals for creating his trademark sound.
1. The Kinks
Ray Davies’ unique brand of rock music, created alongside younger brother Dave Davies and The Kinks, had a profound effect on its audience. While most of their peers were preaching hippie revolution, the Davies brothers sang nostalgically about village greens, cups of tea and Victorian decorum. When rock became pie-eyed and utopian they could be quite critical, yet could also become quite sentimental as it became less idealistic and utopian. As early Sixties rebels, the Kinks ventured away from hard-driving beats to experiment with styles considered unorthodox at the time, such as British music hall and American Tin Pan Alley. Their eccentricities – especially their camp demeanour with foppish clothes and long locks – won them fans among an oddball audience.
You Really Got Me by the Kinks from 1964 is an iconic milestone in rhythm and blues by white musicians, marking a breakthrough for creative exploration of rhythm and blues by white musicians. Remarkably gritty for its time period, its message captures an era when social fabric was disintegrating rapidly – it eventually opened the way to garage punk, glam rock and heavy metal music as well.
The Kinks’ albums from the late Sixties, particularly 1968’s The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society and 1969’s Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire), were critically acclaimed while commercially unsuccessful. Rhino Records preserved their rich catalog through specialty reissue releases; these recordings remain essential listening for anyone with an interest in popular music’s development; songs like Waterloo Sunset pays a poignant ode to rural England while Dandy and Little Queen Of Darkness stand as classic rock history’s greatest moments.
2. Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin was an iconic rock band. Their concerts were legendary, with many hailing them as being violently radical. Furthermore, their albums often had an unearthly power to them; songs were frequently cutting and edge-y. Many forms of modern rock can also still possess this “demonic energy.”
The four members were an odd assortment: guitarist Jimmy Page had recently replaced Jeff Beck as guitarist of the Yardbirds; bassist Jones was a veteran studio musician from Honeycombs; while Plant had previously performed with British folk group the Quarrymen. Page was known for creating breathtaking sounds in studio, as well as being an outstanding producer and pioneer within this genre.
Led Zeppelin I marked their debut album and marked an attempt to expand their musical palette with various experiments. But this album proved an astounding success and cemented their position as one of the biggest rock groups ever seen before.
On their next album release titled Led Zeppelin II, the band fully realized their potential as an eclectic rock group with some notable songs – particularly Stairway to Heaven from Led Zeppelin II which blends blues, Celtic, Middle Eastern music and some of the most impressive guitar licks ever heard in a rock song.
Going to California was yet another example of Led Zeppelin proving they could write great songs without Page soloing; its delicate strumming builds into an emotionally powerful crescendo – one of rock music’s most influential ballads that proved even a hard rock band like Led Zeppelin could produce delicate, heartbreaking ballads when given the chance.
3. The Beatles
The Beatles started off as a traditional guitar/bass/drums rock band, but soon expanded their sound beyond this configuration. Their fourth album, Beatles For Sale, serves as an excellent demonstration of this fact: this album showcases how this group could create music without using guitar at all – an accomplishment made apparent on that record!
On Eight Days A Week, McCartney added another lead guitar part reminiscent of rockabilly guitar licks built around first-position F6 chord shape and embellished with chromatic hammer-ons in minor third to major third. This would not sound out of place on a Mike & the Ravens song but years later would be used by Elliot Easton on his Cars hit My Best Friend’s Girlfriend.
Hey Jude was another key moment for the band and illustrated their skill at channeling youthful angst into something beautiful and profound. It became their most successful single before John Lennon passed, and its acoustic solo by McCartney is considered among its finest moments – with its seemingly never-ending run sounding as though it’s cutting through clouds!
Let It Be was the final song the Beatles ever recorded together and stands as an emphatic declaration of submission to whatever fate had in store. While both George Harrison and John Lenon took turns playing lead guitar on this medley, Paul McCartney truly shines with his two-bar solo that conveys emotional weight; some even suggest his playing anticipated heavy metal’s doomier side; if that weren’t convincing enough listen to its symphonic string arrangements on this track to understand why their music resonates so strongly!
4. The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones were one of the most influential bands ever formed. From their style of music and attitude towards life, to their diverse repertoire including funk, disco, folk country garage rock and hard rock sounds – they had it all! This song serves as an outstanding representation of their hard rock sound: its guitar rhythm playing an open G tuning with lots of fills in different parts of the song as well as an iconic rock and roll riff throughout makes this an excellent song for beginner guitarists to learn on.
The Rolling Stones initially started off by playing cover versions of blues songs by Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters before writing their own material. At first, The Rolling Stones were an extremely raw and scandalous band when compared with their more sedate rivals in The Beatles; their signature live performances and outrageous outfits quickly made them beloved among young people worldwide.
In 1968, The Stones embarked upon an unprecedented reign with the release of Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Beggars Banquet albums – two groundbreaking singles which would mark their transition from British Invasion counterparts into one of history’s most successful rock groups.
After this success, the Stones released several albums featuring various musical genres. Their songs ranged from fast and simple rock and roll inspired by punk rock movement, all the way through exquisite ballads like She’s a Rainbow. Furthermore, their core trio comprised of singer Jagger, guitarist Richards and drummer Watts remains rock’s longest running partnership to this day.
5. The White Stripes
The White Stripes led a revival of garage rock music during the 2000s, while simultaneously helping redefine what rock can sound like without guitars. Jack and Meg White managed to craft an entirely unique kind of musical work on their debut album ‘De Stijl,’ recorded without electric instruments at all; thus producing folk-rock songs that felt more like art than popular radio.
This album provided The White Stripes with an opportunity to demonstrate they weren’t simply another garage rock band pumping out hit singles. They took a risk by recording all eight tracks over four days; even though only ‘Icky Thump’ made it onto the charts at number 26 at that time, this achievement proved that The White Stripes had something important to say – in their own unique style.
There have been some bands who have found success with symphonic soundscapes without needing guitars, such as Finnish group Apocalyptica who made waves by performing Metallica songs on cellos – most metalheads quickly accepted their funeral, half-mile-per-hour noise as soon as they heard Apocalyptica perform!
Keyboards have played an essential part in the history of rock music. It would be impossible to envision any iconic records by artists such as Elton John, Queen, The Zombies or Porcupine Tree without keyboard players’ contributions; be it an underlying bass line or vocalists who were frequently backed up by piano accompaniment – these albums proved that all it takes is one note on a keyboard to produce timeless tunes that touch millions.