Rock as a genre of music may have been born relatively late as far as music is concerned, considering that they played the fiddle and the harp since Alexander the Great. But rock like the youngest kid of the family has been the most spoilt, most fickle (where sticking to rules is concerned) and also probably the most loved. The musical format can be best described as being “restless” and it is therefore extremely difficult to define. Electric guitars, drums, bass, strong vocals and deep lyrics are some of the terms that can be thrown together and somehow give a tentative definition. A closer look at the history would at the closest give one an idea of its evolution, interpretation of how that comes together to form the music genre is left entirely up to personal taste.

Rock music owes its origins to the 1940’s as a decade.  Country and Jazz was the order of the day at that time and the two morphed together aided by some electric guitars to produce a new kind of sound. 1950’s rock music pioneers like Chuck Berry were one of the first to merge some guitar with classic blues and be successful at entertaining the crowds at the same time. It was by the early 1960’s that Berry’s followers began to expand the scope of rock, these included The Rolling Stones. Rock music in their hands was beginning to become cultural symbols with their freedom with sex and youthful energy.

The 1970’s brought along new experiments as far as the sonic territory was concerned. Led Zeppelin helped kick start a new branch of rock that came to be known as Heavy metal, which was darker and heavier than what their predecessors were creating. Pink Floyd also began to gain popularity around that time and they added their psychedelic arrangements that have often been credited with egging on the progressive rock movement in music.

Punk was also soon born around the late 1970’s, when bands like The Sex Pilots and The Clash brought rock down to its basic instruments, loud singing and enraged playing of instruments and an over all attitude that spelt RUDE. Industrial rock soon came to the forefront with their unconventional use of instruments like drumming machines. However, the 1980’s again began to toy with the genre as every decade had been doing. English bands such as Depeche Mode began to demonstrate a post – punk style of song writing. REM as an American band began to absorb a similar style and these bands became popular as the “College rock” because of its popularity with the college radio stations.

It was in the 1990’s that rock began to settle into a different mould, one of an alternative style with bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden bringing the genre to mainstream music. The 1990’soon dwindled back to the past with a more traditional mainstream style of rock returning Linkin Park and 3Doors Down and Foo Fighters. Even though on the surface they might sound like hip hop-rock, contemporary and grunge, the spoilt kid remembers its roots.