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Rock. Defined in 5 Albums.

Dave J said:
I think you've got to be more strict in terms of the definition of Rock music. I'd argue that whilst there were some great (and worthy) precursors to Rock - Elvis, Robert Johnson etc - they "merely" fed the beast.
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I was trying to cover the evolution of rock i.e. blues, rock 'n' roll, beat, psyche, garage, Kraut, heavy, metal, punk, grunge, post etc etc, though it is impossible to do in just five albums as there are many more than five stages. I left say Led Zep, Cream etc out as to me they refined more than innovated, e.g. Robert Jonson is *way* more important than Led Zep - I'm more interested in the cause than the effect - the bands that caused a generation to form bands, though I didn't even get close to nailing it in my list. I even missed out VU & Nico FFS!

Seeker_UK said:
Ramones - It's Alive
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That's a damn fine list.

Tony.
 
Tony's list of albums is pretty near what I'd choose, but I think you can get what 'rock' is in 5 songs, without the excess baggage of albums;

The Byrds - Eight Miles High
The Stooges - Search and Destroy
Patti Smith - Gloria
Joy Division - Dead Souls
My Bloody Valentine - Feed Me With Your Kiss
 
OK, then...

Led Zep - 2 (defines Hard Rock).
Yes - Close to the Edge (defines Prog).
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (defines NuMetal).
Lamb Of God - Wrath (defines modern shouty metal).
Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (defines 80s stadium rock).

(Couldn't quite fit in US Southern Rock, Psychedelic, Punk Rock, Jazz Rock, and Brit Pop genres too.)
 
gassor said:
Piss easy

Highway 61 Revisited - His Bobness
Are You Experienced - Jimi and the Boys
Astral Weeks - Van
White Album - The Fabs
Velvet Underground - The Velvets

The above are like the boundaries, everything else can fit into the centre

And if it goes to the wire, then its Jimi.
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oh so close ;)

Swap The Fabs out for LZ1 and it's tip top 100%

And it doesn't matter if it goes to the wire as Astral Weeks is always a Belfast mile in front of uh... everything :D

JK
 
RickyC6 said:
Is Astral Weeks rock? What is rock?
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Of course it is rock. Rock not all about "Black night is a long way from home" Rock has a central core eg LZ, AC/DC, Doors, Stones, but also boundaries which define it and Astral Weeks shows how rock connects with and reaches out to other genres like folk and jazz while showing a spontaneity which is still unrivaled. Possibly the finest rock album ever and he is still a moaning old bastard.
 
Tony L said:
Way too limited IMO, it's less than a 5 year period, and too UK-centric. I'd probably go for something like:

Robert Jonson - King Of The Delta Blues Singers
The Stooges - The Stooges
Can - Tago Mago
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Pixies - Surfa Rosa

And that still doesn't get close to being up to date! I'd feel very awkward leaving out Elvis Rock N Roll, The Beatles Hard Days Night, MC5 Kick Out The Jams, Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced, Miles Davis Bitches Brew, Pink Floyd Piper, Amon Duul II Yeti, Neu! Neu!, Black Sabbath's debut, Patti Smith Horses, Gang Of Four Entertainment, The Minutemen Double Nickel On The Dime, Mogwai Young Team etc etc etc, all of which were hugely innovative and all at the start of something that grew / is still relevant now. I've missed tons out, you'd need 50 really, and it would be necessary to go from vintage US blues right through to the laptop / bedroom innovators of today.

Tony.
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Tony, are you seriously classifying Robert Johnson as 'Rock'? I love him to bits, but 'Rock', he is definitely not.

What I'm really trying to say is that all of the tedious rock bands of the 70s and even 80s were merely regurgitating stuff done by my five choices. Obviously there are more, but if you had to choose five.. who would they be?
 
JimKempton said:
oh so close ;)

Swap The Fabs out for LZ1 and it's tip top 100%

And it doesn't matter if it goes to the wire as Astral Weeks is always a Belfast mile in front of uh... everything :D

JK
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I have huge empathy with your sentiments, but even Van the Man is reported to have said words to the effect that 'Weeks' may be many things, but it is 'definitely not rock'..

Mull
 
gassor said:
Of course it is rock. Rock not all about "Black night is a long way from home" Rock has a central core eg LZ, AC/DC, Doors, Stones, but also boundaries which define it and Astral Weeks shows how rock connects with and reaches out to other genres like folk and jazz while showing a spontaneity which is still unrivaled. Possibly the finest rock album ever and he is still a moaning old bastard.
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but he said.. 'It is definitely not rock'
 
Really pleased with responses here.. Obviously I couldn't dictate the answer, but Hendrix, Dylan and Zep seem to be especially recurring themes, which sort of gives me three out of five...

And I still contend that most of what followed was copying.
 
The core of rock music for me would be the following guys:

1st - Led Zep
Exile on Main Street - Stones
Raw Power - Ig
Nevermind - Nirvana
Loveless - My Bloody Valentine

So no more fannying about.
 
Mullardman said:
I have huge empathy with your sentiments, but even Van the Man is reported to have said words to the effect that 'Weeks' may be many things, but it is 'definitely not rock'..

Mull
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Mull

Yup, he did say that. But he's a grumpy old git ;)

It's not folk, jazz, classical, blues, techno, rap &c

So what is it?

JK
 
JimKempton said:
Mull

Yup, he did say that. But he's a grumpy old git ;)

It's not folk, jazz, classical, blues, techno, rap &c

So what is it?

JK
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Maybe it just transcends all categories man. So maybe we need a new category for albums that can't be categorised. I think Emmylou Harris is often hard to categorise and so are The National and Wilco. I was going on about The National the other day and someone said what do they sound like and I was stumped
 
I have always liked the term 'Other' in record shops category filing, and what ends up in there. Sadly is sometimes is Sound Effects or Language Tutition, or Baby Soothing or Mad Preacher stuff is it.

DS
 
All these long-haired, nancy-boy, rawk bands listed and nobody has mentioned Little Richard or Chuck Berry.

Without those two there would be no rock music.

Jack
 
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