Folk rock and industrial rock – style history

Industrial Rock was born in the late seventies. The style is based on a mixture of various directions of traditional rock and the mechanical sound characteristic of industrial rock.

Folk rock is a direction in rock music that combines elements of rock music and folk. The pioneers of the genre can be considered the American band The Byrds. It was to describe the style of their debut album Mr. Tambourine Man” in June 1965 and the term “folk rock” was coined.

The direction was strongly influenced by Bob Dylan, who later switched from performing folk to folk rock, as well as some recordings of The Beatles, The Animals.

Industrial Rock Features

Industrial rock itself began to take shape in the mid-1970s, but after a couple of years, some industrial bands began to use a combination of different styles of music to give more originality to their sound.

The style was formed in the United States and England, which gave the world almost all known styles of music (except, perhaps, the most extreme ones).

Characteristic for industrial rock is the use of a traditional rock set of instruments – guitar, drums, bass, complemented by keys. It is the keyboards that play the main role in shaping the style, allowing you to create exceptional sounds that complement the sound of groups, giving it the industriality of big cities – the noise of factories, cars.

The birth of folk rock

The birthplace of rock music is considered to be the United States of America. Pattison believes that rock came about through a synthesis of romantic myth and “southern” music.

Southern in this context refers to the musical tradition of ethnic minorities who were in slavery (until it was abolished) and then consistently sought recognition of equal rights with other American citizens (Pattison, 1987: 30).

There were two musical traditions in America. European (among others, Frank Sinatra, Patty Page and others) and “black” music played by ethnic minorities.

One of the progenitors of rock music Pattison considers Sam Philips. Sam grew up on the banks of the Mississippi, where the ethnic music of the cotton pickers was an integral part of the agricultural landscape.

Philips maintained this passion throughout his life, he was inspired by the music of BBC King and wanted to write music that combined both traditions. In July 1954, Philips met Elvis Presley, which began their creative collaboration. African rhythms met with European popular culture and gave rise to the rock movement.

Over the next few decades, every rock musician considered it his duty to recognize his involvement in the culture of African Americans. This trend is reflected in all famous rock bands. British rock artists later began to declare links with African American culture.

African culture, or rather African-American, as it was born as a result of mutual influence on the culture of not free people on the plantation, is attractive to European and American listeners with its exoticism.

According to this principle, the myth of the beautiful and mysterious East is constructed in European culture.

Industrial rock: main bands

The founders of the industrial rock style are considered to be bands that played post-punk – a style characterized by gloom and monotony that distinguishes it from traditional punk. Let’s highlight several bands that are considered to be the founders of Industrial Rock – Killing Joke, Public Image Ltd (England) and Swans, Big Black (USA).

But the most prominent representatives of the industrial scene are the Germans KMFDM, the Americans Nine Inch Nails and Ministry. The latter, however, gravitate more towards industrial metal, which is successfully popularized by Rammstein.

On the domestic scene, the industrial style has not received wide popularity. It is worth remembering only Mordor from the current bands.

Folk rock band

Since folk rock was formed in the USA, it was there that the first folk rock bands were born. The main groups include The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Simon & Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Bob Dylan and others. The American folk-rock scene includes blues and country, although blues-rock can be considered a separate self-sufficient direction.

A little later, the development of the genre led to the formation of such offshoots as electric folk, celtic rock, midiwal folk rock, neofolk, celtic punk and folk punk, and then folk metal.

The most influential bands in the folk rock scene include Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Eagles, Neil Young. Also, this genre can be partially attributed to the work of groups that have made a name for themselves in other areas of rock, for example:

• Jethro Tull, who recorded three folk-rock albums in the second half of the 70s.
• Led Zeppelin often turned to folk themes in their songs.
• T. Rex, who started as a folk group.

Interest in this genre faded slowly, but did not fade away completely. Folk rock music continues to thrive in the UK and around the world. The Newport Folk Rock Festival continues to this day, and the English Folk Dance and Folk Music Society, organized by Cecil Sharp, still hosts many events.

Among them are family master classes in playing musical instruments, choral singing, and concerts of folk musicians, both folk music performed in the 1930s – 1950s, and folk-rock music.