Best Rock album of all time

[SlinkyRedfoot]

One of my favorite albums.
Not rock though.

Fuck yeah, you somesabitch!

 

[Ojb81]

AWWWWWW YEAAAAHHHHHHHH

 

[YankeeRebel]

AWWWWWW YEAAAAHHHHHHHH

Love Some Grand Funk Very under rated band as was Rare Earth

 

[$500 Million]

I feel the Beatles best album was Sgt Peppers

Love Sgt Peppers too, Magical Mystery Tour is my #2, then Sgt Peppers.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Hard to pinpoint just 1....so here's 10 to consider:

Sticky Fingers
Are You Experienced
Who's Next
Dark Side of the Moon
Born to Run
Disraeli Gears
Sgt. Peppers LHCB
Smokin'
Morrison Hotel
London Calling

 

[GNG]

Personally, I think bands like The Beach Boys and The Beatles are more "pop" than "rock".

They are both considered rock bands.

 

[GNG]

Love Sgt Peppers too, Magical Mystery Tour is my #2, then Sgt Peppers.

I don't like either album.

 

[GNG]

Yeah, I was never a real Beatles fan especially pre acid dropping Beatles. The early stuff was all bubble gum garbage.

Actually I liked the early Beatles much better than their later stuff.

 

[black francis]

Good call on "London Calling"

 

[batchaps4me]

 

[Calm]

 

[RP-29]

They are both considered rock bands.

Yeah, I know. They both came out in the early 60's. They helped define what "rock" was at that time. However, in today's evolved definition of "rock", they would not be classified as "rock". If The Beach Boys came out today, they would likely be considered "pop". The Beatles would probably be considered "pop-rock".

 

[TheDayMan]

I think Sandinista edges out London Calling as the best Clash album, making it the best rock album.

 

[batchaps4me]

 

[mrwallace2ku]

Hard to pinpoint just 1....so here's 10 to consider:

Sticky Fingers
Are You Experienced
Who's Next
Dark Side of the Moon
Born to Run
Disraeli Gears
Sgt. Peppers LHCB
Smokin'
Morrison Hotel
London Calling

hard to deny any of the above…however! personal reasons of course.



Damn the Torpedoes

 

[GNG]

Yeah, I know. They both came out in the early 60's. They helped define what "rock" was at that time. However, in today's evolved definition of "rock", they would not be classified as "rock". If The Beach Boys came out today, they would likely be considered "pop". The Beatles would probably be considered "pop-rock".

I can't tell the difference between pop and rock. What is the difference?

 

[RP-29]

I can't tell the difference between pop and rock. What is the difference?

Here's a pretty good breakdown and explanation of genres and sub-genres. Many bands & musicians cross genres and sub-genres, so this is not the be-all end-all, but it's a reasonable representation.

I highlighted The Beatles and The Beach Boys citations red. The author of these descriptions categorized them, not me.

Blues:

• Blues Rock; Similar to Electric Blues, but sometimes acoustic. Blues Rock can be played without having the power turned on. And it rocks.
  - Stoneground, Tommy Castro Band, Tom Waits, Jeff Healey, Chris Whitley, Paul Butterfield Blues Band
• Chicago Blues; Sort of an urban blues using more piano and saxophone. These guys are quite often named Willie or "Big" something if not some kind of dog. Popular in Louisiana, strangely enough.
  - Willie Clarke, Willie Dixon, Willie Kent, Willie Murphy, Willie Nix, Big Bill Broonzy, Big Joe Turner, Big John Wrencher, Big Moose, Golden "Big" Wheeler, Eddie Shaw & The Wolf Gang, Hound Dog Taylor, Howlin' Wolf
• Delta Blues; One of the earliest blues styles. The roots of the African-American styles honed in the Delta plains of the US in the midst of harsh mistreatment and soulful survival. Mostly acoustic guitar and harmonica. Best if played on the porch of an old, broken down shack.
  - Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Keb 'Mo', Memphis Jug Band, Johnny Shines, Tommy Johnson, Frank Stokes
• Electric Blues; Blues that's plugged in and louder. Primarily guitar-based. When the power goes out it typically becomes Blues Rock.
  - B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Magic Slim, Taj Mahal, John Lee Hooker, John Mayall, Charlie Musselwhite
• Jump Blues; Up-tempo with more swing. upright bass, piano, horns. One might jump if the mood strikes.
  - Magic Sam, Ruth Brown, Sugar Blue, Hal Singer, Amos Milburn, Ray Charles, Roy Brown
• New Orleans Blues; More jazz and island influence. various drums and keyboard instruments. Popular in Texas, strangely enough.
  - Art Neville, Lloyd Price, Guitar Slim, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, T-Bone Burnett, Rockin' Sidney, Louisiana Red
• St. Louis Blues; more piano based. similar to ragtime. Popular in Illinois, strangely enough.
  - Big Maybelle, Big Walter Horton, Roy Milton, Willie Mabon, Roosevelt Sykes, Yank Rachell, "Ma" Rainey, Percy Mayfield
• Swamp Blues; incorporates some Zydeco and more aggressive styles. Best when heard from the banks of a swamp and followed to an old, broken down shack.
  - Sonny Terry, Smiley Lewis, Luther Allison, Irma Thomas, Clifton Chenier, Doctor Ross, Bobby Marchan
• Texas Blues; more swing than Electric Blues, but more guitar than Jump Blues. Popular in Missouri, strangely enough.
  - Albert King, Lightnin' Hopkins, Tutu Jones, T-Bone Walker, Smokin' Joe Kubek, Grady Gains, Lafayette Leake
• Zydeco; more Creole influence. Accordion and alternative percussion instruments. You can't understand a word these guys are saying.
  - Al Rapone, Zydeco Boneshakers, Wayne Toups, Dr. John, The Mavericks, Buckwheat Zydeco
• Gospel: somewhere between Blues and Country. Dominantly Christian in lyrical form.
  - The Staple Singers, Shirley Caesar, Mahalia Jackson, Ira Tucker & The Dixie Hummingbirds, The Golden Gate Quartet, Fisk Jubilee Singers, The Blind Boys of Alabama

Country:

• Bluegrass; up-tempo roots country using fiddle, banjo, jug, washtub bass. Should wear one-strap overalls and/or chew on a wheat stalk whilst playing.
  - Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Laurie Lewis, The Del McCoury Band, The Cox Family, Don Reno, Carl Story, New Grass Revival
• Country Pop; pop-oriented country without the believable sadness. Mostly fifth and sixth generation Country for the sake of making money.
  - Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Lonestar, Pam Tillis, Juice Newton, Dixie Chicks, Martina McBride
• Honky Tonk; up-tempo like Bluegrass, but more party-oriented and public. Drunken out-of-tune pianos and bar fights abound. Mostly second generation Country.
  - Rex Griffin, Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, Jim Edward Brown, Red Foley
• Mountain; vocal harmonies, fast-pickin', nostalgia, and "ya gotta have a fiddle in the band". Judging by their names, they're usually related to someone if not each other.
  - Alabama, Oak Ridge Boys, Roy Acuff, The Forester Sisters, The Louvin Brothers, The Stanley Brothers, The Burch Sisters, The Cook Family Singers
• Neotraditional; the sort of "we wish we'd been alive before country was cool" artists. True to their form, but still "new". Mostly fifth generation Country.
  - Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Mark Chesnutt
• Outlaw; the real deal. These guys invented the country themes; heartache, loss, being broke, depressed, lonely and/or in jail. Third and Fourth generation Country with no fancy band or artist names; just straight-forward actual names with lots of "N"s and "L"s.
  - Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr., Charlie Daniels, David Allan Coe, Rodney Crowell, Leon Russell
• Traditional; the realer deal. Country for the sake of true mountain/southern expression. Hard workin' white trash sadness and hard times with an occasionally poppy feel later in the genre. Third and Fourth generation Country with lots of steel guitar twang, dobro, wailing fiddle and soft yet straight-forward 4/4 back beats that keep audiences clappin' on 1 and 3.
  - Loretta Lynn, Emmylou Harris, Porter Wagoner, Kenny Rogers, George Jones, Tanya Tucker, Ronnie Milsap, Dolly Parton
• Western; Out on the range/prairie. Cowboy music of the American Frontier Mostly campfire sing-alongs with little to no percussion. Bouncy rhythms reminiscent of horse galloping. Mostly second generation Country and frequently named a group belonging to an individual.
  - Jean Shepard, Kitty Wells, Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, Skeets McDonald, Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, Curly Williams and His Georgia Peach Pickers, Hank Penny and His Rodeo Cowboys, Leon McAuliffe and His Western Swing Band, Noel Boggs and His Day Sleepers, Tex Williams and His Western Caravan, Jack Guthrie and His Oklahomans, Milton Brown and His Brownies, Johnnie Lee Willis and His Boys

 

[RP-29]

Electronica:

• Ambient; emphasizes atmosphere and overall tone over song structure. Mood music.... if you're in the mood to feel ambient.
  - Etro Anime, Sneaker Pimps, Ceasefire, Aphex Twin, Kinobe, Halcyon
• Dubstep; characterized by sub-bass frequency oscillation and warbling along with broken beats, syncopation and "the drop". If you don't like it you're obviously too old.
  - Skrillex, Plastician, Magnetic Man, Nero, Deadmau5, Skream
• House; a style of electronic dance music that grew from disco production and reggae beats. Don't know why it's called "House". Maybe it just sounded cool.
  - Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, MARRS, Sonique, Dirty Vegas
• Techno; a form of EDM synthesizing funk, jazz, African rhythms and a general party-type atmosphere. This music is often directly from the future or outerspace.
  - Arab Strap, Rednex, Technotronic, LeClick, Culture Beat, Rozalla
• Trance; repetition repetition repetition. Beats between 125 and 140 with lots of repetition. Melodic themes slowly layer and build to climaxes and then, you guessed it, repeat.
  - Life on Mars, Enigma, Blue States, B12, Craig Armstrong, Air
• Trip Hop; a more experimental style of electronic music that utilizes soul, funk, jazz, and blues forms. Sometimes danceable. Sometimes commercial. But always 100% hip-hop/ambient/soul/jazz/acid/dub/electronica. Or something...
  - Moby, Bossa Nostra, Fatboy Slim, Vanja Lazarova, Seph, Electric Chairs

Folk:

• American Roots; 1800s' pre-Country acoustic. Not as upbeat as bluegrass. More akin to Mountain ballads stemming from Irish/Scottish roots in the Appalachian Mountains of the USA.
  - The Civil Wars, Mac Wiseman, Pete Seeger, The Wallin Family, Bass Mountain Boys, The Chuck Wagon Gang
• Folk Pop; softer than folk rock. Folk music that people actually like while sober.
  - John Denver, Simon & Garfunkel, Don McLean, Leonard Cohen, Sonny and Cher, Partridge Family
• Folk Rock; slightly heavier than Folk Pop. Somewhat more instrument-based yet audience-friendly.
  - Dave Matthews Band, Indigo Girls, Joan Osborne, Mumford & Sons, KT Tunstall, Suzanne Vega
• Jam; 20 minute dual guitar solos while singer stands, looking at the stage floor, head-bobbing slightly using the microphone stand to keep from falling over. Best enjoyed while under the influence of some sort of psychotropic substance. If sober, turn around and watch the crowd. Usually pretty fun shows but pretty boring albums.
  - The Grateful Dead, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Phish, Sister Hazel, The Pat McGee Band

Jazz:

• Acid Jazz; Jazz....on acid. Or with acid poured over it. I can't quite figure out which but there's definitely some form of actual acid involved and it's likely more potent than lactic or citric. Plus "acid" is a really cool word. Even cooler than "house".
  - Exodus Quartet; Medeski, Martin & Wood; DJ Logic, Count Basie, Quiet Boys, Rad
• Bebop; up-tempo, exemplifying instrumental mastery while not actually showing off. Lots of improvisation and elements that leant themselves eventually to the progressive rock styles; unison melodies, shrink/grow rhythm backings, solo breaks, etc.
  - Charlie Parker, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell Trio
• Big Band; larger than a small band. Incorporating strong brass, woodwinds and dominant percussion throughout. Typically more happy and bouncy. And big.
  - Squirrel Nut Zippers, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Duke Ellington, Chickenhawks, Benny Goodman
• Jazz Funk; more of a solid back-beat groove than other jazz styles. Makes use of synthesizers and analog tone generation. More groove than pure jazz but more jazz than pure funk.
  - Wynton Marsalis, Grover Washington, The Whitefield Brothers, The Woo Woos, Entourage, Joe Augustine
• Jazz Fusion; sort of Progressive Jazz. Fuses jazz with other styles like funk, R&B, rock, etc. "Fuse" is a cool jazzy sounding word. Almost as cool as "acid".
  - Plunge, Soulive, Tom Scott, Weather Report, Manhattan Transfer, Niacin
• Latin Jazz; exactly that. Utilizes latin beats and rhythms along with multiple and various percussion-centric structures. Incorporates anything from Bolero to Rhumba but doesn't quite "fuse" them.....I guess....
  - Acoustic Alchemy, Gare Du Nord, Yutaka, Mas Mamones, Kim Pensyl, Al Di Meola, Brasilia
• Ragtime; socially and chronologically bridged the gap between classical and jazz. Strong syncopated rhythms and metric patterns pulled from African-American music from the early 20th Century. Primarily piano based.
  - Scott Joplin, Gene Austin, Ernest Hogan, Dorsey Brothers, Nora Bayes, Ted Lewis
• Smooth Jazz; the music you listen to when you're winding down after a hard day of yoga classes and meditation. Relaxation akin to whale sounds and trickling rivers.
  - Yellowjackets, Kenny G, Where There's Smoke, J. Spencer, Ricky Ford, Dave Koz
• Soft Jazz; see Smooth Jazz, but softer. Imagine winding down after a day of winding down after a day of yoga classes and...... you get the picture.
  - Mark Baldwin, Victor Goines, Ziggy Elfman, Eric Darken, Pat Coil, Phil Woods
• Traditional Jazz; music for music's sake. The guys who originally broke the rules and continue to do so. They even broke the rules of jazz itself with their category name; since "Traditional Jazz" is itself oxymoronic.
  - Dave Brubeck, Lord Buckley, Diana Krall, Al Jolson, Elmer Bernstein, Chick Webb
• Vocal Jazz; not all scat and beedoppadoops. The voice as an instrument. Focus on virtuosity of the voice and expression through vocal timbre and fluidity. The best ones were female. Sorry, Louis.
  - Nina Simone, Etta James, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Ethel Waters, Nat King Cole

 

[RP-29]

Metal:

• Avant-Garde Metal; the weird crap. The stuff that people either love or hate. Typically not as talented as the Progressive guys, but less heavy and hardcore than the pure metal guys.
  - System of a Down, Faith No More, Buckethead, King Crimson, Sikth, Intronaut
• Black Metal; similar to death metal, but slightly more atmospheric and extreme. These guys wear skull face-paint and dress like dead demons and other scary stuff. Lo-fi recordings with tremolo guitar and screeching, wailing vocals atop fast tempos/beats and low, thrumming bass. -Aurora Borealis, Behemoth, Setherial, Satanic Slaughter, Noctuary, Watain, Ethereal Woods
• Classic Metal; where it all started. The first down-tuned, high-action riffs building from the oppressive industrial age in mid-century Great Britain. And the need to kick ass following all that rockabilly crap.
  - Scorpions, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Dio, Rainbow, Iron Butterfly, Motörhead
• Death Metal; metal about death. Or metal that sounds like it's dying or killing. Lots of blast beats and atonalities. Fast double-bass drums and down-tuned guitars. Screaming and growling. These guys don't play too many Bar Mitzvahs.
  - Napalm Death, Abysmal Dawn, Mortification, Dethklok, Fleshgore, Beneath the Massacre
• Doom Metal; like death metal but more ominous using slower tempos and more atmospheric tones. Lyrics are typically depressing and morose and will leave you feeling like killing yourself.
  - Thergothon, Orodruin, The Hidden Hand, Mindrot, The Obsessed, Unholy, Witchfinder General
• Funk Metal; relatively self-explanatory. Metal, with some funk. Or funk with a heavier vibe. Heavy crunchy; yet funky and danceable; grooves. Slap bass and wah-wah guitar often rear their heads. Tightly tuned snare drums and snappy bass drums with a lot of emphasis on the hi-hat; usually. -Infectious Grooves, Living Colour, Mordred, Primus, Fishbone, Mind Funk
• Glam Metal; all about glitz and glamour. Make-up, hair-spray, tight red leather pants and ripped-off blues riffs. I love it.
  - Poison, Whitesnake, Ratt, Def Leppard, Great White, Bon Jovi, Saigon Kick
• Goth Metal; somewhat of a horror theme pervades this category. Often times skull makeup or zombie/vampire/werewolf themes will be prevalent. Names often include prepositions.
  - In This Moment, Cradle of Filth, Within Temptation, Motionless In White, Theatre of Tragedy, Agathodaimon
• Industrial Metal; more digital sound than raw analog metal. Sometimes just one or two guys doing it all. Can become over-commercialized due to it's attainability by the masses.
  - Rob Zombie, Front Line Assembly, God Lives Underwater, Skinny Puppy, NIN, Filter, The Union Underground
• Jazz Metal; metal with an air of pretense. Not as esoteric as Avant-Garde Metal and more artsy than Funk Metal. Elements of Jazz like improvisation and off-kilter chord structures prevail. -Conflux, Gru, Sithu Aye, Shining, Naked City
• Metalcore; growling, screaming and yelling. Angry people reside here; somewhere between extreme metal and hardcore punk. Hey wait.....Metalpunk? no....Extrard? no.....Punkstreme? no. Metalcore! There. That works.
  - SOiL, Drowning Pool, Biohazard, The Agonist, Trivium, Helmet
• Neoclassical Metal; these guys would be composing for their respective local monarchs had they lived 200 years ago. This is metal with classical tendencies, but not necessarily classical instrumentation. Mostly guitar virtuosos hang out here. Their bands are typically comprised of musical over-achievers who son’t quite have what it takes to be fully progressive. -Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, Timmo Tolkki, Joshua Perahia, Marty Friedman
• Nu Metal; guys who use digital production techniques and a more refined sound. Good hardcore stuff, but not raw and dirty. Often have numbers in their names.
  - Korn, 10 Years, 3 Days Grace, 30 Seconds To Mars, Breaking Benjamin, Shinedown, Sevendust, Finger Eleven
• Power Metal; metal that combines the powerful elements of classic metal, speed metal and a bit of symphonic metal for added drama. These guys are in your face but not in a Death/Doom/Black Metal way. There’s more life and less death here. Not always happy, but driven and motivational. -Alestorm, Powerwolf, Metal Church, Iced Earth, Kamelot, Helloween
• Progressive Metal; - Heavy, yet classical virtuosity runs rampant. Complex orchestrations and thematic derivatives abound. Their album covers are usually pretty Dungeons & Dragons-esque.
  -Dream Theater, Symphony X, Nevermore, Shadow Gallery, Tool, Pain of Salvation, Iced Earth
• Rap Metal; Pretty self-explanatory. Combines rap and metal.
  - Linkin Park, P.O.D., Kid Rock, Rage Against The Machine, Papa Roach, Crazy Town, Limp Bizkit
• Sleaze Metal; akin to Glam Metal, but with more grime. More about sex and drugs in the deviant and slimy way. Not really about partying, but about the actual sex and drugs. More leather and fringe than hairspray and makeup. Though you will find some makeup. -Billy Idol, Guns ’n’ Roses, Skid Row, Mötley Crüe
• Sludge Metal; usually has a somewhat dirtier, grimier feel to it. Slower deep-tuned crunchy riffs and distortion. Sometimes screaming and growling mixed with somewhat southern rock feeling styles. Themes include pessimism, hopelessness, anger.
  - Black Label Society, Rollins Band, Mastodon, Corrosion of Conformity, Haste, Soilent Green, Eyehategod
• Speed Metal; exactly that. Speed. Even the band names are so fast they only use one word.
  - Helloween, Overkill, Impellitteri, Cranium, Atomkraft, Annihilator, Sodom, Kreator, Gravedigger
• Symphonic Metal; - again, pretty self-explanatory. Metal guys don't like to waste time with esoteric nomenclature like "Trip Hop" or "Bluegrass".
  - After Forever, Dimmu Borgir, Blind Guardian, Nightwish, Seraphim, Interfector, Ayreon
• Thrash Metal; the guys you likely know best. The original Bay-Area metalheads themselves.
  - Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Sepultura, Pantera, Slayer, Metal Church, Exodus, Testament
• Viking Metal; metal having to do with Vikings (mostly lyrically.); whom are likely the most "metal" culture in the history of the world.
  - Mortiis, Heidevolk, Hel, Turisas, Wolfchant, Grand Magus, Borknagar

Orchestral:

• Broadway; the music that's played during those plays on Broadway in NYC. - Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Jesus Christ Superstar
• Classical; the dominant Western music from 1750 to 1830.
  - (composers) Antonin Dvořák, Claude Debussy, Franz Schubert, Hector Berlioz, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Wolfgang Mozart, Frédéric Chopin
  - (performers) Yo-Yo Ma, Mike Wollenberg, Lang Lang, Andre Rieu, The London Philharmonic, Woody Phillips
• Movie Scores; the music that's played during those movies you watch sometimes. Either in NYC or elsewhere.
  - Alan Silvestri (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump); Danny Elfman (Batman, Beetlejuice, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure); James Horner (Titanic, Braveheart); John Williams (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T., Jaws, Jurassic Park, Superman); Hans Zimmer (Gladiator, The Rock); Harold Faltermeyer (Beverly Hills Cop, Fletch, Top Gun)
• New Age; the music you listen to during your hard day of yoga classes and meditation.
  - Andreas Wollenweider, Jordan Rudess, Turin Brakes, Yanni, Gordon Hempton
• Vocal; the vocal instrument applied to the rigors of Classical instrumentation
  - Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Sarah Brightman, Luciano Pavarotti, Il Divo, Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

 

[RP-29]

Pop:

• Adult Contemporary; a fancy name for the lame music your parents probably listened to. Mostly maudlin tunes about the lives and thoughts of privileged, white, middle-aged hipsters.
  - Anne Murray, Barry Manilow, Wilson Phillips, Neil Diamond, Carly Simon
• Beat Pop; the British invasion of back-beat driven pop icons of the late 50s and early 60s. Most bands are "The" something.
  - The Beatles, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Kingsmen, The Turtles, The Byrds, The Cuff Links, The Hollies, The Newbeats, The Left Banke, The Zombies, Gunhill Road
• Dance Pop; the popular music to dance to. Not as counter-culture as EDM, but slightly heavier than Bubble Gum Pop; which I didn't list as a category.
  - Bananarama, Billy Ocean, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Debbie Gibson, EMF, Will to Power, Tiffany
• Disco; formed from funk, psychedelic and soul; this style rebelled against the rock music of the day in a more visceral, primal way. All about body movement, dancing and the human spectacle, it stole colorful clothing and drugs from the Hippies, up-beat driven rhythms from the Beatniks and combined them in a sexy, seductive libido-based production praising dance and expressive human life. It is currently "dead".
  - ABBA, The Bee Gees, The Village People, KC & The Sunshine Band, Gloria Gaynor, Lipps Inc.
• Doo Wop; yet another mainstream derivative of African-American music, doo wop uses more nonsensical phrases and sounds to emphasize harmony and melody over lyrical substance. These names also are often "The" something.
  - The Dominoes, The Platters, The Tune-Weavers, The Casinos, The Dreamlovers, The Passions, The Penguins, The Rivieras, The Esquires, Bob & Earl.
• Indie Pop; somewhat contradictory, the emphasis on self-reliance and the whole DIY perspective is exploited to assure popularity and mainstream success. But somehow it works.
  - The Ting Tings, Fine Young Cannibals, Nil Lara, Karry Walker, Sundays, Hang Ups
• Latin Pop; exactly that. Pop with better beats and more complex rhythms that actually force you to dance even if you are unwilling.
  - Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, Pit Bull, Shakira, Miami Sound Machine, Lou Bega
• Pop Rock; slightly edgier pop. Or slightly more commercialized rock. Take your pick.
  - Fiona Apple, Jewel, Avril Lavigne, Natalie Imbruglia, Eric Carmen, Maroon 5
• Power Pop; high production music for the sake of performance.
  - Journey, Rick Springfield, Survivor, Duran Duran, Huey Lewis & The News, Go-Gos, Cutting Crew, The B52s
• Surf Pop; the music you listen to while watching people surf. Somehow this style became separate from other closely related similar styles and is audibly evident in every group it houses.
  - The Ventures, The Beach Boys, The Surfaris, Jan and Dean, The Rip-Chords, Dick Dale
• Synthpop; like power pop, but with the emphasis on synthesizers.
  - Tears For Fears, OMD, Herbie Hancock, When In Rome, Falco, Dead or Alive, Thomas Dolby
• Traditional Pop; the crooners. The original pop vocalists whose reputations continue to dazzle and impress. The Rat Pack. The Vegas Lounge Lizards. No, those aren't band names.
  - Perry Como, Wayne Newton, Tom Jones, Bobby Vinton, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme

R&B:

• Alternative Hip Hop; Hip Hop that doesn't quite fit the mold of standard R&B. Somewhat left of center and progressive by R&B standards.
  - Outkast, Black Eyed Peas, Jurassic 5, Wu-Tang Clan, Jadakiss, N.E.R.D., Insane Clown Posse
• Funk; emphasis on rhythm and groove rather than melody and harmony. Chords aren't as important as the bass line underneath them or the drum beat behind them.
  - The Brothers Johnson, Commodores, Kool & The Gang, George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars, Curtis Mayfield
• Neo Soul; Soul, but newer. Neo is just a cool word for "new". Though not as cool as "acid". OOH!!! Acid Soul! Is that a genre?! If it isn't then it should be.
  - Jamiroquai, Amy Winehouse, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Christina Aguilera, Terence Trent d'Arby
• New Jack Swing; "Neo Jack Swing" would sound pretentious and the R&B genre is anything but pretentious. And "Acid Jack Swing" would sound like drug or sex slang. These guys combined Urban Contemporary beats and Dance Pop composition to create a very catchy sound that showcased a lot of soulful melodies and harmonies. This was "The bomb" in the late '80s and early '90s.
  - Boyz II Men, Bel Biv DeVoe, En Vogue, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, New Edition, Kid 'n' Play, MC Hammer, Paula Abdul
• Rap; talking. mostly. Though talking very well and rhyming with complex rhythms and rhyme schemes on top of looped beats and melody lines.
  - Eminem, Cypress Hill, Timbaland, Snoop Dogg, Grandmaster Flash, Digital Underground, Ludacris, Beastie Boys
• Soul; the s%*t that makes you wanna f%*k.
  - Teddy Pendergrass, The Righteous Brothers, Lionel Richie, Aaron Neville, Hall & Oates, Luther Vandross, John Legend
• Urban Contemporary; a combination of EDM, Reggae, Dance Pop, Soul and Rap that creates a very broad range of styles and expressions.
  - Usher, Nikki Minaj, Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott, Trey Songz, Rihanna, Ne-Yo, Flo-Rida, Drake