Roots
Roots & Rock'n'Roll
1950–1963
Electric blues, backbeat, and teen radio invent the rock band format.
Open →Timeline
Roots
60s
Sixties Classic & Psych
1964–1969
UK bands re-export American blues louder; albums and studio craft take over singles.
- The Beatles
- The Beach Boys
- The Rolling Stones
- The Kinks
- The Yardbirds
- The Velvet Underground
- The Who
- The Doors
- Cream
- The Jimi Hendrix Experience
70s
Hard Rock, Prog & Early Metal
1970–1979
Side-long suites and crushed riffs share the same decade of bigger rooms.
- David Bowie
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Pink Floyd
- Fleetwood Mac
- Black Sabbath
- Deep Purple
- Led Zeppelin
- Rush
- King Crimson
- Aerosmith
- Queen
- Eagles
- Wings
- Kiss
- AC/DC
- Rainbow
- Dire Straits
Punk
Punk & Post-Punk
1976–1989
Short songs and DIY labels reset the bar; post-punk rebuilds with bass, space, and art-school rigor.
- Ramones
- Sex Pistols
- Talking Heads
- Joy Division
- The Clash
- The Police
- The Cure
- Depeche Mode
- New Order
- Billy Idol
- Sonic Youth
- The Smiths
- Pixies
Metal
Metal Branches
1979–1992
NWOBHM gallop, thrash precision, twin-guitar harmony, late hard-rock hits.
Open →Grunge
Grunge & Alternative
1990–1997
Indie labels and major radio briefly share a playlist; loud/quiet becomes default song form.
- R.E.M.
- My Bloody Valentine
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Soundgarden
- Radiohead
- Alice in Chains
- Green Day
- Nirvana
- Nine Inch Nails
- Smashing Pumpkins
- Slowdive
- The Cranberries
- Pearl Jam
- Tool
- Rage Against the Machine
- Foo Fighters
Britpop
Britpop & UK Indie
1989–2005
UK guitar bands fight for chart position with sixties lineage and class lyrics.
Open →00s
Garage Revival & Mass Alt
2000–2009
Post-punk and garage guitar bands reclaim radio after nu-metal and laptop pop.
- Deftones
- Muse
- System of a Down
- Evanescence
- Coldplay
- Linkin Park
- Interpol
- Queens of the Stone Age
- The Libertines
- The White Stripes
- Kings of Leon
- The Strokes
- Fall Out Boy
- The Killers
- Arctic Monkeys
- Franz Ferdinand
- Bring Me the Horizon
- Them Crooked Vultures
Now
Post-Rock, Psych & Now
1998–now
Streaming fragments scenes; guitar records still chart via psych, post-punk, and festival indie.
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor
- Sigur Rós
- Mogwai
- Explosions in the Sky
- Tame Impala
- IDLES
- Måneskin
- Fontaines D.C.
Decisive bands
- Elvis Presley
- Chuck Berry
- The Beatles
- The Rolling Stones
- David Bowie
- The Who
- Pink Floyd
- The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- Black Sabbath
- Led Zeppelin
- Rush
- King Crimson
- Queen
- AC/DC
- Sex Pistols
- Talking Heads
- Joy Division
- The Clash
- The Police
- Metallica
- The Smiths
- Guns N' Roses
- Radiohead
- Nirvana
- Oasis
- The Strokes
- Arctic Monkeys
- Tame Impala
- Fontaines D.C.