Pop Rock Essay

 

My genre of choice is pop rock, this is due to the fact it is the genre I listen to the most and my artist inspirations fall under this genre category making it an obvious choice for me. During this essay I will cover - where did pop rock originate from, characteristics of pop rock, who are well known mainstream pop rock artists, key elements of pop rock and how to compose a pop rock song.

Pop rock originated in the 1950’s from the likes of shown tunes, gospel songs and folk music. In 1954 Elvis Presley signed to Sun Records, making the rock n roll genre mainstream and very controversial to those who did not understand the music, as we know rock n roll is inspired from the genre blues making it have certain aspects of it in rock songs. In the 1960s pop rock then surfaced on the charts becoming mainstream from the likes of The Beatles, experimenting with different sounds and creating more meaningful lyrics. In the 1970s the genre pop rock stepped aside as genres like disco took over and new genres of rock developed examples of this are: punk rock, heavy metal and new wave. In the 1980s pop rock was at its greatest height prior to the present day, with more synths being used, catchy choruses and distinctive memorable riffs. In the 1990s-2000s hip-hop and R&B had gained popularity in the industry, however artists like Nirvana still managed to maintain the pop rock sound with their own spin on it. This then leads us to present day pop rock, which is probably at its strongest point with artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish winning Grammys with their music representing this genre.

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Pop rock music has many characteristics to it that makes it so unique, they tend to focus on songwriting as most rock songs have the tendency to focus more on the instrumentation, pop rock songs tend to have more meaningful lyrics for others to relate to. They also have concise song form so the song will be short enough to go on the radio without having to be cut down in order to gain more listeners and popularity. As we all know a key part of pop rock music is a highly capable vocalist, this allows the musicians fan base to increase as people have the tendency to listen to artists who have good range, impressive belts and vocal riffs making the song interesting vocally. Finally, songs driven by guitar and drums, electric guitar, electric bass and drums are your key instruments to a pop rock song. The drums and bass carry the rhythm which listeners would dance along to or just something as simple as tapping their foot. Electric guitar makes the song even more interesting than what it is I believe, from a consistent repetitive riff to a well-known solo it also shapes the songs, and some listeners remember it as well as the lyrics.

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Now there are so many well-known pop rock artists that have transformed the industry some examples of those are: The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen, Olivia Rodrigo and Harry Styles. The Beatles, originally known as the Quarrymen formed by John Lennon in 1957, became The Beatles in 1960. Brian Epstein discovered the band in 1961 shortly after becoming their manager, he sent several letters off to different record labels in the UK and finally had The Beatles signed to Parlophone, a label related to EMI records. They work on their single ‘Please please me,’ making it more up tempo as the label had an image and idea of what people would want to hear. What people called ‘Beatlemania’ then became a thing as their music was such a drastic change in the industry, introducing the pop rock genre and experimenting with their music throughout the years of being together. Moving onto Fleetwood Mac, the band formed in 1967 after Peter Green had left his original band (John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers) he had previously worked with Mick Fleetwood, so it made sense for them to form a band together. They then asked John McVie to join the band even though he didn’t want to risk leaving his stable job for another, however he did join after previous members had left and they named the band with the combination of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie’s names. A few years later Peter Green left the band and Christine McVie joined, followed by the career changing arrival of Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham and in 1975 they released their album ‘Rumors’ changing the industry and making the pop rock genre a worldwide sensation all over again. The band aced the meaningful lyrics that are usually associated with pop rock songs, after not just their music being popular but the lore behind the band all falling in and out of love with each other and writing music about their own experiences. Moving onto Bruce Springsteen, Springsteen at a young age was inspired by Elvis Presley's performance on The Ed Sullivan show knowing he wanted to become a musician. His Mother bought him his first guitar encouraging him to pursue what he loved. Springsteen would back for different bands to build up his career and reputation in the industry, as he started performing solo with a band backing him (later known as the E Street band) his performances got referred to as ‘thrilling live shows.’ Bruce then reached his turning point in his career in 1975 when he released the album ‘Born to run’ which changed his career as the track ‘Born to run’ became an anthem for the working class giving them relatable lyrics and a sense of hope. He then released the album ‘Born in the U.S.A’ with his most famous songs ‘Born in the U.S.A’ and ‘Dancing in the dark’ winning Springsteen several Grammy awards. Billie Eilish in 2015 with her brother Finneas released the song ‘ocean eyes’ on SoundCloud. The song was written by Finneas and after it was released the song gained rapid success. Billie then signed to Boutique label darkroom in the summer of 2016. In August 2017 Darkroom released ‘Don’t smile at me’ an EP written by Billie and Finneas, later releasing the extended EP in December 2017. The follow up album being ‘When we all fall asleep, where do we go?’ released in 2019, the hit single ‘bad guy’ reaching number 1 on the billboard 200, the album then later won album of the year in the Grammy awards, with ‘bad guy’ also winning record of the year. Since Eilish’s career had skyrocketed she maintained consistent with her album releases and gained opportunities which have been highlights to her career, for example writing a song for the James Bond film releasing the song ‘No time to die’ winning best original song in the Oscars. Billie then gained the opportunity to write the song ‘What was I made for?’ for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film, the song won an Oscar and Golden Globe award (both songs

co-written with her brother Finneas.) Unlike other musicians Olivia Rodrigo began her career in the acting field, starting with her role in An American girl doll film, moving onto her first Disney channel role in Bizaardvark with her leading role as Paige. Rodrigo then cast as Nini in ‘High School musical, the musical the series’ which is when she sang ‘All I want’ this song gained global success and fame and really introduced Olivia’s voice to the world. Rodrigo then started her solo career in music releasing the song ‘Driver’s license’ reaching number 1 on Billboards Hot 100. Rodrig then released her album ‘Sour’ the album had Olivia being compared to big names in the industry for example her idol Taylor Swift and the likes of Alanis Morrisette- The album ‘Sour’ won best pop vocal album at the Grammy awards. Rodrigo then released the album ‘Guts’ which was a new sound for her truly using that pop rock aspect in her songs, with the use of heavy drums and catchy guitar riffs and example of this would be ‘bad idea right?’ Olivia later released ‘Guts spilled’ a deluxe version of the ‘Guts’ album featuring the song ‘So American’ achieving number one in the top forty. All these artists have shaped the industry throughout the past few decades, adding their own unique twist to the pop rock genre, for future artists to take inspiration from.

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Pop rock music is the combination of pop music and rock music. To break that down your average pop song has a memorable, simple melody with a basic riff repeating throughout the song and consists of the usual pop structure being verse choruses x2 with a bridge connecting another chorus at the end. Whereas rock is known for having a strong beat, drums and bass stick together to maintain that strong rhythm and the electric guitar is the voice of the song. Therefore, pop rock is the combination of the two genres having the loud drums carrying a consistent beat, along with a consistent memorable guitar riff that listeners will recall and remember. Rather than guitar being the voice of song it is a strong vocalist which is key to a pop rock song, the vocalist will sing more meaningful lyrics that are relatable to listeners gaining a larger audience. Something both pop and rock have in common is the time signature of 4/4 unless the song is more progressive it may have a quicker tempo, however, pop rock songs will still tend to have the time signature of 4/4.

When composing a pop rock song, the theme of the song is something important to take into consideration, the concept helps glue all the pieces of the song together. After discovering your theme, think about relatable lyrics and what will make the public want to listen. You would then create a structure to the song usually consisting of intro verse chorus x2 bridge chorus outro. Moving onto finding a chord progression to create the ‘skeleton’ of the song, you can do this by experimenting with different sounds, using the likes of a keyboard or guitar to create this. Jack Antonoff, producer, singer, songwriter when asked what makes a pop song he responds with the answer ‘a song that you want to hear over and over again.’ He says a song he has listened to thousands of times is ‘This year’ by The Mountain Goats about alcoholism and domestic abuse even though Antonoff says he has never experienced those themes, he says the chorus ties it together ‘I’m gonna make it through this year/ if it kills me’ saying he feels like the chorus speaks to him and that is was written for him, so he searches for this feeling in songs he creates and can easily identify them in his songs. Antonoff mentions he likes to create music as authentic as possible when saying “If someone tells me there’s a new synth that sounds like Moog instead of settling with that I’ll try and get real Moog” which is something people in the industry should seek for, perfection. Focusing on something that matters is key when composing a song and becoming emotionally attached to the music you create. Jack Antonoff has created music with big names like Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Lorde, Lana Del Ray, Florence and the machine as well as Bleachers (Antonoff’s band) just to name a handful. Antonoff reveals when asked how to write great music “You sit in your room your entire life, trying to write great music” representing that consistency pays off and the process you use to create music will always work for you to achieve your goals.

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In conclusion throughout my research process I have discovered that the key part of a pop rock song is their lyrics and the meaning that they carry, to make music popular it should be lyrically relatable. Now while other aspects of pop rock are key, for example, the catchy, memorable guitar riffs as well as drumbeats carrying the rhythm, for me personally the lyrics stick out to me as a mandatory factor of importance. Therefore, when it comes to my personal pop rock composition, I will be focusing on lyrics I am creating, assuring that they are relatable and have multiple perspectives allowing myself to have a wider range of possible listeners.