Legacy Recordings

Rock & Roll is often used as a generic term, but its sound israrely predictable. From the outset, when the early rockers mergedcountry and blues, rock has been defined by its energy, rebellion andcatchy hooks, but as the genre aged, it began to shed those verycharacteristics, placing equal emphasis on craftmanship and pushing theboundaries of the music. As a result, everything from Chuck Berry'spounding, three-chord rockers and the sweet harmonies of the Beatles tothe soulful pleas of Otis Redding and the jarring, atonal white noiseof Sonic Youth has been categorized as "rock." That's accurate -- rock& roll had a specific sound and image for only a handful of years.For most of its life, rock has been fragmented, spinning off new stylesand variations every few years, from Brill Building Pop and heavy metalto dance-pop and grunge. And that's only natural for a genre that beganits life as a fusion of styles. -- All Music Guide