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Soft Rock

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Primary Stylistic Influences:
Secondary Stylistic Influences:

Soft rock is Exactly What It Says on the Tin; Rock music with a gentler, quieter, and (most often, but not always) more commercial sound. Like its opposite counterpart in rock music, soft rock isn't necessarily a specific Sub-Genre, but tends to refer to all rock music that falls on the lower levels on the Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness, ranging from Folk Rock to lighter forms of Jazz rock, to even lighter forms of New Wave and Alternative Rock

Also like hard rock, soft rock came to be recognized as a distinct style by the late 1960s, but elements of it could be found as early as 1950s Rock & Roll, with two notable examples being "Everyday" by Buddy Holly, and "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" by Paul Anka. Whereas hard rock was primarily influenced by Blues Rock and Psychedelic Rock (although plenty of blues-influenced soft rock songs exist), Soft rock was primarily influenced by Folk rock and the piano-driven varieties of rock n'roll. One notable sub-genre that also influenced Soft rock was Brill Building pop, named after the New York City building where a bunch of top music publishers had their offices. Brill Building pop included elements of traditional pop and jazz, Tin Pan Alley music, and of course, rock n' roll and Doo Wop. Some of the well-known songwriters of the Brill Building genre included the aforementioned Paul Anka, Bobby Darin, Neil Sedaka, Carole King, and even Neil Diamond (the latter two as well as Paul Anka would coincidentally later have success as 1970s Soft rock singer-songwriters).

The Beatles and The Beach Boys, who were influenced directly by Brill Building pop as well sharing the main influences of the Brill Building, laid much of the groundwork for soft rock in the ballad side of their catalogs, especially when it came to the use of highly melodic music and vocal harmonies. 1964 was a watershed year, with The Beatles recording "And I Love Her" and "If I Fell", and The Beach Boys doing "Don't Worry Baby", which were arguably the first true soft rock hits.

Soft rock was at its highest popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, (ironically at the same time hard rock was) with some of the most notable soft rock artists including Billy Joel and Elton John. During this time, was frequently crossed with Jazz Fusion, Disco, and Soul. These combinations lead to a specific sub-genre, retroactively known as "Yacht rock", after the web video series of the same name, which includes Soul- and Funk-influenced rock bands and musicians who put strong emphasis on the use of electric pianos and package their songs under lush and polished productions, notably Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers under Michael McDonald (who himself also has worked with Steely Dan), Christopher Cross, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Captain & Tennille, Rupert Holmes, and Toto, among many others. A number of other artists who haven't been described as Yacht rock by any sources, but do fit into the genre, include Barry Manilow, Paul Anka's later output, Phil Collins and Genesis in the 1980s (whose music also overlaps with New Wave). Some black R&B and Soul artists with rock-crossover music have also been described as Yacht rock (or alternatively, Yacht soul), such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Peabo Bryson, etc., That said, not all Yacht rock songs are necessarily soft rock, as there are some rare hard rock songs with yacht rock elements, such as "Hold the Line" by Toto and Manfred Mann's version of "Blinded By The Light".

Another sub-genre of soft rock would be Sophisti-Pop, a mostly UK-based movement which has its own page. Like yacht rock, sophisti-pop is slickly produced and takes influences from Soul and Jazz, except that it is based on New Wave Music and attracted more uniform praise from critics, who generally maligned yacht rock until the mid-2010s. A few notable sophisti-pop bands have also been described as yacht rock, such as Spandau Ballet and Sade. Donald Fagan, of prominent Yacht rock band Steely Dan, would turn to sophisti-pop in his solo output.

Despite the fact that they're both technically, well, rock, hard rock and soft rock tend to be mutually exclusive, with some hard rock fans blasting soft rock for being "not real rock 'n' roll" and being "pop". The initial fall of disco in the 1980s and the Disco Sucks trope as well as the frequent crossover with soft rock and disco has not helped. That said, there are people who enjoy both, and a good chunk of hard rock bands and even some Heavy Metal ones have made soft rock songs. Typically, a Power Ballad refers to when more straightfoward rock bands and artists perform soft rock songs. Soft rock was also a way for older traditional pop crooners, such as Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. to be able to cross over into rock music without alienating their fans. "Middle-of-the-road" and "Easy Listening" are terms and radio formats that describe some pop music that blurs the line between the softest soft rock, like those of Barry Manilow, Paul Anka, and The Carpenters, and the big band and traditional pop music performed by crooners from the 1950s to 1970s. In modern pop music, the term "Adult Contemporary" has taken its place, referring to artists blurring the line between soft rock, pop music, and Contemporary R&B, such as Céline Dion, Richard Marx, and George Michael.

Interestingly, a number of Country artists have crossed over into rock music with soft rock, such as Kenny Rogers and vice-versa with rock bands such as Eagles crossing over with country music. Country did play a big role in the development of rock n' roll after all.

Related Tropes and styles:

  • Award-Bait Song: A kind of pop song usually performed in films, most notably animated films such as Disney and Don Bluth films, performed in a soft rock style. "Somewhere Out There" from An American Tail and "A Whole New World" from Aladdin are well-known examples.
  • Baroque Pop: Rock or pop music influenced by Classical Music, many examples also fall into soft rock.
  • Christian Rock: Lots of Contemporary Christian Music takes direct inspiration from soft rock, the broad commercial appeal and generally upbeat sound blending well with the Christian content in the lyrics.
  • City Pop: A Japanese genre of pop music that took inspiration from soft rock, funk, disco, soul, and polynesian music, and is often described as the Japanese counterpart of both yacht rock and Sophisti-pop.
  • Power Ballad: A specific type of song, usually soft rock, performed by rock bands whose style usually doesn't fall into soft rock.
  • Sophisti-Pop: A sub-genre of New Wave Music that takes strong cues from Jazz Fusion and jazz and soul-influenced varieties of soft rock.
  • Surprisingly Gentle Song: When a Hard Rock or Heavy Metal or otherwise very hardcore band performs a soft rock song.

Musicians and Bands in this genre

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