Find Pop/Rock Albums, Artists and Songs, and Hand-Picked Top Pop/Rock Music on AllMusic

From the outset, when the early rockers merged country and blues, rock has been defined by its energy, rebellion and catchy hooks, but as the genre aged, it began to shed those very characteristics, placing equal emphasis on craftmanship and pushing the boundaries of the music.

From the outset, when the early rockers merged country and blues, rock has been defined by its energy, rebellion and catchy hooks, but as the genre aged, it began to shed those very characteristics, placing equal emphasis on craftmanship and pushing the boundaries of the music.

Find Contemporary Pop/Rock Albums, Artists and Songs, and Hand-Picked Top Contemporary Pop/Rock Music on AllMusic

The classic '50s and '60s-style strain of Early Pop/Rock morphed into AM pop, pop/rock, and soft rock by the mid-'70s, but it continued to dominate good-time oldies radio formats for decades afterward.

By the 2000s, a parade of varying artists were catering to the mainstream with a similar type of pop music -- artists as diverse as Destiny's Child, Black Eyed Peas, Faith Hill, Maroon 5, Keith Urban, and AmIdol alums like Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken.

Naturally, pop/rock's primary focus was on melody -- as big, catchy, and instantly memorable as possible, whether the song was a rocker, ballad, or midtempo in-betweener. But the other, less immediately apparent aspect of pop/rock was its emphasis on …

From the outset, when the early rockers merged country and blues, rock has been defined by its energy, rebellion and catchy hooks, but as the genre aged, it began to shed those very characteristics, placing equal emphasis on craftmanship and pushing the boundaries of the music.

Bubblegum is a lightweight, catchy pop music that was a significant commercial force in the late '60s and early '70s. Bubblegum was targeted at a preteen audience whose older siblings had been raised on rock & roll.

Alternative Pop/Rock is essentially a catch-all term for post-punk bands from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s. Though there is a variety of musical styles within Alternative Rock, they are all tied together since they existed outside of the mainstream.