70s Rock
tagStarted 1970Peak 1973-1979Last big hit still active
Located in 1 route
The decade-defining heart of the canon: warm analog tape, Hammond organ, Rhodes piano, double-tracked harmonies and long album cuts. Spans riff-heavy blues rock, polished California soft-rock-adjacent fare and prog ambition, unified by full-band arrangements and the era's roomy, dynamic mixes. The sound most people mean by 'classic rock.'
History
The 1970s were the album era's commercial peak, when FM rock, the LP format and arena touring matured together and produced the densest stretch of the classic-rock songbook. The decade's records became the spine of catalog radio, defining the reference sound later eras would measure themselves against.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_rock
- https://www.allmusic.com/style/classic-rock-ma0000012264
- https://www.britannica.com/art/rock-music