The Song Planner

Cyber Rock

tagStarted 1979Peak 1996-2002Last big hit still active

Located in 1 route

Rock → Industrial / Electronic / Dance Rock

Machine-bright rock in sci-fi dress: pulsing synth sequences, programmed and glitched drums, and treated, sometimes android vocals riding driving guitars. Shinier and tighter than industrial's rust, it leans on futurist gloss, neon menace and posthuman imagery, a rock band picturing itself as chrome and malfunctioning circuitry.

History

Templated by Gary Numan, whose 1979 android persona fused synths fed through guitar pedals with cold sci-fi imagery. The aesthetic resurfaced in 1990s American industrial rock as Stabbing Westward, Gravity Kills and the darkwave duo Collide welded sequenced electronics to guitars, feeding soundtracks and club-rock. Numan's own 2000 album Pure brought him full circle into the harder, electronic-rock sound he had inspired.

Defining artists

Essential listening

← Explore Rock

Sources

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_(Gary_Numan_album)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Numan
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_Yourself_(Stabbing_Westward_song)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilty_(Gravity_Kills_song)