Quote:
Originally Posted by MicShazam
The Wikipedia definition actually pretty much nails it: "Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on commercially successful hard rock popularized in the 1970s."
When a genre tag originates as a radio format, it's always going to be a bit vague.
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Which kind of makes it ridiculous that a band operating in 2017 can be dubbed "classic rock". As others have said, classic rock style, maybe, but not classic rock. I'd also argue against Frown's definition of prog rock (well, I'd argue with Frown over the colour of the sky, but you know...) as that has clearly defined tenets and characteristics, so that it's easy enough to pin down a band who should be called prog rock (long, interminable keyboard instrumentals, non-standard lyrics, different time signatures, long, epic, multi-part songs, use of things like harp, mandolin, flute etc - you know all the usual ones) and while they may not be seen as truly "progressive" in the literal meaning of the word, the genre itself no longer really means that, it is again in a style popularised and created by 70s bands like Yes, Genesis and ELP, and newer bands like Spock's Beard, IQ, Arena
et al continue that legacy.