Subgenre Descriptions

Rock Band Network supports 120 subgenre groupings, under 21 major genres. These genres allow players browsing the RBN store to find exactly the kind of music they're interested in, but are only effective if the genres are properly used. Also, your song will lose points in playtesting if the genre you've selected is inaccurate.

To help make sure those problems don't happen, this page is available as a reference for what each subgenre means. A few short descriptive words, as well as a handful of major artists that represent the genre, are listed below.

• C3 note: Subgenres are not shown in-game, but are used for LeFluffie Vizualiser cards to give downloaders a better understanding of what kind of genre the song in question belongs to. You can also use custom genres in Vizualiser, though sticking with the RB standards for the most part is recommended in most cases to avoid confusion.

Note:

This list is author maintained, and should not be taken as strict rules, but rather as flexible, evolving guidelines.

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Alternative

Alternative:

College: melodic, punky

• Typical elements: melodic pop sound, jangling guitars, post-punk/new wave experimentation
• Example artists: R.E.M. (early), Billy Bragg
• Example albums: Document, Talking with the Taxman About Poetry

Other:

Blues

Acoustic:

Chicago:

Classic:

Contemporary:

Country:

Delta:

Electric:

Other:

Classical

Classical:

• Typical Elements: Any Western music created in the "old style" of pre-popular music (pre blues, jazz, rock, etc), Often utilizing orchestras or choirs
• Example Artists: JS Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, etc

Classic Rock

Classic Rock:

Country

Alternative:

Bluegrass:

Contemporary:

Honky Tonk:

Outlaw:

Traditional Folk:

Other:

Emo

Emo:

Fusion

Fusion:

Glam

Glam:

Goth:

Other:

Grunge

Grunge: dirty, distorted, aggressive

• Typical elements: distorted guitars, contrasting dynamics
• Example artists: Nirvana, Pearl Jam
• Example albums: Nevermind, Ten

Hip-Hop/Rap

Alternative Rap:

Gangsta:

Hardcore Rap:

Hip Hop:

Old School Hip Hop:

Rap:

Trip Hop:

Underground Rap:

Other:

Indie Rock

Indie Rock: unpolished, unconventional

• Typical elements: lack of professional production, non-mainstream song elements
• Example artists: Death Cab for Cutie, Guided by Voices
• Example albums: The Moon and Antarctica, Bee Thousand

Lo-fi: minimal, unpolished

• Typical elements: clear evidence of home production, unusual mixing characteristics
• Example artists: Say Hi, Cat Power

Math Rock:

• Typical elements: typical "indie" sound qualities, written with incredibly complex time signatures, chords and melodies
• Example artists: American Football, Don Caballero, Minus the Bear

Noise:

• Typical elements: Off-shoot of Post-Punk, High amounts of effects, strong levels of dissonance, complex song structures
• Example artists: Sonic Youth, The Jesus Lizard,

Post-Rock:

• Typical elements: "Rock" instruments used in unconventional ways musically, often instrumental, unusual song structures (lack of clear verse/chorus), spacey/atmospheric mixing and production
• Example Artists: Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, Sigur Ros

Shoegazing: spacy, layered

• Typical elements: distorted/sustained guitar work, vocals 'as an instrument', focus on texture over riff
• Example artists: My Bloody Valentine, Lush

Other:

Inspirational

Inspirational:

Jazz

Acid Jazz:

Contemporary:

Experimental:

Ragtime:

Smooth Jazz:

Other:

J-Rock

J-Rock:

Latin

Latin:

Metal

Alternative:

Black:

• Typical elements: lo-fi production quality, unconventional song structures, raspy vocals, prevalence of fast tremelo-picking and blast beats over more "melodic" instrumentation
• Emperor, Bathory, Mayhem, Darkthrone

Metalcore:

• Typical elements: Combination of "traditional" metal elements and hardcore punk elements, thrash riffs, hardcore breakdowns, utilizes both aggressive and clean vocals
• Example artists: All That Remains, The Devil Wears Prada, Underoath, As I Lay Dying

Death:

• Typical elements: aggressive, loud and violent extreme Metal, often using downtuned heavy guitars, extremely fast and/or complex drumming with a lot of double bass pedal involved, and guttural growling as the main source of vocals.
• Example artists: Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus

Hair:

• Typical elements: highly-produced "pop metal" popular in the 80's, simple power chord riffs and fast, melodic soloing with standard song structures, lyrics about living the "rock star life"
• Example artists: Poison, Motley Crue, Ratt, The Scorpions, Whitesnake, Night Ranger

Industrial:

• Typical elements: mixes elements of Heavy and Thrash Metal with noise and electronic elements, sometimes using samples, effect heavy vocals, repetitive guitar and drums and playing with inhuman loudness as an artistic choice.
• Example artists: Ministry, KMFDM, Nine Inch Nails, Rammstein, Marilyn Manson
• Example albums: Psalm 69, The Downward Spiral

Metal:

Power:

• Typical elements: High tempo, highly produced, technically complex musicianship, simple, "epic feeling" major-key melodies, highly melodic vocals
• Example artists: Dragonforce, Nightwish, Firewind, Kamelot, Helloween

Progressive: genre-mixing, seeks to push boundaries of what Metal can be

• Example elements: complex rhythm, longer length, detailed instrumentation
• Example artists: Dream Theater, Queensrÿche

Speed:

Thrash:

• Typical elements: fast, palm-muted guitar riffs and technically complex solos, fast, straightforward drum beats, shouted or harshly-song (but still melodic) vocals
• Example artists: "The Big 4": Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer. Other examples: Machinehead, Testament, Evile, Municipal Waste, Anvil

Other:

New Wave

Dark Wave: Somber or introspective tone + sequenced synths and / or ambient processed guitars = moody textural atmosphere. Historical precursor to Gothic Rock, now the contemporary expansion of that genre.

Electroclash:

New Wave: Brit: Mashed Punk & Disco ca. '76-'83. Amer: Rock without the "Prog", "Hard" or "Soft". Danceable, synthy songs. ca. '81-'88 . Resurfaced in the 21st Century.

Synthpop: Friendly, rock song structures, eschews instrumental virtuosity, signature use of arpeggiated electronics, or later into the '80s, programmed sequences.

Other:

Novelty

Novelty:

• Typical elements: songs that are primarily made to be funny or comedic as it's main point. Can span any and all genres of music, and sometimes it's a cover version of a serious song with new lyrics to create a parody of the original.
• Example artists: Weird Al, Parry Grip

Nu-Metal

Nu-Metal:

• Typical elements: Dark and heavy, yet relatively mainstream music. Mashes hip-hop style syncopated drum beats with down-tuned, chunky metal/industrial guitar riffs, and avoids guitar solos. Aggressive (but often still melodic) vocals and introspective, dark, often depressive/angry lyrics. Gained popularity in the late 90's/early 2000's, but has mostly died off since then.
• Example artists: KoRn, Early Disturbed/Slipknot/Linkin Park (all three have moved away from nu metal since then), Saliva, Limp Bizkit, Godsmack
• Example Albums: Life is Peachy/Follow the Leader (KoRn), The Sickness (Disturbed), Significant Other (Limp Bizkit), Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses) (Slipknot)

Pop/Dance/Electronic

Ambient:

Breakbeat:

• Example artists: The Prodigy, The Crystal Method

Chiptune:

Dance:

Downtempo:

Dub:

Drum and Bass:

• Example artists: Goldie, Squarepusher

Electronica:

Garage:

Hardcore Dance:

House:

Industrial:

• Example artists: Throbbing Gristle, God Lives Underwater

Techno:

Trance:

Other:

Pop-Rock

• Contemporary:
• Pop:
  • Example artists: Lady Gaga, Madonna
• Soft Rock:
• Teen Rock:
• Other:

Prog

• Prog Rock:
  • Typical elements: melodic and epic Rock music that often focuses on strange time signatures, complex instrumental parts, avant-garde and/or complex lyrics, uncommon song structures and long running times.
  • Example artists: Rush, King Crimson, Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, Tool

Punk

• Alternative:
• Classic:
• Dance Punk:
• Garage:
• Hardcore:
• Pop-Punk:
  • Typical elements: high energy, high tempo, instrumentally simple music. Differentiated from standard punk by high production values and palatable vocal harmonies
  • Example artists: Green Day, Blink 182, Simple Plan, Sum 41, Good Charlotte
• Other:

R&B/Soul/Funk

• Disco:
• Funk:
• Motown:
• Rhythm and Blues:
• Soul:
• Other:

Reggae/Ska

• Reggae:
  • Example artists: Bob Marley
• Ska:
  • Example artists: Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake
• Other:

Rock

• Arena:
• Blues-Rock:
• Folk:
• Garage:
• Hard Rock:
• Psychedelic:
• Rock:
• Rockabilly:
  • Example artists: The Reverend Horton Heat, Stray Cats
• Rock and Roll:
  • Example artists: Chuck Berry, Chubby Checker
• Surf:
• Other:

Southern Rock

• Southern Rock:

World

• World:

Other

• A Capella:
  • Typical elements: Music created using only human vocalization, and occasionally percussion
  • Example artists: The Nylons, Van Canto
• Acoustic:
• Contemporary Folk:
• Experimental:
• Oldies:
• Other: