Genre story · Rock
Shock Rock
Rock performers using staged horror, provocation and spectacle as part of the concert itself.
The history of Shock Rock reaches back before heavy metal. Screamin' Jay Hawkins made theatrical props part of his live presentation, and Alice Cooper's late-1960s and 1970s performances turned horror imagery into an unusually influential Rock spectacle. Later acts adapted masks, makeup, theatrical characters or confrontational stage elements for other musical genres. Shock Rock does not prescribe a guitar sound or tempo. The performance is central, which makes it different from Horror Punk's more recognizable blend of musical and thematic conventions. In Explore it may work better as a cultural or performance descriptor than as the strict parent of theatrical hard rock and metal.
Listening examples
- 1971Alice CooperLove It to Death
- 1973Alice CooperBillion Dollar Babies
- 1956Screamin' Jay HawkinsI Put a Spell on You1956 single, precursor.