GAMES: GameSpot: Best of 2008 | GameFAQs | SportsGamer MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Acid Rock

Acid Rock was the heaviest, loudest variation of psychedelic rock. Drawing from the overblown blues improvisations of Cream and Jimi Hendrix, acid rock bands relied on distorted guitars, trippy lyrics, and long jams. Acid rock didn't last too long -- it evolved and imploded within the life span of psychedelia -- and the bands that didn't break up became heavy metal bands.

Key Artists: The Electric Prunes | Ultimate Spinach | The C.A. Quintet | Iron Butterfly | Blue Cheer | Quicksilver Messenger Service | SRC
British Psychedelia

Although they shared some similar aesthetics and production techniques, British Psychedelia was quite different than its American counterpart. In general, British psychedelia was either more whimsical or artily experimental than its American counterpart, plus it tended to work within the pop song structure. This is not a hard-and-fast rule, however. No matter how many concise, pop singles they released, Pink Floyd still stretched out dramatically on stage, taking songs into uncharted... [+] Read More

Key Artists: The Who | The Yardbirds | The Small Faces | Cream | Procol Harum | Syd Barrett | The Moody Blues | The Creation | The Zombies | The Move | Donovan | Pink Floyd | Traffic | Soft Machine | The Beatles
Garage Rock

Garage Rock was a simple, raw form of rock & roll created by a number of American bands in the mid-'60s. Inspired by British Invasion bands like the Beatles, Kinks, and Rolling Stones, these midwestern American groups played a variation on British Invasion rock. Since they were usually young and amateurish, the results were much cruder than their inspirations but that is what made the sound exciting. Most of the band emphasized their amateurishness, playing the same three chords, bashing... [+] Read More

Key Artists: Blues Magoos | The Electric Prunes | The Sonics | The Leaves | The Barbarians | The Monks | The Nightcrawlers | The Seeds | Shadows of Knight | The Standells | The Kingsmen | The Trashmen | ? & the Mysterians | Love | Remains
Obscuro

Obscuro is a nebulous category that encompasses the weird, the puzzling, the ill-conceived, the unclassifiable, the musical territory you never dreamed existed. Or, to put it another way, it's the kind of music that devoted record geeks play for one another, with the announcement "you have to hear this." Obscuro records might be novelties good only for a laugh or two; they might be so utterly bizarre that you can't quite process them no matter how often you've heard them; they might be... [+] Read More

Key Artists: Eden Ahbez | The Shaggs | Lucia Pamela | Os Mutantes | David Axelrod | The Neon Philharmonic | Nancy Sinatra | Twinkle | Bruce Haack | Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood | Pearls Before Swine | Silver Apples | Perrey-Kingsley | Raymond Scott
Psychedelic

Psychedelic rock emerged in the mid-'60s, as British Invasion and folk-rock bands began expanding the sonic possibilities of their music. Instead of confining themselves to the brief, concise verse-chorus-verse patterns of rock & roll, they moved toward more free-form, fluid song structures. Just as important -- if not more so -- the groups began incorporating elements of Indian and Eastern music and free-form jazz to their sound, as well as experimenting with electronically altering... [+] Read More

Key Artists: The Yardbirds | Syd Barrett | The Electric Prunes | The Doors | Grateful Dead | Soft Machine | Jefferson Airplane | Pearls Before Swine | Donovan | Love | Cream | Traffic | Procol Harum | The Byrds | The Beatles
Psychedelic Pop

Psychedelia was an underground phenomenon in the mid-'60s and, like many underground phenomena, it eventually went overground. It didn't take too long -- once the Beatles delved into the style on 1966's Revolver, it was just a matter of time. Where straight psychedelic music actively pushed boundaries, psychedelic pop, by and large, took those innovations and applied them to concise, catchy pop songs. The psychedelic effects were used as trippy dressing -- sitars, fuzz guitars, tape effects,... [+] Read More

Key Artists: The Monkees | Strawberry Alarm Clock | The Zombies | Sagittarius | Donovan | The Beach Boys | The Neon Philharmonic | The Move | It's a Beautiful Day | Tomorrow | Thunderclap Newman | Yellow Balloon | The Flower Pot Men | The Left Banke
Data Warehouse Clear Gif