Rockpedia

Compare

Two genres, side by side. The ratings are editorial judgements on a ten-point scale, not measurements. Where they come out level, the difference is in the prose underneath them.

First genre

Krautrock1968

Second genre

Psychedelic rock1966

Head to headKrautrock vs Psychedelic rock
Krautrock: heaviness 3, melody 5, speed 5. Psychedelic rock: heaviness 3, melody 8, speed 4.Heaviness3 / 3Melody5 / 8Speed5 / 4
Each corner is a ten-point rating. The further out, the higher.

The difference, by ear

Krautrock comes from the same 1968 impulse with no blues in it at all - a deliberate refusal of the American vocabulary that psychedelia is built on.

Psychedelic rock is sung cleanly where Krautrock is mostly instrumental, and a little slower: 70 to 140 bpm against 120 to 150. Songs run longer in Krautrock: usually 6 to 20 minutes, against 3 to 10 minutes in psychedelic rock. To hear the difference, play Can next to Pink Floyd. Krautrock grew out of psychedelic rock, two years later.

Put together from each genre's vocals, tempo, song length, key acts and place in the tree.

In figures

Heaviness
Krautrock3
Psychedelic rock3
level
Speed
Krautrock5
Psychedelic rock4
−1
Melody
Krautrock5
Psychedelic rock8
+3

Krautrock

1968 · West Germany · 1 subgenre

Where it sits

Rock › Psychedelic rock › Krautrock

In short

A tireless motorik beat, studio improvisation and a refusal of the chorus. It shaped post-punk, post-rock and electronic music.

How it sounds

  • The motorik beat: four to the floor, unvarying, for ten to twenty minutes.
  • Studio improvisation later assembled at the mixing desk - the tape is an instrument.
  • A refusal of the chorus, of virtuoso solos and of American blues.

Key acts

  • Can
  • Neu!
  • Faust
  • Amon Düül II

Start here

The pickNeu! - Hallogallo. Ten minutes that fed four decades of music.

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Psychedelic rock

1966 · San Francisco / London · 5 subgenres

Where it sits

Rock › Psychedelic rock

In short

Effects, sitar, feedback and songs that fall apart halfway through. The lab that produced prog, space rock and, indirectly, doom.

How it sounds

  • Studio effects: phasing, reversed tape, tape echo, extreme panning.
  • Instruments unusual for rock: sitar, theremin, mellotron, harpsichord.
  • Structures that come apart - a song can have three unrelated sections.

Key acts

  • Pink Floyd
  • Jefferson Airplane
  • The 13th Floor Elevators
  • Cream

Start here

The pickPink Floyd - Interstellar Overdrive. Ten minutes that explain half this tree.

Full page →