Post-rock, from the outside in. Each step is a genre and the single record this encyclopedia would put on first. Play them in this order and the last one should sound like a next step rather than a wall.
- 1 The way in
Rock 1954
The whole family: guitar, bass, drums and a beat borrowed from blues and rhythm and blues. Every branch below grows out of this trunk, metal included.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
The Beatles - Revolver, if you want to understand why everything branched so fast.
The Beatles, Revolver (1966) - 2 Then
Progressive rock 1968
Rock with classical ambitions: odd meters, twenty-minute suites, mellotron. The direct foundation of progressive metal.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King. The first track tells you everything.
King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King (1969) - 3 What you asked about
Post-rock 1991
Rock instruments used for texture and crescendo rather than for choruses. The song climbs for ten minutes and detonates once.
Instrumental. Usually no vocals at all.
Put on
Mogwai - Young Team. The closing track runs sixteen minutes and earns every one.
Mogwai, Young Team (1997) - 4 Where to go next
Desert rock 1991
The hypnotic, jam-based side of stoner rock, with lots of space between the notes and a warm bass tone.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley. It plays as one block rather than as tracks.
Kyuss, Welcome to Sky Valley (1994)
Assembled from the tree: every genre Post-rock descends from, in order. Post-rock has no subgenres, so the last step is the genre that rates closest to it by sound.