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Gothic rock (also known as goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music which grew out of British post-punk in the late 1970s. The genre draws from gothic literature, nihilism, Dark Romanticism, poetry and tragedy. The style evolved through early post-punk bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and the Cure, who shifted their music toward darker gothic overtones through an emphasis on minor chords, reverb, dark arrangements, and melancholic melodies.
In February 1983, the NME briefly used "positive punk" to describe a music scene associated with a London club known as the Batcave, which included artists such as Alien Sex Fiend, Specimen, UK Decay, Sex Gang Children, Rubella Ballet and Southern Death Cult. By June 1983, the British press opted for the term "goth" to define the Goth subculture and style of music, which was further developed by the arrival of the Sisters of Mercy. Followed by, Flesh for Lulu, Play Dead, Rubella Ballet, Gene Loves Jezebel, Blood and Roses, and Ausgang. In the United States, 45 Grave and Christian Death further developed the scene, which led to the emergence of deathrock.
By the late 1980s and 1990s, gothic rock gave rise to several Fusion genre such as gothabilly, gothic country and gothic metal.
Gothic rock typically deals with dark themes addressed through lyrics and the music's atmosphere. The poetic sensibilities of the genre led gothic rock lyrics to exhibit literary romanticism, morbidity, existentialism, religious symbolism, or supernatural mysticism. Gothic rock is an offshoot of post-punk. According to AllMusic, the genre "took the cold synthesizers and processed guitars of post-punk and used them to construct foreboding, sorrowful, often epic soundscapes." Early gothic rock had introspective or personal lyrics, but according to AllMusic, "its poetic sensibilities soon led to a taste for literary romanticism, morbidity, religious symbolism, and/or supernatural mysticism."
In terms of fashion, gothic bands incorporated influences from 19th-century Gothic literature along with horror films and, to a lesser extent, the BDSM culture. within the subculture range from deathrock, punk fashion, androgyny, Victorian, to Renaissance and medieval-style attire, or combinations of the above, most often with black clothing, makeup and hair. Backcombing hair was popular among gothic fans in the 1980s. Some Wear Leather, Some Wear Lace: A Worldwide Compendium of Postpunk and Goth in the 1980s by Andi Harriman (page 66) Consumer Tribes by Bernard Cova, Robert Kozinets, Avi Shankar (page 228)
Gothic rock creates a dark atmosphere by drawing influence from the drone music used by the Velvet Underground, and many gothic singers are influenced by the "deep and dramatic" vocal timbre of David Bowie, albeit singing at even lower pitches.
In April 1977, critic Dave Marsh of The Morning Record described Philip Glass's album North Star as "the best neo-Gothic rock since John Cale and Terry Riley's Church of Anthrax, or more appropriately, the first couple of Doors albums".
On November 4, 1978 Record Mirror's Tim Lott described Pere Ubu's 1975 debut single "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" as "discordant gothic rock". In a review of a Siouxsie and the Banshees' concert in July 1978, critic Nick Kent stated, "parallels and comparisons can now be drawn with gothic rock architects like the Doors and, certainly, early Velvet Underground". In 1980, Joy Division's album Closer was noted for its "dark strokes of gothic rock" by Sounds.
Sounds writer Cathi Unsworth believes that the term "goth" was first ascribed to the music and subculture with which it would come to be associated by UK Decay frontman Steve Abbott, who described his band as "punk gothique" in May 1981.
Journalist Kurt Loder would write retrospectively that the song "All Tomorrow's Parties" by the Velvet Underground and Nico is a "mesmerizing gothic-rock masterpiece" while Rolling Stone claimed their song "Venus in Furs" made the band "goth pioneers". Nico's 1968 album The Marble Index has been described by Alternative Press as "the first truly gothic album".. With its stark sound, somber lyrics, and dark visual aesthetic. However, music journalist Simon Reynolds considers shock rock artist Alice Cooper as "the true ungodly godfather of goth" due to his "theatrics and Black comedy", that was inspired by the sound and visual aesthetic of Arthur Brown. "Arthur Brown on Shock Rock, Hendrix, Close Calls With Fire" . Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 29, 2017 Screamin' Jay Hawkins' early style of shock rock, which blended occult imagery and theatricality with rock and roll, as exemplified in his 1956 track "I Put a Spell on You", has also been retroactively recognized as a forerunner to gothic music. were one of the first British bands to play a post-punk music with gothic overtones; Siouxsie Sioux pictured in November 1980]] In the late 1970s, the word "gothic" was used to describe the atmosphere of post-punk bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magazine and Joy Division. In March 1979, Kent used the gothic adjective in his review of Magazine's second album, Secondhand Daylight. Kent noted that there was "a new austere sense of authority" to their music, with a "dank neo-Gothic sound". The second Siouxsie and the Banshees album, also released in 1979, was a precursor in several aspects. The Guardian's Alexis Petridis retrospectively stated, "A lot of musical signifiers of classic gothic rock - scything, effects-laden guitar, pounding tribal drums – are audible, on ... Join Hands". In September, Joy Division's manager Tony Wilson described their music as "gothic" on the television show Something Else, and their producer Martin Hannett described their style as "dancing music with gothic overtones".
In 1980, Melody Maker wrote that "Joy Division are masters of this gothic gloom". Their album Closer, was noted by Sounds for its "dark strokes of gothic rock" . Retrospectively, Pitchfork described glam rock as having a pivotal influence of the development of the gothic rock genre, stating, "Although it abandoned the psychedelic color palette and exchanged alien worship for a vampire cult, goth kept glam's theatricality intact, as well as its openness to experimentation", adding that early glam and art rock musician Brian Eno "may have contributed more to goth’s sonic DNA" than David Bowie, regarding the 1974 track "Third Uncle" as a "proto-goth" song.
However, Bauhaus's debut single, "Bela Lugosi's Dead", released in late 1979, was retrospectively considered to be the beginning of the gothic rock genre. According to Peter Murphy, the song was written to be tongue-in-cheek, but since the group performed it with "naive seriousness", that is how the audience understood it. Bauhaus released their debut album In the Flat Field in 1980, and the album is often considered the first gothic rock album.
In the early 1980s, post-punk bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Cure included more gothic characteristics in their music. According to Reynolds, with their fourth album, 1981's Juju, the Banshees included several gothic qualities, lyrically and sonically, whereas according to The Guardian, Juju was art rock on certain album tracks and pop music on the singles. Their bassist, Steven Severin, attributed the aesthetic used by the Banshees around that time to the influence of the Cramps. The Cure's "oppressively dispirited" trio of albums, Seventeen Seconds (1980), Faith (1981) and Pornography (1982), cemented that group's stature in the genre. The line "It doesn't matter if we all die" began the Pornography album, which is considered as "the Cure's gothic piece de resistance". They would later become the most commercially successful of these groups. The Cure's style was "withdrawn", contrasting with their contemporaries like Nick Cave's the Birthday Party, who drew on blues and violent turmoil. With the Birthday Party's Junkyard album, Nick Cave combined "sacred and profane" things, using Old Testament imagery with stories about sin, curses and damnation. Their 1981 single "Release the Bats" was particularly influential in the scene.
Killing Joke were originally inspired by Public Image Ltd., borrowing from funk, disco, dub and, later, heavy metal. Calling their style "tension music", Killing Joke distorted these elements to provocative effect, as well as producing a morbid, politically charged visual style. Reynolds identified the Birthday Party and Killing Joke as essential proto-goth groups. Despite their legacy as progenitors of gothic rock, those groups disliked the label. Adam Ant's early work was also a major impetus for the gothic rock scene, and much of the fanbase came from his milieu. Other early contributors to the scene included UK Decay and Ireland's Virgin Prunes.
On 19 February 1983, the emerging scene was described as "positive punk" on the front cover of NME, in an article titled "Punk Warriors" by music journalist Richard Cabut. The article described groups such as Bauhaus, Theatre of Hate and UK Decay as part of the movement . Other associated acts were Alien Sex Fiend, the Mob, Rubella Ballet, Sex Gang Children and Southern Death Cult. On June 14, 1983, BBC radio DJ John Peel noted that the NME had dropped the term "positive punk" and had now opted for " goth" to describe the emerging subculture. That year, myriad goth groups emerged, including Flesh for Lulu, Play Dead, Rubella Ballet, Gene Loves Jezebel, Blood and Roses, and Ausgang. in 2005.]] Reynolds cited the shift between gothic music to traditional gothic rock or goth rock being primarily influenced by the Leeds band, the Sisters of Mercy. As journalist Jennifer Park put it, "The original blueprint for gothic rock had mutated significantly. Doom and gloom was no longer confined to its characteristic atmospherics, but as the Sisters demonstrated, it could really rock". The Sisters of Mercy, who cited influences such as Leonard Cohen, Gary Glitter, Motörhead, the Stooges, the Velvet Underground, the Birthday Party, Suicide, and the Fall, created a new, harder form of gothic rock. In addition, they incorporated a drum machine. Reynolds identified their 1983 single "Temple of Love" as the quintessential goth anthem of the year, along with Southern Death Cult's "Fatman". The group created their own record label, Merciful Release, which also signed the March Violets, who performed in a similar style. According to Reynolds, the March Violets "imitated Joy Division sonically". Another band, the Danse Society was particularly inspired by the Cure's Pornography period. The 4AD label released music in a more ethereal wave style,Mercer, Mick. Music to die for. London: Cherry Red Books, 2009, , p. 5 by groups such as Cocteau Twins,Mercer, Mick. Music to die for. London: Cherry Red Books, 2009, , p. 105 Dead Can Dance, and Xmal Deutschland. vocal style|left]]
Later stages of Gothic Rock in the UK came with a shift in sound and commercial success. Southern Death Cult reformed as the Cult, a more conventional hard rock group. Bauhaus members reformed as the psychedelia-influenced Love and Rockets achieving both critical and commercial success during the late 1980s and '90s. In their wake, the Mission, which included two former members of the Sisters of Mercy (Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams), achieved commercial success in the mid-1980s to early 1990s, as did Fields of the Nephilim and All About Eve. (1998). 033374134X, Macmillan. 033374134X European groups inspired by gothic rock also proliferated, including Clan of Xymox. Other bands associated with the genre included All Living Fear, And Also the Trees, Balaam and the Angel, Claytown Troupe, Dream Disciples, Feeding Fingers, Inkubus Sukkubus, Libitina, Miranda Sex Garden, Nosferatu, Rosetta Stone, and Suspiria.
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