Rock · Genres
Home › Genres › Rock

What is rock?

Rock music is a form of popular music with a prominent vocal melody, accompanied by guitar, drums, and bass. Many styles of rock music also use keyboard instruments such as organ, piano, mellotron, and synthesizers.

About rock

Other instruments sometimes utilized in rock include saxophone, harmonica, violin, flute, French horn, banjo, melodica, and timpani. Also, less common stringed instruments such as mandolin and sitar are used.

From Last.fm, where 403,398 listeners have tagged music as rock.

Artists to start with

  1. Radiohead
  2. Paramore
  3. Linkin Park
  4. My Chemical Romance
  5. Coldplay
  6. Red Hot Chili Peppers
  7. Weezer
  8. The Cranberries
  9. The Beatles
  10. Fleetwood Mac

Albums to hear first

  • Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce SpringsteenBorn in the U.S.A.Bruce Springsteen
  • All We Know Is Falling by ParamoreAll We Know Is FallingParamore
  • Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends by ColdplayViva la Vida or Death and All His FriendsColdplay
  • Stadium Arcadium by Red Hot Chili PeppersStadium ArcadiumRed Hot Chili Peppers
  • 14 Shades of Grey by Staind14 Shades of GreyStaind
  • Elephant by The White StripesElephantThe White Stripes
  • The Joshua Tree by U2The Joshua TreeU2
  • Hot Space by QueenHot SpaceQueen

Rock songs

  1. Everlong by Foo Fighters
  2. Sign of the Times by Harry Styles
  3. Still Into You by Paramore
  4. Bring Me to Life by Evanescence
  5. Lover, You Should've Come Over by Jeff Buckley
  6. Iris by Goo Goo Dolls
  7. All I Wanted by Paramore
  8. Mr. Brightside by The Killers
  9. Sparks by Coldplay
  10. In the End by Linkin Park

Rock on Risocast

  • Hot Fuss by The KillersHot FussThe Killers · 2004
  • OK Computer by RadioheadOK ComputerRadiohead · 1997
  • A Rush of Blood to the Head by ColdplayA Rush of Blood to the HeadColdplay · 2002
  • Pablo Honey by RadioheadPablo HoneyRadiohead · 1993
  • In Rainbows by RadioheadIn RainbowsRadiohead · 2007
  • The Bends by RadioheadThe BendsRadiohead · 1995
  • American Idiot by Green DayAmerican IdiotGreen Day · 2004
  • Currents by Tame ImpalaCurrentsTame Impala · 2015
  • Let Down - Remastered by RadioheadLet Down - RemasteredRadiohead · 2017
  • Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was by RadioheadBullet Proof ... I Wish I WasRadiohead · 1995
  • Children of the Sea (Live in San Antonio, May 13, 1982) - 2023 Remix by Black SabbathChildren of the Sea (Live in San Antonio, May 13, 1982) - 2023 RemixBlack Sabbath · 2023
  • Children of the Grave (Live in Fresno, April 18, 1982) - 2023 Remix by Black SabbathChildren of the Grave (Live in Fresno, April 18, 1982) - 2023 RemixBlack Sabbath · 2023

Neighbouring genres

In the rock & punk family. All genres

alternative rockcrust punkart rockart punkdeathrockindietronicaexperimental rockanarcho-punkglam rockgrungehard rockheartland rock

Questions

What is rock?
Rock music is a form of popular music with a prominent vocal melody, accompanied by guitar, drums, and bass. Many styles of rock music also use keyboard instruments such as organ, piano, mellotron, and synthesizers. Other instruments sometimes utilized in rock include saxophone, harmonica, violin, flute, French horn, banjo, melodica, and timpani.
Who are the best-known rock artists?
By Last.fm listening: Radiohead, Paramore, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
What genres are similar to rock?
On Risocast it sits with alternative rock, crust punk, art rock, art punk, deathrock and indietronica.

Risocast is free. Install it once and it logs everything you play.

Download for WindowsFree · v4.0.9Open RisocastRight here · Spotify or Last.fm

Updated 6 October 2026

Risocast Help

A music log that fills itself in. It records the songs you play on your computer and your phone, turns them into your top songs, stats and a public profile, and finds people whose taste overlaps with yours.

Yes. The app and the website are free.

A song counts once half of it has played, or four minutes — whichever comes first. Songs of 30 seconds or less, and videos or podcasts over 20 minutes, never count.

On Windows, anything that shows up in Windows' media controls: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Deezer, browsers, foobar2000, Windows Media Player and more (VLC, iTunes and MusicBee through their free media-controls plugin). On Android, any music app — it reads the same now-playing info your lock screen shows. You can also connect Spotify or import from Last.fm.

Yes. Plays are counted on your device and sent when you're back online, and the phone app opens without a connection.

It does the same core job — scrobbling, automatically — without plugins per player, and adds taste matching: see who listens like you and how much your taste overlaps.

Your profile and listening are public so people with similar taste can find you, unless you make your profile private (then only your buddies see it); your email never is. Nothing is sold and there are no ads; anonymous usage analytics (Microsoft Clarity, Google Analytics) show what to improve. See the privacy policy for the details.

More in Help, the guides and the privacy policy.

Welcome to Risocast
Risocast

Your music, logged. Your people, found.

A small player that sits in your tray, writes down every song you play, and shows you who listens like you.

243 songs logged today

Download for WindowsFree · v4.0.9Open RisocastRight here · Spotify or Last.fm

Android is coming to Google Play. Get notified

How logging works

On Windows, Risocast reads the system media controls, so any player counts: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Deezer, browsers, foobar2000. No plugins.

On Android the app reads what any music app is playing (it's coming to Google Play). Anywhere else, connect Spotify or a Last.fm username.

When a song countsAfter half its length, or four minutes, whichever comes first.Tracks under 30 seconds are ignored.Offline plays are counted on the device and sent later.

More on automatic logging · Risocast vs Last.fm

Taste twins

See how much your taste overlaps with anyone's, and find the people who listen most like you. The match comes from what you both actually play, not a list of favourites.

Open People

How the match works

Weekly Disc and Taste Map

Every week becomes a disc of your top songs. Every record you play goes on a map, grouped by genre.

Weekly DiscTaste Map

Real ones, from the maker's own listening.

Download Risocast

Risocast is free for Windows 10 and 11. Android is coming to Google Play; on any other device, use the web app with Spotify or Last.fm.

Download for WindowsFree · v4.0.9Open RisocastRight here · Spotify or Last.fm
  • Version 4.0.9 · Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) · about 100 MB
  • Updates itself: new versions download in the background and install on restart.
  • Every installer is published with its SHA-256 checksum on the releases page.

All platforms and questions

Features
Automatic loggingWeekly DiscTaste MapTaste matchProfiles and statsMusic windowsBPM, key and soundSong stripLikes that syncPlay in your appFindPeople and buddiesCompare tasteAnthemsGenre labelsAndroid appImport and connectWindows 98 look
18 object(s)Open as a list
Guides
Track music on WindowsLog YouTube MusicApple Music statsFind people like youPlayers that workLog VLCLog foobar2000Log MusicBeeiTunes on WindowsLog DeezerLog TidalLog SoundCloudAmazon MusicWindows Media PlayerSpotify historyTop songs of all timeWhat genre is it?Describe your tasteExport your dataComing from Last.fm
20 object(s)Open as a list
Compare
Risocast vs Last.fmLast.fm alternativesRisocast vs stats.fmWrapped any time
4 object(s)Open as a list
243 logged today