Russian rock
Encyclopedia
Russian rock refers to rock music
made in Russia
or in the Russian language
. Rock and roll
became known in the Soviet Union
in the 1960s and quickly broke free from its western roots. According to many music critics, its "golden age" years were the 1980s (especially the era of perestroika
), when the Soviet underground rock bands could release their records officially. The great majority of the bands perform in the Russian language
.
was divided into two groups: music published by state record company Melodiya
, and everything else. Under this second group were the bards
, underground folk singer–songwriter
s.
Bards such as Vladimir Vysotsky
and Bulat Okudzhava
were among the many artists who created the style which is referred to as "author's song" (авторская песня), mostly played on unaccompanied acoustic guitar and characterized by a strong accent on lyrics that sometimes carried a subversive meaning. Their music was often suppressed by the government, and yet enjoyed massive popularity, with Vysotsky becoming a highly popular cinema and theatre actor and an iconic figure of the times.
Meanwhile, some Western music was either being smuggled across the border or released by Melodiya as part of what essentially was state-run pirating of records, with The Beatles
taking a firm place in Soviet popular culture, and artists such as The Rolling Stones
and Deep Purple
completing a somewhat distorted picture of Western music.
The first rock bands in the Soviet Union appeared on the scene in the early sixties in Moscow
, and they were heavily influenced by The Beatles.
Guitar-driven bands evolved during this time, including Pojuschie Gitary (the singing guitars), and almost at the same time Mashina Vremeni
and Aquarium. These bands started the VIA (Вокально-Инструментальный Ансамбль Vokal'no-Instrumental'nyy ansambl' -- Vocal-Instrumental Ensemble) movement, and were followed by Tcvety, Golubiye Gitary and Sinyaya Ptica.
In the early 1970s Yuri Morozov invented a kind of Russian psychedelic rock
, using elements of progressive rock
and Ethnic Russian music
as well. His sound influenced DDT
, Aquarium, Chizh & Co
, and many others, while he worked with them as a sound engineer.
Another notable artist who started his activity at the same time is Alexander Gradsky
, who fused bard
music with rock. There was no protest against the Soviet government in the lyrics he sang, so he was able to release records through Melodiya and millions of them were sold all over the country.
and New Wave
) and the Russia
n bard tradition. Such bands as Alisa
, Agata Kristi
, Autograph
, Kino
, Mashina Vremeni
, Nautilus Pompilius
, Aquarium, Krematorij
, Grazhdanskaya Oborona
, Voskreseniye
, Secret
, Piknik
, and DDT
were influential in the development of the genre, with the consequent artists influenced by their style.
Russian rock was also influenced by the Russian art group Mitki
and the Western hippie
s.
In 1980 a big Rock festival
was held in Tbilisi
, Georgian SSR, named Spring Rhythms. Tbilisi-80
. Almost all the performers and prize-winners at the festival were rock groups from the Russian SFSR. It was the first official rock festival
in the Soviet Union.
The lyrics of the Soviet rock bands often dealt with the darkest sides of the 80s Soviet life such as domestic violence
, alcoholism
(an infamous song by Nautilus Pompilius
contained the lines "Alain Delon
drinks a double bourbon/Alain Delon doesn't drink eau de cologne" as a sarcastic contrast to the alcoholic father described in the song and an indictment of the escapist attitudes of state-run media) and crime, and often carried a hidden political message.
These bands were consequently ignored by the mainstream radio and television, often reaching audiences only through word of mouth.
Many of the 1980s bands are still active and popular among Russian youth. The term Russian rock is often used to refer to the particular sound of these bands.
In the early- to mid-1980s, several rock clubs were founded in Moscow
, Leningrad
(now Saint Petersburg
) and Sverdlovsk
(now Yekaterinburg
). These three cities had their own rock music scene, with friendly collaborations between artists commonplace.
The Leningrad Rock Club
was probably the biggest venue, featuring "classic Russian rock" by Aquarium, Kino
, Zoopark
, Piknik
, Alisa
and DDT
. It also included the nascent Russian art rock movement, typified by such bands as Auktyon
.
Bands from Sverdlovsk
, such as Nautilus Pompilius
, Chaif
, and Agata Kristi
, produced more melodic music making heavy use of keyboards and synthesizers.
Moscow
rock bands, such as Aria
, Mashina Vremeni
, Voskreseniye
, Center, Krematorij
and Zvuki Mu
, were rather different from the others and sometimes more discreet.
The Siberia
n rock scene began in the 1980s, with such songwriters as Egor Letov (Grazhdanskaya Oborona
, Omsk
), Kalinov most
, Alexander Bashlachev
and Yanka Dyagileva
. Their music varied from simple lo-fi punk to indie rock (sometimes acoustic), and the core of their songs were the lyrics. Many albums were first self-released and distributed among the fans via trading, then officially re-released years later. Lyrics were often obscene, and the musicians had major problems with the Soviet administration and KGB
. Notable acts that were not members of any of the three Rock-Clubs but were highly popular are Rock N' Roll band Secret
.
At that time the Russian Heavy metal
scene was created thanks to bands like Aria
, Chorny Kofe and Master
(formed by a few ex-members of Aria).
The glam metal
band Gorky Park
reached high popularity in the west and was even aired on MTV
.
Russian punk's unique style is generally accepted to be most idealized by Grazhdanskaya Oborona
and Egor Letov's other projects. The music mixes equal parts Western punk and the traditional Russian influences, with gritty production and extremely charged and political lyrics.
The censorship was still present, but not as rigid as it was in the 1970s. It took years for the first Soviet rock bands to enter the media, tour in major concert halls over the USSR, and to release their albums officially.
The monopoly for the music publishing in the USSR belonged to Melodiya
, the "one and only" Soviet record label, and Melodiya had a strict policy against publishing "protest rock". Some of the artists (Yuri Shevchuk
, Yegor Letov and many others) even had problems with KGB
due to their artistic activities.
The situation around rock music changed during the perestroika
era. Many Russian rock bands were able to tour and record in Europe
and USA for the first time. As a result, in 1989-1991 the situation was completely different from that of 1985. Moscow Music Peace Festival
with western rock stars was held in Moscow, Gorbachev
accepted Scorpions
in Kremlin, and Brian Eno
produced an album by Zvuki Mu
and Dave Stewart
(of Eurythmics
fame) produced Radio Silence by Boris Grebenshchikov
for the release in the western world.
With Joanna Stingray's initiative, in 1986 the Red Wave
compilation was released in the United States
. It was a double split album
with four bands from Leningrad: Aquarium, Kino
, Alisa
, and Strannye Igry. One side of vinyl for each band. This compilation was the first official Russian rock release in the west.
Stingray sent copies of the release to Ronald Reagan
and Gorbachev, supplied with a statement saying musicians already did what both presidents could not do diplomatically.
Melodiya
's reaction was an official release of a record by Aquarium in order to create an illusion that recordings of the band are also widely released in the USSR.
Another important contributor for the breakthrough of Russian rock to the public in the 1980s were television
and film
. New musical television shows, such as Muzykalny Ring (Музыкальный ринг) and Programma A (Программа "А"), invited national rock artists for interviews and live shows. Several popular films were created in the second half of the 1980s, featuring Russian rock musicians as actors: Igla and Assa
featuring Viktor Tsoi
and music by Aquarium, Taxi Blues
featuring Pyotr Mamonov
. The Canadian filmmaker Peter Vronsky travelled to Moscow and Leningrad in February 1988 and shot a series of music videos with Televizor, Aquarium, Nebo i Zemlya, Zvuki Mu and other bands, tied together into a documentary film Russian Rock Underground which brought Russian Rock for the first time to MuchMusic television in Canada and to Italian television.
The beginning of the '90s are considered to be the end of the "classic" Russian rock era. The two events that mark its end are the death of Viktor Tsoi
in 1990, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union
in 1991. Nevertheless, the Russian rock sound continued to live and the new Russian rock sound of the '90s was based on it.
In the mid-late 1990s the radio station Nashe Radio
had been created to promote Russian rock artists, broadcasting in all major Russian cities. Nashe Radio notably influenced the auditory taste and helped many artists to gain popularity.
The radiostation founded Nashestvie
, the largest open-air rock festival of Russian rock music performed yearly since 1999 and always headlined with famous rock acts.
In 1996 the recording company Moroz started releasing the highly popular series Legends of Russian Rock
.
Often aired by Nashe Radio, bands like Splean
, Nochniye Snaiperi
, Smisloviye Galutzinatzii, Chicherina and Bi-2
have created a refreshed Russian rock sound which adopted many elements from Alternative rock
. Dolphin
created a mixture between alternative rock
, electronic music
and rapcore
.
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At that time the band Korol i Shut
created a unique style which combined alternative rock
and punk rock
. The band became very popular and many other groups were influenced by its style.
At the same time, numerous punk
, pop-punk and grunge
bands, including Pilot
, Lumen
, 7Rasa, Naiv, Tarakany! and Nogu Svelo! also gained major popularity. Many of them developed an original sound and involvement of unconventional instruments like violin
.
The Russian instrumental rock
artist Victor Zinchuk reached international success with his solo career, and by that brought the Russian instrumental rock
scene into a bigger audience.
Ska punk
was brought to popularity mainly by the band Leningrad
, notable of the extensive use of Mat - Russian dirty language - in its lyrics.
The western Pop rock
sound was introduced by Ilya Lagoutenko's Mumiy Troll
, who made their records in the UK under the guidance of UK producers. This less lyrically loaded and more energetic style frequently referred to as rockapops, which was also used by other notable bands such as Zemfira
, became prevalent among the younger public.
The 1997 Russian extremely popular films Brother
, with its soundtrack featuring the classic Russian rock band Nautilus Pompilius
, and its sequel Brother 2, whose soundtrack was compiled from music of many Russian rock artists, brought many young fans to Russian rock.
Alternative metal
and metalcore
gained wider popularity at that time. In mid-2000s bands like Amatory
, Psychea, Jane Air were established and soon arose in fame, being intensively promoted by A-One
channel. The channel awarded many of them with Russian Alternative Music Prize.
Russia
n Alternative rock
and Electronic music
gained world recognization with the pop duo t.A.T.u.
, which used elements from those styles, gaining international success. Please note however that although sounding 'rock-ish', t.A.T.u must not be mistaken as a part of Russian rock culture. While all other Russian rock bands are (at least originally) self-organized, t.A.T.u is a purely commercial project brought together by pop music producers and considered by most Russian rock fans as "popsa".
Russian Heavy metal
scene continued its development with power metal
bands like Shadow Host
, Catharsis
and Epidemia
, founded in 90's, received more attention.
In 2002 Valery Kipelov
split from Aria
, and with more ex-members of Aria he formed a new band called Kipelov
, which soon compared itself to Aria in popularity.
The underground pagan metal
scene, based on Slavic
pagan traditions, has grown widespread with such bands as Temnozor
, Arkona
, Pagan Reign and Butterfly Temple being noted by enthusiasts outside of Russia.
Underground scene is not limited to pagan metal, for example Orgia Pravednikov
, which employs various rock styles, is also absent on commercial radio. Its music and lyrics are influenced both by Christian (and other) spirituality and many folk elements.
Folk rock
music had a revival following Pelageya's and Melnitsa
's rise from underground acts to constantly radio-aired bands. Some acts (Bugotak, H-Ural, etc.) became popular performing songs in minor languages (Buryat
, Khanty
, etc.).
Though the Russian Progressive rock
scene had existed since the '70s, it was the 2000s when it entered the public eye of Russian rock fans, with bands like Little Tragedies its most obvious representatives. Since 2001 a prog
-music festival named InProg
was held almost yearly in Moscow
. Its popularity constantly grew and in 2005 it turned from a local festival
into an international one.
The Russian instrumental rock
scene with bands like EXIT project
, Disen Gage
, Dvar
and Kostarev Group also received more recognition at that time.
The 2005 Live 8 concert
that took place in Moscow featured mainly Russia
n rock
artists.
The rockapops phenomenon from the 90's continued to gain popularity in the 2000s with new bands like Zveri
arriving.
dismissively as "popsa", a dichotomy that appeared in the '80s when government controlled radio and TV stations would air only politically harmless music by performers such as Philipp Kirkorov
. The lines are still quite clearly drawn, with bands such as Nogu Svelo! - who recorded a song with pop-singer Nataliya Vetlitskaya - being an anomaly.
In contrast to Western rock, Russian rock is often said to have less drive; it is characterized by different rhythms, instruments and more involved lyrics. Unconventional instruments have often been used in addition to the standard electric guitars and drums (very often violin
and wind instruments).
Another characteristic of Russian Rock is being partly Folk rock
. Very often Russian Rock songs, especially those of the classic 80s bands, talk about national themes and feature elements from Russian
folk music
. Aquarium, DDT
and Yuri Morozov
could be used as examples for that.
Considering its poetic roots (Russian literature
, bard music
), it is not a big surprise that lyrics play a far larger role in Russian rock than Western rock. Vocal melody is sometimes eschewed in favor of a more impassioned delivery (Viktor Tsoi
, the lead singer of Kino
, pioneered a characteristically strained, monotonous style of singing that has been imitated by many).
Russia has always been facing both East and West with its double-headed Eagle on the coat-of-arms. The Eastern derivative in the Russian rock came with soundtracks from movies like Day Watch
that had Tamerlan's legend of the Chalk of Destiny at its roots. Russian rock expressively used and integrated elements from culture, as well as Western and Eastern (especially countries of the USSR).
Yngvar Bordrewich Steinholt (University of Tromsø
, Norway
) has written a PhD thesis in English
that was printed by The Mass Media Music Scholars Press titled "Rock in the Reservation" (2004) about the Leningrad
Rock Club. It also touched upon the history of rock in Russia and its counter-cultural tendencies.
The wordplay is used in the song "This is Fate" from Aria
's debut album "Mania Velichia".
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
made in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
or in the Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
. Rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
became known in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in the 1960s and quickly broke free from its western roots. According to many music critics, its "golden age" years were the 1980s (especially the era of perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
), when the Soviet underground rock bands could release their records officially. The great majority of the bands perform in the Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
.
The early 1960s: Local bard music and first western influences
Prior to the late sixties, music in the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
was divided into two groups: music published by state record company Melodiya
Melodiya
Melodiya is a Russian record label. It was the state-owned major record company/label of the Soviet Union.-History:It was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm of the USSR Ministry of Culture Melodiya"...
, and everything else. Under this second group were the bards
Bard (Soviet Union)
The term bard came to be used in the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, and continues to be used in Russia today, to refer to singer-songwriters who wrote songs outside the Soviet establishment, similarly to beatnik folk singers of the United States...
, underground folk singer–songwriter
Singer–songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
s.
Bards such as Vladimir Vysotsky
Vladimir Vysotsky
Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky was a Soviet singer, songwriter, poet, and actor whose career had an immense and enduring effect on Russian culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often humorous street...
and Bulat Okudzhava
Bulat Okudzhava
Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava was a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, musician, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He was one of the founders of the Russian genre called "author song"...
were among the many artists who created the style which is referred to as "author's song" (авторская песня), mostly played on unaccompanied acoustic guitar and characterized by a strong accent on lyrics that sometimes carried a subversive meaning. Their music was often suppressed by the government, and yet enjoyed massive popularity, with Vysotsky becoming a highly popular cinema and theatre actor and an iconic figure of the times.
Meanwhile, some Western music was either being smuggled across the border or released by Melodiya as part of what essentially was state-run pirating of records, with The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
taking a firm place in Soviet popular culture, and artists such as The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
and Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
completing a somewhat distorted picture of Western music.
The first rock bands in the Soviet Union appeared on the scene in the early sixties in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, and they were heavily influenced by The Beatles.
The late 1960s and 1970s: First signs
The ive bands grew popular in spite of governmental restrictions. This continued into the 1980s, when native bands gained some success, but were still hampered by state regulators who would not allow them to be officially recorded, and placed restrictions on lyrical content.Guitar-driven bands evolved during this time, including Pojuschie Gitary (the singing guitars), and almost at the same time Mashina Vremeni
Mashina Vremeni
Mashina Vremeni is a Russian rock band founded in 1969. Mashina Vremeni was a pioneer in Soviet rock music, and remains one of the oldest still active rock bands in Russia...
and Aquarium. These bands started the VIA (Вокально-Инструментальный Ансамбль Vokal'no-Instrumental'nyy ansambl' -- Vocal-Instrumental Ensemble) movement, and were followed by Tcvety, Golubiye Gitary and Sinyaya Ptica.
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, using elements of progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
and Ethnic Russian music
Ethnic Russian music
Ethnic Russian music specifically deals with the folk music traditions of the ethnic Russian people. It does not include the various forms of art music, which in Russia often contains folk melodies and folk elements or music of aother ethnic groups living in Russia.-History:The roots of Russian...
as well. His sound influenced DDT
DDT
DDT is one of the most well-known synthetic insecticides. It is a chemical with a long, unique, and controversial history....
, Aquarium, Chizh & Co
Chizh & Co
Чиж & Co or Chizh & Co is a Russian rock band. It was named The Band of a Year by "Rock-Fuzz" magazine in 1997.-Discography:...
, and many others, while he worked with them as a sound engineer.
Another notable artist who started his activity at the same time is Alexander Gradsky
Alexander Gradsky
Alexander Borisovich Gradsky is a Russian rock singer, bard, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was one of the earliest performers of rock music in Russia. His diverse repertoire includes rock 'n' roll, traditional folk songs performed with a rock twist, and operatic arias...
, who fused bard
Bard (Soviet Union)
The term bard came to be used in the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, and continues to be used in Russia today, to refer to singer-songwriters who wrote songs outside the Soviet establishment, similarly to beatnik folk singers of the United States...
music with rock. There was no protest against the Soviet government in the lyrics he sang, so he was able to release records through Melodiya and millions of them were sold all over the country.
The 1980s: "Classic" Russian rock
In the 1980s an underground scene of rock artists emerged that based their style on a mix of Western rock music (particularly those from the 1960s and 70s but also, increasingly, those that emerged out of the Western punk rockPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
) and the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n bard tradition. Such bands as Alisa
Alisa
Alisa is a Russian hard rock band, who are credited as one of the most influential bands in the Russian rock movement.-Biography:Alisa was formed in November 1983 by bassist Svyatoslav Zadery. The band's name originated from Zadery nickname...
, Agata Kristi
Agata Kristi
Agatha Christie is a Russian gothic rock band led by brothers Vadim and Gleb Samoylov, that was established in Sverdlovsk in 1988. It is named after English detective writer Agatha Christie. According to Gleb Samoylov, it's the band playing art-rock and rock'n'roll, and with texts infiltrated by...
, Autograph
Autograph (Russian band)
Autograph was a Soviet Russian art rock band, considered a pioneer of progressive rock music in Russia.The group was founded in 1979 by Alexander "Sasha" Sitkovetsky, and achieved a considerable success at the first Soviet state-sanctioned rock festival held in Tbilisi, Georgia with Sitkovetsky's...
, Kino
Kino (band)
Kino was a Soviet rock band headed by Viktor Tsoi. It was one of the most famous Soviet rock groups of the 1980s.-History:The band was formed in the summer of 1981 in Leningrad, USSR Kino was a Soviet rock band headed by Viktor Tsoi. It was one of the most famous Soviet rock groups of the...
, Mashina Vremeni
Mashina Vremeni
Mashina Vremeni is a Russian rock band founded in 1969. Mashina Vremeni was a pioneer in Soviet rock music, and remains one of the oldest still active rock bands in Russia...
, Nautilus Pompilius
Nautilus Pompilius (band)
Nautilus Pompilius , sometimes nicknamed Nau , was a prominent Soviet/Russian rock band formed by the lead singer Vyacheslav Butusov and bassist Dmitry Umetsky while the two studied in Sverdlovsk Institute of Architecture . The band, with its various incarnations, was active between the years 1983...
, Aquarium, Krematorij
Krematorij
Krematorij is a Russian rock group. The group’s front man is Armen Grigoryan .-History:...
, Grazhdanskaya Oborona
Grazhdanskaya Oborona
Grazhdanskaya Oborona is one of the earliest and most famous Russian punk bands and now maintains a huge army of fans, admirers, and followers. It inspired hundreds of subsequent Soviet and then Russian bands. The name of the band means "Civil Defence" in Russian...
, Voskreseniye
Voskreseniye
Voskreseniye is a classic Russian rock band.-History:The band was formed in 1979 by ex-members of Mashina Vremeni, and immediately gained a lot of popularity. After releasing the albums Voskreseniye 1 and Voskreseniye 2, which were a success, the band went on a hiatus, and returned only in 1994...
, Secret
Secret (band)
Secret is a widely known Soviet and then Russian rock and roll band founded in 1982. Largely modeled after the Beatles, and styling themselves as a "Beat Quartet", Secret were prominent on the fledgling 1980s Soviet rock scene....
, Piknik
Piknik
Piknik is a Russian rock band known for its unique style which is a mixture of Jazz rock, Art-rock, Progressive rock and original Russian rock. Since the year it was formed, 1978, the band's formation changed a few times with the only constant member being Edmund Shklarsky, its leader. It is...
, and DDT
DDT (band)
DDT is a popular Russian rock band founded by its lead singer, Yuri Shevchuk , in Ufa in 1980...
were influential in the development of the genre, with the consequent artists influenced by their style.
Russian rock was also influenced by the Russian art group Mitki
Mitki
The Mitki are an art group in St. Petersburg, Russia.-The Mitki movement:The Mitki movement originally emerged from Vladimir Shinkarev’s literary work Mitki, which consists of eight chapters. The first five chapters were written between 1984 and 1985, though the book was not finished until four...
and the Western hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
s.
In 1980 a big Rock festival
Rock festival
A rock festival, or a rock fest, is a large-scale rock music concert, featuring multiple acts.The first rock festivals were put on in the late 1960s and were important socio-cultural milestones. In the 1980s a minor resurgence of festivals occurred with charity as the goal.Today, they are often...
was held in Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, Georgian SSR, named Spring Rhythms. Tbilisi-80
Tbilisi Rock Festival (1980)
The Spring Rhythms. Tbilisi-80 was a musical event held in Tbilisi, capital of the Georgian SSR, Soviet Union, from March 8 to March 16, 1980. It was the first official rock festival in the Soviet Union and is frequently considered the turning point in the history of Soviet and Russian rock...
. Almost all the performers and prize-winners at the festival were rock groups from the Russian SFSR. It was the first official rock festival
Rock festival
A rock festival, or a rock fest, is a large-scale rock music concert, featuring multiple acts.The first rock festivals were put on in the late 1960s and were important socio-cultural milestones. In the 1980s a minor resurgence of festivals occurred with charity as the goal.Today, they are often...
in the Soviet Union.
The lyrics of the Soviet rock bands often dealt with the darkest sides of the 80s Soviet life such as domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
, alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
(an infamous song by Nautilus Pompilius
Nautilus Pompilius (band)
Nautilus Pompilius , sometimes nicknamed Nau , was a prominent Soviet/Russian rock band formed by the lead singer Vyacheslav Butusov and bassist Dmitry Umetsky while the two studied in Sverdlovsk Institute of Architecture . The band, with its various incarnations, was active between the years 1983...
contained the lines "Alain Delon
Alain Delon
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon is a French actor. He rose quickly to stardom, and by the age of 23 was already being compared to French actors such as Gérard Philipe and Jean Marais, as well as American actor James Dean. He was even called the male Brigitte Bardot...
drinks a double bourbon/Alain Delon doesn't drink eau de cologne" as a sarcastic contrast to the alcoholic father described in the song and an indictment of the escapist attitudes of state-run media) and crime, and often carried a hidden political message.
These bands were consequently ignored by the mainstream radio and television, often reaching audiences only through word of mouth.
Many of the 1980s bands are still active and popular among Russian youth. The term Russian rock is often used to refer to the particular sound of these bands.
Various music scenes
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
(now Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
) and Sverdlovsk
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
(now Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
). These three cities had their own rock music scene, with friendly collaborations between artists commonplace.
The Leningrad Rock Club
Leningrad Rock Club
The Leningrad Rock Club was a historic music venue of the 1980s in Leningrad, situated on Rubinstein Street in the city center. Opened in 1981 and overseen by the KGB, it became the first legal rock music venue in Leningrad...
was probably the biggest venue, featuring "classic Russian rock" by Aquarium, Kino
Kino (band)
Kino was a Soviet rock band headed by Viktor Tsoi. It was one of the most famous Soviet rock groups of the 1980s.-History:The band was formed in the summer of 1981 in Leningrad, USSR Kino was a Soviet rock band headed by Viktor Tsoi. It was one of the most famous Soviet rock groups of the...
, Zoopark
Zoopark
Zoopark was one of the founding rock groups which began the Russian rock movement. The group was founded in 1980. It consisted of singer-songwriter Mike Naumenko, guitarist Aleksandr Khrabunov and a varied group of artists. The first album recorded was All Brothers are Sisters with Boris...
, Piknik
Piknik
Piknik is a Russian rock band known for its unique style which is a mixture of Jazz rock, Art-rock, Progressive rock and original Russian rock. Since the year it was formed, 1978, the band's formation changed a few times with the only constant member being Edmund Shklarsky, its leader. It is...
, Alisa
Alisa
Alisa is a Russian hard rock band, who are credited as one of the most influential bands in the Russian rock movement.-Biography:Alisa was formed in November 1983 by bassist Svyatoslav Zadery. The band's name originated from Zadery nickname...
and DDT
DDT (band)
DDT is a popular Russian rock band founded by its lead singer, Yuri Shevchuk , in Ufa in 1980...
. It also included the nascent Russian art rock movement, typified by such bands as Auktyon
Auktyon
Auktyon or АукцЫон is a Russian avant-garde rock band from Saint Petersburg, Russia.The band was founded by Leonid Fyodorov and Oleg Garkusha at the Polytechnic Institute of Leningrad...
.
Bands from Sverdlovsk
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
, such as Nautilus Pompilius
Nautilus Pompilius (band)
Nautilus Pompilius , sometimes nicknamed Nau , was a prominent Soviet/Russian rock band formed by the lead singer Vyacheslav Butusov and bassist Dmitry Umetsky while the two studied in Sverdlovsk Institute of Architecture . The band, with its various incarnations, was active between the years 1983...
, Chaif
Chaif
Chaif is a Russian rock band formed in 1984 in Sverdlovsk , Russia, by Vladimir Shakhrin and Vladimir Begunov. Their name is derived from the word chai, meaning tea, and kaif , meaning pleasure. The band reached national fame in 1992 with songs such as Don't Hurry and 17...
, and Agata Kristi
Agata Kristi
Agatha Christie is a Russian gothic rock band led by brothers Vadim and Gleb Samoylov, that was established in Sverdlovsk in 1988. It is named after English detective writer Agatha Christie. According to Gleb Samoylov, it's the band playing art-rock and rock'n'roll, and with texts infiltrated by...
, produced more melodic music making heavy use of keyboards and synthesizers.
Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
rock bands, such as Aria
Aria (band)
Aria is a Russian heavy metal band that was formed in 1985 in Moscow. Although it was not the first Soviet band to play Heavy music, Aria was the first to break through to mainstream media and commercial success. According to several public polls, Aria ranks among top 10 most popular Russian rock...
, Mashina Vremeni
Mashina Vremeni
Mashina Vremeni is a Russian rock band founded in 1969. Mashina Vremeni was a pioneer in Soviet rock music, and remains one of the oldest still active rock bands in Russia...
, Voskreseniye
Voskreseniye
Voskreseniye is a classic Russian rock band.-History:The band was formed in 1979 by ex-members of Mashina Vremeni, and immediately gained a lot of popularity. After releasing the albums Voskreseniye 1 and Voskreseniye 2, which were a success, the band went on a hiatus, and returned only in 1994...
, Center, Krematorij
Krematorij
Krematorij is a Russian rock group. The group’s front man is Armen Grigoryan .-History:...
and Zvuki Mu
Zvuki Mu
Zvuki Mu , a Russian alternative rock/indie/post-punk band founded in Moscow in the early 1980s. Lead singer and songwriter Pyotr Mamonov is one of the most revered and eccentric figures of the Russian art scene, whose absurdist lyrics are as playful and disturbing as his vocal style and explosive...
, were rather different from the others and sometimes more discreet.
The Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n rock scene began in the 1980s, with such songwriters as Egor Letov (Grazhdanskaya Oborona
Grazhdanskaya Oborona
Grazhdanskaya Oborona is one of the earliest and most famous Russian punk bands and now maintains a huge army of fans, admirers, and followers. It inspired hundreds of subsequent Soviet and then Russian bands. The name of the band means "Civil Defence" in Russian...
, Omsk
Omsk
-History:The wooden fort of Omsk was erected in 1716 to protect the expanding Russian frontier along the Ishim and the Irtysh rivers against the Kyrgyz nomads of the Steppes...
), Kalinov most
Kalinov most
Kalinov Most is a Russian folk rock band, one of the most popular bands in Russia.The band was formed in 1984 by vocalist and song-writer Dmitry Revyakin in Novosibirsk, Siberia, USSR. They are widely considered to be the first Russian folk rock band.Their music and lyrics are deeply influenced by...
, Alexander Bashlachev
Alexander Bashlachev
Alexander Nickolaevich Bashlachev was a Russian poet, musician, guitarist, and singer-songwriter.-Early life:Bashlachev was born in Cherepovets, Soviet Union, the son of Nikolai Bashlachev and Nellie Bashlacheva....
and Yanka Dyagileva
Yanka Dyagileva
Yana "Yanka" Stanislavovna Dyagileva was a Russian poet and singer-songwriter.Dyagileva was born in Novosibirsk. She was one of the brightest figures in Russia's underground punk scene. She both played solo and performed with others, including Egor Letov and Velikiye Oktyabri , a rock band...
. Their music varied from simple lo-fi punk to indie rock (sometimes acoustic), and the core of their songs were the lyrics. Many albums were first self-released and distributed among the fans via trading, then officially re-released years later. Lyrics were often obscene, and the musicians had major problems with the Soviet administration and KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
. Notable acts that were not members of any of the three Rock-Clubs but were highly popular are Rock N' Roll band Secret
Secret (band)
Secret is a widely known Soviet and then Russian rock and roll band founded in 1982. Largely modeled after the Beatles, and styling themselves as a "Beat Quartet", Secret were prominent on the fledgling 1980s Soviet rock scene....
.
At that time the Russian Heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
scene was created thanks to bands like Aria
Aria (band)
Aria is a Russian heavy metal band that was formed in 1985 in Moscow. Although it was not the first Soviet band to play Heavy music, Aria was the first to break through to mainstream media and commercial success. According to several public polls, Aria ranks among top 10 most popular Russian rock...
, Chorny Kofe and Master
Master (Russian band)
This article is about the Russian thrash metal band. For the American death metal band, see Master .Master is a thrash metal band from Russia, founded in 1987 by former members of Aria.-Biography:...
(formed by a few ex-members of Aria).
The glam metal
Glam metal
Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...
band Gorky Park
Gorky Park (band)
Gorky Park or Парк Горького was a Soviet Glam Metal band, that gained mainstream popularity in USA during Perestroika. Gorky Park is famous for its kitsch use of western stereotypes of Russians, such as pseudo-traditional clothing, balalaika-like guitar design and Hammer and sickle as their logo...
reached high popularity in the west and was even aired on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.
Russian punk's unique style is generally accepted to be most idealized by Grazhdanskaya Oborona
Grazhdanskaya Oborona
Grazhdanskaya Oborona is one of the earliest and most famous Russian punk bands and now maintains a huge army of fans, admirers, and followers. It inspired hundreds of subsequent Soviet and then Russian bands. The name of the band means "Civil Defence" in Russian...
and Egor Letov's other projects. The music mixes equal parts Western punk and the traditional Russian influences, with gritty production and extremely charged and political lyrics.
From underground to publicity
The 1980s were the years of breakthrough for the soviet rock music artists to the wide public. Political and social changes in the country were very important for this process.The censorship was still present, but not as rigid as it was in the 1970s. It took years for the first Soviet rock bands to enter the media, tour in major concert halls over the USSR, and to release their albums officially.
The monopoly for the music publishing in the USSR belonged to Melodiya
Melodiya
Melodiya is a Russian record label. It was the state-owned major record company/label of the Soviet Union.-History:It was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm of the USSR Ministry of Culture Melodiya"...
, the "one and only" Soviet record label, and Melodiya had a strict policy against publishing "protest rock". Some of the artists (Yuri Shevchuk
Yuri Shevchuk
Yuri Yulianovich Shevchuk , born 16 May 1957, is a Soviet and Russian singer/songwriter who leads the rock band DDT, which he founded with Vladimir Sigachev in 1980. Shevchuk was born in Yagodnoye in Magadan Oblast and raised in Ufa, Bashkir ASSR, though he now resides in St. Petersburg, Russia....
, Yegor Letov and many others) even had problems with KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
due to their artistic activities.
The situation around rock music changed during the perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
era. Many Russian rock bands were able to tour and record in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and USA for the first time. As a result, in 1989-1991 the situation was completely different from that of 1985. Moscow Music Peace Festival
Moscow Music Peace Festival
The Moscow Music Peace Festival was a one-time gathering of high-profile hard rock acts for a performance in Moscow, Soviet Union on 12 and 13 August 1989 to promote world peace and establish international cooperation in fighting the drug war in Russia. It was part of an era of momentous change in...
with western rock stars was held in Moscow, Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
accepted Scorpions
Scorpions (band)
Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
in Kremlin, and Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
produced an album by Zvuki Mu
Zvuki Mu
Zvuki Mu , a Russian alternative rock/indie/post-punk band founded in Moscow in the early 1980s. Lead singer and songwriter Pyotr Mamonov is one of the most revered and eccentric figures of the Russian art scene, whose absurdist lyrics are as playful and disturbing as his vocal style and explosive...
and Dave Stewart
David A. Stewart
David Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".-Early life:Stewart was born in Sunderland,...
(of Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
fame) produced Radio Silence by Boris Grebenshchikov
Boris Grebenshchikov
Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov also known as Boris Purushottama Grebenshikov, is one of the most prominent members of the generation which is widely considered the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music...
for the release in the western world.
With Joanna Stingray's initiative, in 1986 the Red Wave
Red Wave
-Side 3 :All songs from the album Energy.# "Экспериментатор" – 4:31# "Мы вместе" – 2:43# "Доктор Буги" -Side 3 (Alisa):All songs from the album Energy.# "Экспериментатор" (Experimentor) – 4:31# "Мы вместе" (We're together) – 2:43# "Доктор Буги" -Side 3 (Alisa):All songs from the album Energy.#...
compilation was released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was a double split album
Split album
A split album is a music album which includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There have been singles and EPs released in the same nature, which can be referred to as split singles and split EPs respectively...
with four bands from Leningrad: Aquarium, Kino
Kino (band)
Kino was a Soviet rock band headed by Viktor Tsoi. It was one of the most famous Soviet rock groups of the 1980s.-History:The band was formed in the summer of 1981 in Leningrad, USSR Kino was a Soviet rock band headed by Viktor Tsoi. It was one of the most famous Soviet rock groups of the...
, Alisa
Alisa
Alisa is a Russian hard rock band, who are credited as one of the most influential bands in the Russian rock movement.-Biography:Alisa was formed in November 1983 by bassist Svyatoslav Zadery. The band's name originated from Zadery nickname...
, and Strannye Igry. One side of vinyl for each band. This compilation was the first official Russian rock release in the west.
Stingray sent copies of the release to Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and Gorbachev, supplied with a statement saying musicians already did what both presidents could not do diplomatically.
Melodiya
Melodiya
Melodiya is a Russian record label. It was the state-owned major record company/label of the Soviet Union.-History:It was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm of the USSR Ministry of Culture Melodiya"...
's reaction was an official release of a record by Aquarium in order to create an illusion that recordings of the band are also widely released in the USSR.
Another important contributor for the breakthrough of Russian rock to the public in the 1980s were television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. New musical television shows, such as Muzykalny Ring (Музыкальный ринг) and Programma A (Программа "А"), invited national rock artists for interviews and live shows. Several popular films were created in the second half of the 1980s, featuring Russian rock musicians as actors: Igla and Assa
Assa (film)
Assa is a Soviet film directed by Sergei Solovyov and released in 1987. It became a cult film, mostly thanks to the fact that it was one of the films that brought Russian rock music from the underground into the mainstream.-Plot:...
featuring Viktor Tsoi
Viktor Tsoi
Viktor Robertovich Tsoi ; 21 June 1962 – 15 August 1990) was a Soviet rock musician, leader of the band Kino.He is regarded as one of the pioneers of Russian rock and has many devoted fans across the countries of the former Soviet Union even today...
and music by Aquarium, Taxi Blues
Taxi Blues
Taxi Blues is a 1990 Soviet drama film directed by Pavel Lungin. It was entered into the 1990 Cannes Film Festival where Lungin won the award for Best Director.-Plot:...
featuring Pyotr Mamonov
Pyotr Mamonov
Pyotr Nikolayevich Mamonov is a Russian rock musician, songwriter and actor, former frontman of the Moscow band Zvuki Mu.Mamonov was one of the few rock musicians from former USSR who managed to achieve recognition abroad, through his collaboration with Brian Eno in the late 1980s...
. The Canadian filmmaker Peter Vronsky travelled to Moscow and Leningrad in February 1988 and shot a series of music videos with Televizor, Aquarium, Nebo i Zemlya, Zvuki Mu and other bands, tied together into a documentary film Russian Rock Underground which brought Russian Rock for the first time to MuchMusic television in Canada and to Italian television.
The '90s: Post-Soviet era
Viktor Tsoi
Viktor Robertovich Tsoi ; 21 June 1962 – 15 August 1990) was a Soviet rock musician, leader of the band Kino.He is regarded as one of the pioneers of Russian rock and has many devoted fans across the countries of the former Soviet Union even today...
in 1990, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
in 1991. Nevertheless, the Russian rock sound continued to live and the new Russian rock sound of the '90s was based on it.
In the mid-late 1990s the radio station Nashe Radio
Nashe Radio
Nashe Radio is a rock music station designed to promote Russian rock bands . It is broadcast in every major Russian city as well as having an internet stream...
had been created to promote Russian rock artists, broadcasting in all major Russian cities. Nashe Radio notably influenced the auditory taste and helped many artists to gain popularity.
The radiostation founded Nashestvie
Nashestvie
Nashestvie is one of the largest open-air festival of Russian rock, organized by Nashe Radio station. It is held annually during the first weekend of August somewhere in the environs of Moscow, Russia, since 1999 to this day with the exception of 2007...
, the largest open-air rock festival of Russian rock music performed yearly since 1999 and always headlined with famous rock acts.
In 1996 the recording company Moroz started releasing the highly popular series Legends of Russian Rock
Legends of Russian Rock
Legends of Russian Rock is an anthology of Russian rock published by Konstantin Preobrazhenski and Vasily Gavrilov of Moroz Records in 1996 as a six-disk collection, later augmented by further albums....
.
Often aired by Nashe Radio, bands like Splean
Splean
Splean is a popular Russian rock band. They were formed and released their first album in 1994. Since then, they have remained one of the most popular rock bands in Russia and the former Soviet Union. The band's name is derived from "spleen" , and the "ea" spelling in English is a pun on the...
, Nochniye Snaiperi
Nochniye Snaiperi
Nochnyie Snaipery is a Russian rock group. It was founded in 1993 as an acoustic female duo of Diana Arbenina and Svetlana Surganova . The ladies played guitar and violin respectively, sharing the vocal and songwriting duties evenly, eventually adding amplification to the band...
, Smisloviye Galutzinatzii, Chicherina and Bi-2
Bi-2
Bi-2 is a Russian rock band with Belarusian origin, formed in the 80's in Minsk, Belarus. It was one of the most successful with many sales and chart-hits in Russia. Bi-2 was awarded MTV Russian Music Awards for Best Rock Act in 2007.-Pre-history:...
have created a refreshed Russian rock sound which adopted many elements from Alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
. Dolphin
Dolphin (musician)
Andrey Vyacheslavovich Lysikov is a Russian poet and musician, known by his stage name Dolphin . He won the award of best artist at the 2004 MTV Russian Music Awards...
created a mixture between alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
, electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and rapcore
Rapcore
Rapcore is a subgenre of rap rock fusing vocal and sometimes instrumental elements of hip hop with punk rock .-History:...
.
Korol i Shut
Korol' i Shut is a Russian horror punk band from Saint Petersburg who takes its inspiration and costumes from tales and fables.-History:...
created a unique style which combined alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
and punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
. The band became very popular and many other groups were influenced by its style.
At the same time, numerous punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, pop-punk and grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
bands, including Pilot
Pilot (Russian band)
Pilot, also known as PilOt is a popular Russian punk band from Saint Petersburg, led by Ilja "Chjort" Knabengof. Composed of 4 members, the band appeared in the late 1990s.-Current line-up:...
, Lumen
Lumen (band)
Lumen is a Russian rock band from Ufa first formed by a young boy named Michael, known as the "Man". They combine punk rock with traditional Russian rock. The band considers February 12, 1998 as their birthday...
, 7Rasa, Naiv, Tarakany! and Nogu Svelo! also gained major popularity. Many of them developed an original sound and involvement of unconventional instruments like violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
.
The Russian instrumental rock
Instrumental rock
Instrumental rock is a type of rock music which emphasizes musical instruments, and which features very little or no singing.Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style, most notably Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Link...
artist Victor Zinchuk reached international success with his solo career, and by that brought the Russian instrumental rock
Instrumental rock
Instrumental rock is a type of rock music which emphasizes musical instruments, and which features very little or no singing.Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style, most notably Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Link...
scene into a bigger audience.
Ska punk
Ska punk
Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...
was brought to popularity mainly by the band Leningrad
Leningrad (band)
Leningrad , also known as Gruppirovka Leningrad and Bandformirovanie Leningrad , is a popular Russian ska punk band from Saint Petersburg , led by Sergey "Shnur" Shnurov....
, notable of the extensive use of Mat - Russian dirty language - in its lyrics.
The western Pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
sound was introduced by Ilya Lagoutenko's Mumiy Troll
Mumiy Troll
Mumiy Troll is a Russian rock group, founded in 1983 in Vladivostok by vocalist and songwriter Ilya Lagutenko . The literal name of the band, 'The mummies' troll', is a pun on Moomin Troll, the series of Finnish children's books by Tove Jansson.Mumiy Troll broke up when Lagutenko, who graduated in...
, who made their records in the UK under the guidance of UK producers. This less lyrically loaded and more energetic style frequently referred to as rockapops, which was also used by other notable bands such as Zemfira
Zemfira
Zemfira, officially Zemfira Talgatovna Ramazanova ; born 26 August 1976 in Ufa, Bashkortostan) is a Russian rock artist of Bashkir descent...
, became prevalent among the younger public.
The 1997 Russian extremely popular films Brother
Brother (1997 film)
Brother is a 1997 Russian crime film directed by Aleksei Balabanov and starring Sergei Bodrov, Jr. The sequel Brother 2 was released in 2000. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...
, with its soundtrack featuring the classic Russian rock band Nautilus Pompilius
Nautilus Pompilius (band)
Nautilus Pompilius , sometimes nicknamed Nau , was a prominent Soviet/Russian rock band formed by the lead singer Vyacheslav Butusov and bassist Dmitry Umetsky while the two studied in Sverdlovsk Institute of Architecture . The band, with its various incarnations, was active between the years 1983...
, and its sequel Brother 2, whose soundtrack was compiled from music of many Russian rock artists, brought many young fans to Russian rock.
The 2000s: Further development - current activity
The 2000s in Russian Rock are marked by both a continuance of the '90s and something of a comeback of the classic 80s sound. In the years following the renaissance of Russian cinema and rock, rock in Russia seems to gain enough ground to differentiate widely in various genres.Alternative metal
Alternative metal
Alternative metal is a genre of alternative rock and heavy metal that gained popularity in the early 1990s. Most notably, alternative metal bands are characterized by heavy guitar riffs and experimental approaches to heavy music.-Origins:...
and metalcore
Metalcore
Metalcore is a subgenre of heavy metal combining various elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. The name is a portmanteau of the names of the two genres. The term took on its current meaning in the mid-1990s, describing bands such as Earth Crisis, Deadguy and Integrity...
gained wider popularity at that time. In mid-2000s bands like Amatory
Amatory
Amatory is a Russian nu-metal band, formed in 2001 in Saint Petersburg. The band spans several genres, including Death Metal, Metalcore, and Melodic Death Metal....
, Psychea, Jane Air were established and soon arose in fame, being intensively promoted by A-One
A-One (TV channel)
A-One is a Russian rock music channel, broadcasting since 2005. Its main format is alternative rock music.Channel was launched on August 1, 2005, in Russia...
channel. The channel awarded many of them with Russian Alternative Music Prize.
Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
and Electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
gained world recognization with the pop duo t.A.T.u.
T.A.T.u.
t.A.T.u. was a duo formed in Moscow, Russia in 1999 by Ivan Shapovalov. The group consisted of Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova.Their debut single "Ya Soshla S Uma" was released in December 2000. The single had a huge success in Russia and Eastern Europe...
, which used elements from those styles, gaining international success. Please note however that although sounding 'rock-ish', t.A.T.u must not be mistaken as a part of Russian rock culture. While all other Russian rock bands are (at least originally) self-organized, t.A.T.u is a purely commercial project brought together by pop music producers and considered by most Russian rock fans as "popsa".
Russian Heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
scene continued its development with power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
bands like Shadow Host
Shadow Host
-Formation of Band:Shadow Host is a power metal band from Russia that was formed in 1993 by guitarist Alexey Arzamazov. Alexey soon recruited Sergey Ramzin on guitar, Platon Yukhnovets on bass, and Max Zelenskiy on drums. The band played with a number of vocalists for nearly the next year. ...
, Catharsis
Catharsis (Russian band)
Catharsis is a Russian symphonic power metal band founded in 1996.-Biography:The band was founded in Moscow in 1996 by guitarist Igor Polakov and vocalist Sergey Bendrikov. In its demo albums the band played a kind of death doom metal, but since their second album, "Febris Erotica", they turned to...
and Epidemia
Epidemia
Epidemia is a Russian power metal band famous for doing the Elven Manuscript metal opera in 2004. It was formed by guitarist Yuri "Juron" Melisov in 1993, with the first songs made in 1995. The band was once nominated for an MTV Europe Music Award....
, founded in 90's, received more attention.
In 2002 Valery Kipelov
Valery Kipelov
Valery Alexandrovich Kipelov Valery Alexandrovich Kipelov Valery Alexandrovich Kipelov (Валерий Александрович Кипелов (born July 12, 1958), is a Russian music artist and composer, who was the vocalist of heavy metal band Aria. Since 2002, Valery leads his own heavy metal band Kipelov.-Early...
split from Aria
Aria (band)
Aria is a Russian heavy metal band that was formed in 1985 in Moscow. Although it was not the first Soviet band to play Heavy music, Aria was the first to break through to mainstream media and commercial success. According to several public polls, Aria ranks among top 10 most popular Russian rock...
, and with more ex-members of Aria he formed a new band called Kipelov
Kipelov
Kipelov is a Russian heavy metal band formed and led by former Aria vocalist Valery Kipelov.-Origins:In 2002, dissension in the heavy metal band Aria led to Aria members Valery Kipelov , Sergey Terentyev and Alexander Maniakin leaving that band and joining with former Aria member Sergey Mavrin...
, which soon compared itself to Aria in popularity.
The underground pagan metal
Pagan metal
Pagan metal is an umbrella term for heavy metal music which fuses extreme metal with "the pre-Christian traditions of a specific culture or region through thematic concept, rustic melodies, unusual instruments or archaic languages", usually referring to folk metal or black metal. The Norwegian band...
scene, based on Slavic
Slavic mythology
Slavic mythology is the mythological aspect of the polytheistic religion that was practised by the Slavs before Christianisation.The religion possesses many common traits with other religions descended from the Proto-Indo-European religion....
pagan traditions, has grown widespread with such bands as Temnozor
Temnozor
Temnozor is a pagan metal NSBM band formed in 1996 in Obninsk, Russia. According to the band in statements on its website, it was formed to express the pride its members had of being Slavic. Temnozor started out as a raw black metal band with folk influences, but folk music has increasingly...
, Arkona
Arkona (band)
Arkona is a Russian pagan metal band. Their lyrics are heavily influenced by Russian folklore and Slavic mythology, and their music incorporates several traditional Russian musical instruments...
, Pagan Reign and Butterfly Temple being noted by enthusiasts outside of Russia.
Underground scene is not limited to pagan metal, for example Orgia Pravednikov
Orgia Pravednikov
Orgia Pravednikov is a Russian rock group, which formed in 1999 by uniting the art-rock band «ARTEL» and rock-bard Sergey Kalugin. The peculiar sound of the band arises from the combination of acoustic and electric sessions.-Studio Albums:* 2001 — Oglaschennie, isydite! * 2005 — Dveri! Dveri! *...
, which employs various rock styles, is also absent on commercial radio. Its music and lyrics are influenced both by Christian (and other) spirituality and many folk elements.
Folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
music had a revival following Pelageya's and Melnitsa
Melnitsa
Melnitsa - is a Russian folk rock band. It was founded in 1999 by Natalia "Hellawes" O'Shea and Alexey "Chus" Sapkov around the remnants of a local folk band 'Till Eulenspiegel'.-Style:...
's rise from underground acts to constantly radio-aired bands. Some acts (Bugotak, H-Ural, etc.) became popular performing songs in minor languages (Buryat
Buryat language
Buryat is a Mongolic variety spoken by the Buryats that is either classified as a language or as a major dialect group of Mongolian. The majority of Buryat speakers live in Russia along the northern border of Mongolia where it is an official language in the Buryat Republic, Ust-Orda Buryatia and...
, Khanty
Khanty language
Khanty or Xanty language, also known previously as the Ostyak language, is a language of the Khant peoples. It is spoken in Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous okrugs, as well as in Aleksandrovsky and Kargosoksky districts of Tomsk Oblast in Russia...
, etc.).
Though the Russian Progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
scene had existed since the '70s, it was the 2000s when it entered the public eye of Russian rock fans, with bands like Little Tragedies its most obvious representatives. Since 2001 a prog
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
-music festival named InProg
InProg
InProg is an international progressive rock festival held almost yearly since 2001 in Moscow, Russia.The festival was organised by the Russian Rock-magazine InRock....
was held almost yearly in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. Its popularity constantly grew and in 2005 it turned from a local festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
into an international one.
The Russian instrumental rock
Instrumental rock
Instrumental rock is a type of rock music which emphasizes musical instruments, and which features very little or no singing.Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style, most notably Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Link...
scene with bands like EXIT project
EXIT project
EXIT project is an instrumental, Nu Jazz, IDM, electronic music, art rock, experimental music, and jazz fusion band from Russia. The band created its own unique style which was labeled as art-fusion...
, Disen Gage
Disen Gage
-History:The band was formed in 1999 by Yuri Alaverdyan and Konstantin Mochalov on guitars, Nikolay Syrtsev on bass guitar and Eugeniy Kudryashov on drums....
, Dvar
Dvar
Dvar is a virtual band from Moscow, Russia that plays darkwave music, though their more recent releases have been coined as Lightwave, for a lack of an existing genre to file their unique sound under.-History:...
and Kostarev Group also received more recognition at that time.
The 2005 Live 8 concert
Live 8 concert, Moscow
On 2 July 2005, a Live 8 concert was held in Red Square, Moscow, Russia. Although not on such a large scale as the concerts held at Hyde Park, London and Philadelphia, it was still a momentous occasion for Russia, and had an impressive line up....
that took place in Moscow featured mainly Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
artists.
The rockapops phenomenon from the 90's continued to gain popularity in the 2000s with new bands like Zveri
Zveri
Zveri is a Russian pop/rock band. Noted for their song "Kvartira" featuring in the video game Grand Theft Auto 4-Biography:Zveri was formed in mid-2002 by Roman Bilyk, the lead singer of the band, better known as Roma Zver'....
arriving.
Characteristics
Fans of Russian Rock would frequently refer to most of the music on MTV RussiaMTV Russia
MTV Russia is a Russian language free-to-air 24 hour entertainment and music service seen in 22 million households in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Omsk, Voronezh, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg, among other cities.-History:...
dismissively as "popsa", a dichotomy that appeared in the '80s when government controlled radio and TV stations would air only politically harmless music by performers such as Philipp Kirkorov
Philipp Kirkorov
Philipp Bedrosovich Kirkorov is a Bulgarian-born Russian singer and producer living and working in Moscow.-Biography:Philipp Kirkorov was born on April 30, 1967 in Varna, Bulgaria. His father is Bulgarian singer of Armenian and Belarusian ethnicity Bedros Kirkorov. His mother, Victoria, is...
. The lines are still quite clearly drawn, with bands such as Nogu Svelo! - who recorded a song with pop-singer Nataliya Vetlitskaya - being an anomaly.
In contrast to Western rock, Russian rock is often said to have less drive; it is characterized by different rhythms, instruments and more involved lyrics. Unconventional instruments have often been used in addition to the standard electric guitars and drums (very often violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and wind instruments).
Another characteristic of Russian Rock is being partly Folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
. Very often Russian Rock songs, especially those of the classic 80s bands, talk about national themes and feature elements from Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. Aquarium, DDT
DDT (band)
DDT is a popular Russian rock band founded by its lead singer, Yuri Shevchuk , in Ufa in 1980...
and Yuri Morozov
Yuri Morozov (singer)
Yuri Vasilyevich Morozov , was a Russian rock Multi-instrumentalist, sound engineer and composer. He created his own style using Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock, Experimental music, Folk music, Jazz and many more...
could be used as examples for that.
Considering its poetic roots (Russian literature
Russian literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union...
, bard music
Bard (Soviet Union)
The term bard came to be used in the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, and continues to be used in Russia today, to refer to singer-songwriters who wrote songs outside the Soviet establishment, similarly to beatnik folk singers of the United States...
), it is not a big surprise that lyrics play a far larger role in Russian rock than Western rock. Vocal melody is sometimes eschewed in favor of a more impassioned delivery (Viktor Tsoi
Viktor Tsoi
Viktor Robertovich Tsoi ; 21 June 1962 – 15 August 1990) was a Soviet rock musician, leader of the band Kino.He is regarded as one of the pioneers of Russian rock and has many devoted fans across the countries of the former Soviet Union even today...
, the lead singer of Kino
Kino (band)
Kino was a Soviet rock band headed by Viktor Tsoi. It was one of the most famous Soviet rock groups of the 1980s.-History:The band was formed in the summer of 1981 in Leningrad, USSR Kino was a Soviet rock band headed by Viktor Tsoi. It was one of the most famous Soviet rock groups of the...
, pioneered a characteristically strained, monotonous style of singing that has been imitated by many).
Russia has always been facing both East and West with its double-headed Eagle on the coat-of-arms. The Eastern derivative in the Russian rock came with soundtracks from movies like Day Watch
Day Watch
Day Watch , is a 2006 Russian dark fantasy action film marketed as "the first film of the year", opened in theatres across Russia on January 1, 2006, the U.S. on June 1, 2007 and the UK on October 5, 2007. It is a sequel to the 2004 film Night Watch, featuring the same cast...
that had Tamerlan's legend of the Chalk of Destiny at its roots. Russian rock expressively used and integrated elements from culture, as well as Western and Eastern (especially countries of the USSR).
Yngvar Bordrewich Steinholt (University of Tromsø
University of Tromsø
The University of Tromsø is the world's northernmost university. Located in the city of Tromsø, Norway, it was established in 1968, and opened in 1972. It is one of eight universities in Norway. The University of Tromsø is the largest research and educational institution in northern Norway...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
) has written a PhD thesis in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
that was printed by The Mass Media Music Scholars Press titled "Rock in the Reservation" (2004) about the Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
Rock Club. It also touched upon the history of rock in Russia and its counter-cultural tendencies.
Wordplay
In Russian, the original meaning of word "рок" is "fate" or "doom". The word is used almost exclusively in fiction, especially poetry (more widely used synonym is "судьба"). These correlates with poetic roots of Russian rock and its attention to "serious" topics.The wordplay is used in the song "This is Fate" from Aria
Aria (band)
Aria is a Russian heavy metal band that was formed in 1985 in Moscow. Although it was not the first Soviet band to play Heavy music, Aria was the first to break through to mainstream media and commercial success. According to several public polls, Aria ranks among top 10 most popular Russian rock...
's debut album "Mania Velichia".
External links
- Site with a lot mp3, and absolutely another view to this question
- List of Russian bands
- Russian Music on the Net: Site about Modern Russian music with lots of Rock bands
- History of Rock Music In Russia
- A list of Russian rock bands who reached a legendary status
- Annotated library of modern Russian music - including Russian rock
- A quick overview about Russian rock
- Information about Russian rock history