Board 8 > Is there a specific name for the subgenre of rock/pop that is more slow/mellow?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Kind of similar to what Linkin Park does in a lot of their songs. More mellow/relaxing rock that is often kind of sad, but doesn't have to be. It being sad isn't the sticking point for me but I recognize that a lot of the songs are presented with that kind of tone.

Before listing some other examples I'll preface this by saying I grew up in the mid to late 2000s listening almost exclusively to top 40 and rap music, and would not consider myself to me a 'music person', meaning that only now as I get into it I'm discovering songs/bands that are incredibly mainstream and popular and that everyone except me apparently knows.

These are some other songs that I think put me in the same mood as what I previously described, and I realize that not all of them are in the same vein of "slow/mellow Linkin Park". Also, these are all incredibly mainstream, both because that's all I know, but also because I figure if others know them I can be led in the right direction:

1979 - Smashing Pumpkins
Amber - 311
Creep - Radiohead
Here Without You - 3 Doors Down
Innocent - Our Lady Peace
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
The Kill - Thirty Seconds To Mars
A whole bunch of what Nirvana and Oasis do

You get the point. I'm looking for baby's first mellow rock playlist, but don't think "sad rock" is the right thing to search Spotify for. I realize that I could listen to the aforementioned bands and find more of what I'm looking for, but I want to at least figure out what exactly to call it so that I can make broader searches. I also want to stay away from the 70s/80s classic rock stuff, which I do also like but don't really elicit the same response from me.

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ballad?

that term is incredibly broad and doesn't exclude '70s/'80s classic rock but i can't think of something else at the moment.

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Yeah ballad is what I initially thought of as well, but often when you search for rock ballads you almost exclusively find classic rock. A lot of those classic rock ballads have a different sound to them too that is slightly different than what I'm going for.

I feel like every band has one or two of these songs on every album, which is why it would be easier for me to search for something more general and find a playlist than comb through a bunch of different music to find them individually.

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Alternative Rock I think

I've also heard of Nu Metal in regards to Linkin Park

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BetrayedTangy posted...

Alternative Rock I think

I've also heard of Nu Metal in regards to Linkin Park

"yeah nirvana made a lot of slow, calmer music. what subgenre are those songs in?"
"nirvana? oh, that's grunge"
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Indie rock is a lot more like this

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yeah this is basically collapsed under "alternative rock." but this isn't super helpful because it can cover anything from sonic youth to foo fighters to deftones

oasis is brit pop though

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Alternative Rock and Grunge are definitely closer to what I'm interested in, yeah. Found a playlist of each on Spotify that overlaps a lot with the stuff that I have on my own playlists. Indie Rock is another one that I just searched that has parts of what I'm looking for too. I think with all three I'm finding more of what I'm talking about. There are definitely a bunch of stuff under those subgenres that aren't exactly that, but it seems like most of my examples fit into those subgenres, rather than having a specific subgenre itself, if that makes sense. It does make my searching a lot easier though than combing through massive playlists of "90s/00s Rock".

I can see how those are no-brainer answers but I am essentially music illiterate to anything that wasn't top 40 ten to twenty years ago.

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To add onto it, I also find myself lumping in rock to these playlists that isn't necessarily slow but that has parts of the song that slowdown or mellow out. They aren't the exact same but are close enough (to me) to once again elicit that same feeling when I listen to them.

Stuff like:

The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
Wolf Like Me - TV On the Radio
Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood
Some Arctic Monkeys stuff
Some Collective Soul stuff
Some Foo Fighters stuff

I assume these all fall under Alternative, Grunge, or Indie.

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that's all more indie.

here's some of the genres spotify regularly recommends me. spotify just throws artists together with no rhyme or reason:

classically chill alternative albums (washed out, grizzly bear, tame impala, thundercat)
early indie essentials (new order, smiths, pixies, jesus and mary chain)
shoegaze essentials (chapterhouse, my bloody valentine, slowdive)(this one makes sense)


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foo fighters isn't indie but yeah, the rest is.

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I recognize almost none of those artists but will definitely search those genres/playlists.

I think between the genres people have mentioned I can find a whole bunch of music to add onto my own playlists, which is helpful. I've been trying to branch out from just listening to classic rock, the RHCP, Drake, Post Malone, and The Weeknd, like I'm a teenage suburban white girl from 2016.

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When you say sad/mellow rock I think of something like Fade Into You by Mazzy Star or maybe Beach House or Kyte, but I would never think of Linkin Park or Nirvana or Oasis, so I don't really get what you're looking for. I guess maybe the National?

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I couldn't really think of the words I wanted to use to describe it which is why I gave those examples, but I'll check out what you've posted!

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