Question

What is the difference between the punk, gothic, emo, metal, and grunge subcultures?​

Answer 1

They’re all rock music-based subcultures, but with different styles of music attached to each. They also all started at wildly different time periods.

• Punk subculture and music originated in the 1970s and into the 80s. Punk bands were usually made up of young people who did not perform music professionally, and did not make money from the music.
• Goth rock was created by a subgroup of punks in the late 70s/early 80s. Goth music is less political than punk, but more emotional. It drew heavily from gothic literature and horror movie scores, as well as punk, reggae, and glam metal.
• Metal is a type of rock music but there are many subgenres of metal (Black metal, heavy metal, death metal, etc) and the metalhead community includes fans of all the subgenres. Metal originated in the 1970s but different variations of metal have been created over time and still are.
• Grunge was a type of rock music invented in the 1980s, and popularized in the 1990s. The most famous grunge band is probably Nirvana, but there was also Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains who were very popular.
• Emo was a genre that was created in the late 90’s/early 2000s. Emo music derives from punk music, and is often called pop-punk for combining the punk sound and lyrical content with a poppy, catchy song structure. Emo music is generally about angst and restlessness, and is typically popular with teenagers rather than young adults.

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