PIANO ROCK

'Piano rock', sometimes referred to as 'piano pop', is a term for a style of music that is based around the piano, and sometimes around piano-related instruments, such as the Fender Rhodes, the Wurlitzer electric piano, and keyboard-based synthesizers.
Unlike the classic rock combination of lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, and vocals, piano rock puts the pianist front and center. Traditionally, piano rock has not been as prevalent as classic rock. However, modern bands such as Augustana, The Backstreet Boys, Ben Folds Five, Coldplay, The Dresden Dolls, October Fall, Evanescence, A Fine Frenzy, The Fray, Blue October, OneRepublic, Five for Fighting, and Keane, and solo artists such as Elton John, Billy Joel, Tori Amos, Gavin De Graw, Leon Russell, Vanessa Carlton, Fiona Apple, Christine Anderson, Sarah McLachlan, Delta Goodrem, Rufus Wainwright, Daniel Powter, Lucie Silvas, Sara Bareilles, David Gray, Ben Jelen, Sia, Mika and Paul McCartney have heavily featured keyboard instruments in their songs.

Contents

History

Modern success with piano rock

Notable piano rockers and albums

Recent piano rock achievements

Juno Awards

Grammys

ARIA Music Awards

Triple J Hottest 100

Brit Awards

See also

Sources

History

The roots of piano rock can be traced to 1950s rock-and-roll pioneers Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. Many of their frantic performance styles, such as kicking the piano bench out of the way to play standing, raking their hands up and down the keyboard for dramatic effect, and even sitting on the keyboard are now commonplace in modern piano rock and often seen in the performances of Billy Joel, Elton John and Ben Folds.
Elton John and Billy Joel can be considered the modern-day ground-breakers in the genre, with hits throughout the '70s, '80s, and '90s merging the Rhythm and blues sounds of pianists Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder with Jerry Lee Lewis-inspired Rock and Pop idioms.
Artists such as Tori Amos, Ben Folds, and Fiona Apple have kept piano rock in the public consciousness throughout the '90s and into the 2000s. Recently, artists such as Vanessa Carlton and Anna Nalick have kept its fan base going.
Some bands use electronic keyboards to create special sound effects.

Modern success with piano rock

Some modern artists still prefer using the piano instead of highly popular guitars. The following are some notable bands and artists who became famous with piano rock.
The English band Keane was known for not using guitars in their music. After their guitarist left in 2001, the still unknown band decided to not use guitars anymore, but rather focus on piano usage. In 2003, their piano rock songs "Everybody's Changing" and "Somewhere Only We Know" made them an internationally recognized band. Their piano style is also reflected on their B-side songs "Snowed Under" and "Something in Me Was Dying".
Ben Folds Five produced several hits in the 1990s including the songs "Brick" and "Song for the Dumped." Ben Folds has since been highly successful as a solo artist and producer.
Evanescence is another example of piano rock success, with huge hits "Bring Me to Life" , "My Immortal" and "Call Me When You're Sober". Coldplay is another example. The singles "Trouble", "The Scientist", "Speed of Sound", "Clocks" and "The Hardest Part" set the piano as the main instrument, as well as the song "Everything's Not Lost" from the album Parachutes. However, Coldplay uses guitars on most of their songs, and Chris Martin (Coldplay singer) has recently said that their next studio album will not feature pianos.
Vanessa Carlton is best known for her single "A Thousand Miles", which features the piano as the lead instrument. The music reflects modern American pop and so it can be known by piano rock's alternative name, piano pop. Recently, Denver-based foursome The Fray achieved success with their piano rock song "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and "How to Save a Life". Also the Houston-based band Blue October have made recent success with songs with such as "Hate Me" and "Into the Ocean", although their piano rock musical style is often fused with the indie rock and Post-grunge genres, making them more distinct.

Notable piano rockers and albums

★ Little Richard
:
★ ''Here's Little Richard'' (1957)

★ Jerry Lee Lewis
:
★ ''Jerry Lee's Greatest'' (1961)

★ The Beach Boys
:''Pet Sounds'' (1966)
:''Smiley Smile'' (1967)
:''Friends'' (1968)
:''20/20'' (1969)

★ Leon Russell
:
★ ''Leon Russell
:
★ ''Leon Russell and the Shelter People

★ The Left Banke
:
★ ''Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina'' (1967)

★ The Zombies
:
★ ''Odessey and Oracle'' (1968)

★ Billy Joel
:
★ ''Piano Man'' (1973)
:
★ ''The Stranger'' (1977)

★ Elton John
:
★ ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'' (1973)
:
★ ''Honky Chateau'' (1972)
:
★ ''Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy'' (1975)

★ Jackson Browne
:
★ ''The Pretender'' (1975)
:
★ ''Running on Empty'' (1977)
:
★ ''Hold Out'' (1980)

★ Bob Seger
:
★ ''Night Moves (album)'' (1976)
:
★ ''Stranger in Town'' (1978)
:
★ ''Against the Wind (album)'' (1980)
:
★ ''Nine Tonight'' (1981)
:
★ ''The Distance (album)'' (1982)
:
★ ''Like a Rock'' (1986)
:
★ ''The Fire Inside'' (1991)
:
★ ''Face the Promise'' (2006)

★ Supertramp
:
★ ''Breakfast in America'' (1979)

★ Bruce Hornsby
:
★ ''The Way It Is (1986)

★ Tori Amos
:
★ ''Little Earthquakes'' (1992)
:
★ ''Under the Pink'' (1994)
:
★ ''Boys For Pele'' (1996)
:
★ ''From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998)
:
★ ''To Venus And Back (1999)
:
★ ''Strange Little Girls (2001)
:
★ ''Scarlet's Walk (2002)
:
★ ''The Beekeeper (2005)
:
★ ''American Doll Posse (2007)

★ Ben Folds Five
:
★ ''Ben Folds Five'' (1995)
:
★ ''Whatever and Ever Amen'' (1997)
:
★ ''Naked Baby Photos'' (1998)
:
★ ''The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner'' (1999)

★ Fiona Apple
:
★ ''Tidal'' (1996)
:
★ ''When the Pawn...'' (1999)
:
★ ''Extraordinary Machine'' (2005)

★ Rufus Wainwright
:
★ ''Rufus Wainwright'' (1998)
:
★ ''Release the Stars'' (2007)

★ The Whitlams
:
★ ''Eternal Nightcap'' (1997)

★ Something Corporate
:
★ ''Ready... Break'' (2000)
:
★ ''Leaving Through the Window'' (2002)
:
★ ''Songs for Silent Movies'' (2003)
:
★ ''North'' (2003)

★ Five for Fighting
:
★ ''America Town'' (2000)
:
★ ''The Battle for Everything'' (2004)
:
★ ''Two Lights'' (2006)

★ Ben Folds
:
★ ''Rockin' the Suburbs'' (2001)
:
★ ''Songs for Silverman'' (2005)
:
★ ''Supersunnyspeedgraphic'' (2006)

★ Coldplay
:
★ ''Parachutes'' (2000)
:
★ ''A Rush of Blood to the Head'' (2002)
:
★ ''X&Y'' (2005)

★ Regina Spektor
:
★ '' (2001)
:
★ ''Songs'' (2002)
:
★ ''Soviet Kitsch'' (2004)
:
★ ''Begin to Hope'' (2006)

★ Gabe Dixon Band
:
★ ''On A Rolling Ball'' (2002)

★ Vanessa Carlton
:
★ ''Be Not Nobody'' (2002)
:
★ ''Harmonium'' (2004)
:
★ ''Heroes & Thieves'' (2007)

★ Chuck Coleman
:
★ ''People, Places, and Flings'' (2003)

★ Delta Goodrem
:
★ ''Innocent Eyes'' (2003)
:
★ ''Mistaken Identity'' (2004)

★ The Dresden Dolls
:
★ ''The Dresden Dolls'' (2003)
:
★ ''Yes, Virginia...'' (2006)
:
★ ''A is for Accident'' (2003)

★ Keane
:
★ ''Hopes and Fears'' (2004)
:
★ ''Under the Iron Sea'' (2006)

★ Ben Jelen
:
★ ''Give It All Away'' (2004)

★ Sara Bareilles
:
★ ''Careful Confessions'' (2004)
:
★ ''Little Voice'' (2007)

★ Lucie Silvas
:
★ ''Breathe In'' (2004)
:
★ ''The Same Side'' (2006)

★ Missy Higgins
:
★ ''The Sound of White'' (2005)

★ Jack's Mannequin
:
★ ''Everything in Transit'' (2005)

★ The Fray
:
★ ''How to Save a Life'' (2005)

★ Harvey Danger
:
★ ''Little by Little...'' (2005)

★ The White Stripes
:
★ ''Get Behind Me Satan'' (2005)

★ Aqualung
:
★ ''Strange and Beautiful'' (2005)
:
★ ''Memory Man'' (2007)

★ Dropping Daylight
:
★ ''Brace Yourself'' (2006)

★ Blue October
:
★ ''Foiled'' (2006)

★ The Format
:
★ ''Dog Problems'' (2006)

★ Damon Albarn, Tony Allen, Paul Simonon and Simon Tong
:
★ ''The Good, the Bad and the Queen'' (2007)

★ Jon McLaughlin
:
★ ''Indiana'' (2007)

Recent piano rock achievements

Juno Awards

★ Sarah McLachlan - ''Surfacing'' (Album of the Year) (1998)

★ Sarah McLachlan - "Building a Mystery" (Single of the Year) (1998)

★ Rufus Wainwright - ''Rufus Wainwright'' (Alternative Album of the Year) (1999)

★ Rufus Wainwright - ''Poses'' (Alternative Album of the Year) (2002)

Grammys

★ Sarah McLachlan - "Last Dance" (Best Pop Instrumental Performance) (1998)

★ Sarah McLachlan - "Building a Mystery" (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance) (1998)

★ Evanescence - Bring Me to Life - Grammy for best Hard Rock Performance

★ Evanescence - Grammy for Best New Artist

★ Fiona Apple - "Criminal" (Best Female Rock Vocal Performance) (1998)

★ Train - "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" (Best Rock Song) (2002)

★ Coldplay - ''A Rush of Blood to the Head'' (Best Alternative Album) (2002)

★ Coldplay - "Clocks" (Grammy Award for Record of the Year) (2002)

ARIA Music Awards

★ Missy Higgins - ''The Sound of White'' (Album of the Year) (Highest Selling Album) (2005)

★ The Whitlams - ''No Aphrodisiac'' (1998 Song of The Year)

★ The Whitlams - ''Eternal Nightcap'' (1998 Best Independent Release)

★ The Whitlams - ''Eternal Nightcap'' (1998 Best Group)

Triple J Hottest 100

★ Missy Higgins finished at numbers 31, 47 and 74 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2005 with "The Special Two", "Stuff and Nonsense" and "The Sound of White"

★ Ben Folds finished at numbers 55 and 89 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2005 with "Landed" and "Bastard"

★ Missy Higgins's "Scar" finished number two in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2004

★ The Dresden Dolls came in at number twelve in Triple J Hottest 100, 2004 with "Coin-Operated Boy"

★ Fiona Apple finished at number 62 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2000 with her single, "Fast as You Can".

★ The Whitlams's "No Aphrodisiac" finished number one in the Triple J Hottest 100, 1997

Brit Awards

★ Coldplay - ''Parachutes'' (Best British Album) (2001)

★ Coldplay - ''A Rush of Blood to the Head'' (Best British Album) (2003)

★ Keane - ''Hopes and Fears'' (Best British Album) (2005)

★ Keane won as the Best Breakthrough Act in 2004.

★ Coldplay - ''X&Y'' (Best British Album) (2006)

See also

★ Popular music

Sources

★ Jerry Lee Lewis: The Founder of Piano Rock Music

★ Piano Rock Forum