Azerbaijani rock () is a wide variety of forms of

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

made in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

or by artists of Azerbaijani descent.

History

Soviet Era

Rock was greatly restricted for most of the period Azerbaijan was under

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

rule, being viewed by the CPSU as a Western anti-socialist influence. Among the most recognized groups of the Soviet era were Coldünya, Yuxu, Eksulap and Khurramids.

1960s–1970s

1960s was the period when Azerbaijani rock was formed. Leading bands of this period were namely Eskulap (1966), Khurramids (1969), Express-118, Pazavang and Uvet which were mainly playing

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

. Khurramids performed live in festival dedicated to 51st establishment of Azerbaijan State University with a cover version of " I can't get no" by

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

in 1970. Following first decade of Azerbaijani rock, 70s gave rise to

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

with ethnic elements. Cürbəcür was founded by Jahangir Garayev, elder brother of Abulfas Garayev in 1970. Other notable bands were Məşəl (''Torch''), Brevis (1971) and Üç Alov (''Three Flames''). However, main driving force were considered Experiment-OK (1967) and Ashiqlar (1973). Jazz fusion era ended with "ASU Physics faculty band" (1972) according to Hikmat Hajizadeh ( former ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia) who played solo guitars back then. Meanwhile, in Sumgayit, Miraj and Rovesnik bands were active.

1980s

The later 1970s were largely silent and few bands survived political restrictions. The early 1980s saw soft rock band Günel and Polad Bulbuloglu's emergence as Ashiqlar vocalist. The latter gained union-wide popularity and toured

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

and

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

, gave concerts in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Other successful band was

Talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

which was a part of supergroup Gaya. Band played live in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, during 12th

World Festival of Youth and Students The World Festival of Youth and Students is an international event organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the International Union of Students after 1947. History The festival has been held occasionally since 1947, mainl ...

in 1985. Later 80s saw emergence of many bands due to establishment of Baku Youth Modern Music Center. Weqibond was one of these bands founded by Ibrahim Emin who would later found Yuxu. Years after first festival was held in Baku on 1 May 1988 - "Rock Panorama". "Rock Panorama 2" festival was held in 1989, which was larger than its predecessor. About 30 bands took part including Qrimsiz (''Makeupless''), Faust, Neysan, İz (''Trail''), Terminal, Reportaj,

Charley ATL Charley ATL was an Azerbaijani progressive art rock band formed in 1987. History Charley ATL was founded in 1987. Their only released album was ''"Dedicated to victims of Indian Cinema"'' in 1990. Their style were often compared to King Crims ...

Minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

, etc. Soft rock band Günel was renamed into Aksiya (''Action'').

Post-Soviet Era

1990s

Following the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the rock audience in Azerbaijan started slowly to grow and groups like Unformal gained popularity among local fans. Sumgayit was credited as the main regional driving force behind these rock bands of the 1990s, including Yuxu, Spark, Miraj, Mozalan, and Sirr. Other active bands were Industry, NemO, P.G.L.U. Project, Fatal Nation, Taj.

2000s

Being more connected to Western music and availability of instruments compared to Soviet Union, 2000s saw many bands being formed including 3.14. New bands like Ferrum, The Nails, Pro'n'Con, Mechanic Fist and numerous others were fast to rise, however most of them quickly dissolved after formation. Hard rock band Bəndə hailing from Sumgayit was founded in 2008.

2010s

Azerbaijani rock scene gained momentum after 2010. New genres including heavy metal, metalcore and black metal received positive responses. Silence Lies Fear, Meridian, Sirat, Tengri, Vozmezdie, The Midnight, Orient Express were exclusively successful. Pagan black metal band Üör was founded in 2011. Sadnos which was founded by Sasha Goncharov is still one of active projects. Stoner bands including Lavatory Service and Pyraweed are also considered main influence in rock scene. In 2014, Tuborg GreenFest was held in Baku. It was the largest rock festival in the country's history.

References

External links

RapRock.Az
, an Azerbaijani rap and rock portal {{DEFAULTSORT:Azerbaijani Rock Music of Azerbaijan Rock music genres