It's hard to imagine rock music without guitar distortion: Jimi Hendrix's albums would be unthinkable. Punk rock couldn't have happened. Metallica might have wound up sounding like Barry Manilow.

Music making is increasingly digitized here in 2020, but some analog audio effects are still very difficult to reproduce in this way. One of those effects is the kind of screeching guitar distortion ...

The rock music of the 1990s has been raging back in recent months, and with it, new acts are cropping up that seem to be drawn to the era's frayed noise and hooky, guitar-driven melodies. Among the ...

A look at the evolution of the technologies that give rock its signature sound Fifty years ago, a faulty connection in a mixing board gave birth to fuzz, which is a term of art. Although it came to ...

Ever since Jimi Hendrix brought guitar distortion to the forefront of rock and roll, pedals to control the distortion have been a standard piece of equipment for almost every guitarist. Now, there are ...

When we think of the natural progression of rock ‘n’ roll, the Kinks are often toward the left of the timeline amongst other jangly rock groups like the Byrds and Donovan. But without the Kinks and ...

If you follow audiophile reviewers, you’ll know that their stock-in trade is a very fancy way of saying absolutely nothing of quantifiable substance about the subject while sounding knowledgeable ...

Social Distortion, commonly referred to simply as “Social D,” is often credited with helping spark the American punk rock movement. Following the likes of Brit punk greats The Clash and East Coast ...