Alright -- have had a lot of confusion on what this word "psychedelic" really means. It would make sense I took for granted my own understanding having grown up in the 80s and 90s with access to my father's collection of hippy music. And that's pretty much where this genre gets its start!
So the first rock/pop songs that come to mind are things like
Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense & Peppermints or even
Amboy Dukes - Journey to the Center of the Mind but then there are also big longboy musical journeys like
The Doors - Riders on the Storm or
Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
And I'm already worried I'm just throwing a bunch of music at y'all w/o any explanation. I'd have to say the term "psychedelic", much like vaporwave, more alludes to an attitude or aesthetic than a musical genre. Lyrics can be about altering consciousness, human reflection, or anything really. Honestly, I think watching the movie Austin Powers would be the quickest way to deep dive into this time and mindset even if its all jokes. :D
Obviously I can't go on without mentioning The Beatles who's entire catalog from Rubber Soul onward is considered psychadelic. Songs I would highlight include:
A Day in the Life and
Strawberry Fields Forever and
Happiness is a Warm Gun or even the crazy funk they bring in
Come Together
Jimi Hendrix would be another big one -- ugg I don't even know where to start!! There's hits like
The Wind Cries Mary and
Purple Haze and
Are You Experienced? and the epic cover of Bob Dylan's
All Along the Watchtower and a couple of my favorites are the big long jams like
Third Stone from the Sun and best blues song ever recorded:
Machine Gun (ok I am biased)
I've never been a big fan of The Rolling Stones but its important to note most folk had never heard such a deliberately distorted guitar "trying to sound like a horn" before
Satisfaction but if we're gonna listen to the stones I'd prolly suggest
Paint It Black which hella jams.
haha ok -- so there is so much music from this late 60s / early 70s era I'm going to cut it short (maybe more of The Doors but all my friends hate them). I have no idea how many times I watched the
Woodstock documentary film growing up. haha which reminded me of
Canned Heat - Going Up the Country so good! :D is it psychedelic? idk?! :shrug: ahahaha
ok -- 70s and 80s really gave way to the arena/glam rock/metal era which wasn't as psychedelic centered but we still got some trippy song breakdowns from Led Zeppelin inside hits like
Whole Lotta Love but they also had big long jams like
Kashmir and
No Quarter and
Dazed and Confused
PINK FLOYD!!!!! uh.... just put on
Dark Side of the Moon you've probably heard half of it already anyways....
Animals is another incredible album haha where a melancholy ditty bookends 3 songs over 11 minutes long each. If I had to pick a single random song I guess I'd go with
Welcome to the Machine which really showcases early synthesizers and tape manipulations in the mid 70s.
Damn did I miss David Bowie?
Space Oddity omg which gave us
Moonmen
Even the damn
Dr Who theme is psychedelic af
gonna throw in some Black Sabbath :
Planet Caravan and
(song of the same name) -- and
Ted Nugent's Stranglehold too
the 80s.... uh I'm sure I could think of something if I really tried...
Circa 1990 we have the grunge explosion which featured a slight return to guitar effect driven writing. Some random singles from the era I would consider psychedelic:
Sonic Youth - Bull in the Heather
Nirvana - Come as You Are
Smashing Pumpkins - Rocket
Primus - Southbound Pachyderm
haha idk the further i go down this road the more embarrassing it gets.... I was a 90s teen
I think the shoegaze genre is very psychedelic so albums like
My Bloody Valentine's Loveless and
Lush's Spooky get big ups from me
Things start to get hazier for me chronologically from here. I think stoner metal def has some psychedelic properties like
Pelican
and
Electric Wizard -- wew that went out left field xD
I came up with all of this off the top of my head; here's another list of stuff someone else came up with
link
I guess I should imply that alot of this music was inspired by new sounds that came from new effects (guitar pedals) and new instruments (synths). Distortions, reverb, chorus, delay, and phasors are typical additives to the tone and color.
TL;DR -- This is has been a long list of rock music and I don't want anyone to think they have to adhere to that sort of instrumentation or any kind of specific composing style imposed by my suggestions. A lot of people have been asking questions about "psychedelic" as a musical genre and this is what that word means to me. :D/
