What is Dad Rock?
1.
The standard set of albums from the 60s and 70s that every boomer likes. Boomers try to get younguns to listen to dad rock by loading up "best albums ever" lists with them. Dad rockers have no desire to listen to recent music and are stuck in the past.
Beatles, Byrds, Beach Boys, Dylan, Rolling Stones, Who, Zep, etc
2.
Dad rock is defined as the genre of music that is listened to uniquely by fathers, not grandfathers or children or mothers (though mothers may have adapted survival strategies to tolerate or ignore dad rock music). To be a dad rocker, you must own albums by all of the following three defining bands of the dad rock genre: Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers, Phill Collins, and Sting. Dad rock is most commonly heard blasting out of cameros, el caminos, vans, and large trucks on cassette or from the home on vinyl or, occassionaly, compact disc.
The triangle of dad rock power consists of Phill Collins and Sting making up the base corners with Tom Petty at the apex. Within the triangle, you can expect to find other artists, though we hestitate to define them here.
3.
Music that Boomers would listen to and/or write themselves. Picturing a 35-50 year old dance to these tracks puts your stomach in a knot. Inherently uncool. However, some very good bands today write embarrasing Dad Rock tracks.
They also tend to have long titles.
U2 - Stuck In A Moment..., Sometimes You Can't Make It..., Coldplay - God Put A Smile..., A Rush Of Blood, Oasis - Little By Little, Where Did It All Go Wrong?
