Soft Rock Music Guide: 5 Characteristics of Soft Rock

Soft rock is a subgenre of rock music that emphasizes pop hooks, pristine studio production, and pleasing sonic aesthetics. It is typically performed by bands that feature guitar (either acoustic guitar or electric guitar), keyboards, bass guitar, and a drum kit (or drum machine). Both male vocalists and female vocalists front soft rock bands.

Unlike more abrasive forms of rock music such as punk and heavy metal, soft rock music has frequent crossover appeal with fans of folk and R&B. The biggest stars of soft rock—including Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart, Elton John, and James Taylor—have scored major hits on the Billboard Top 40, particularly during the genre's commercial peak in the 1970s and 1980s.

Soft rock got its start in the mid-to-late 1960s, but its largest commercial success came in the decades that followed.

• 1960s origins: The roots of soft rock were planted in the late 1960s. Prominent soft rockers like the Bee Gees, Elton John, and Neil Diamond all got their start near the end of the decade. The Sonny & Cher hit "I Got You Babe" (1965) and the Turtles' "Happy Together" (1967) demonstrated how smooth production and hook-filled harmonies could lead to rock 'n' roll success.
• 1970s dominance: Although the 1960s birthed soft rock, the genre vaulted to stardom in the early ’70s. Soft rock stars of the decade included the Carpenters, Boz Scaggs, Jim Croce, John Denver, Dan Hill, Bread, Carly Simon, Air Supply, Billy Joel, and the Doobie Brothers. Seals and Crofts’ song “Summer Breeze” encapsulates the genre’s stylistic departure from other types of rock, but the decade's greatest commercial success was the Eagles. The Eagles record, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975), has sold over 38 million copies in the United States.
• Adaptation to 1980s aesthetics: Musical tastes changed in the 1980s to favor a greater emphasis on keyboards, drum machines, and power rock ballads. Soft rockers adapted with the times. The band Chicago, which had made its name with a large horn section and searing guitar solos, transformed into a soft rock powerhouse famous for its love songs. Phil Collins, who became the lead singer of Genesis after Peter Gabriel's departure, began a soft rock solo career to great commercial success. Even traditional classic rock acts like Toto and Scorpions smoothed over their sound to join in the 1980s soft rock wave.
• A 1990s reprise: Over time, soft rock lost fans to new forms of R&B, mainstream country music, and hip-hop, but this did not prevent some artists from scoring soft rock hits into the 1990s. Commercial successes of the era included "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams, "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" by Michael Bolton, and "More Than Words" by Extreme (a band otherwise known for virtuosic hard rock).
• Retreat from the mainstream: Twenty-first-century pop rock radio stations have shifted away from the aesthetics that made soft rock a multi-decade success. While some singer-songwriters like Taylor Swift embrace soft rock traditions (particularly on her early folk rock recordings), the pop market has gravitated more toward club music, adult contemporary, and bedroom artists who work from loops. The commercial peak of soft rock appears to be in the past.

Yacht rock is an informal music genre that describes a particular subset of soft rock music. The term came into wide usage around 2005 in the wake of a short-form comedy series called Yacht Rock, which was hosted on the Internet outlet Channel 101. The series was based around mostly true events from the careers of soft rockers Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. It also featured soft rock acts like the Doobie Brothers, the Eagles, the Captain & Tennille, Christopher Cross, and Peter Cetera—played by actors to comic effect.

Based on the comedy series and other colloquial usage, “yacht rock” describes immaculately produced "smooth music" that came out of the LA music scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The term focuses more on sonic aesthetics rather than musical composition. As such, yacht rock can encompass everything from country rock (the Eagles) to neo-soul (Hall and Oates) to harmonically dense jazz rock (Steely Dan). The unifying element of yacht rock is smooth studio production.

The best soft rock songs tend to be unified by a few key traits.

1. 1. Emphasis on pop hooks: While other forms of rock music highlight instrumental virtuosity or lyrical storytelling, most soft rock centers around radio-friendly pop hooks.
2. 2. Top-notch studio production: From Fleetwood Mac to Christopher Cross, soft rockers are known for their attention to studio detail. In some cases, soft rock overlaps with the sound of easy listening, but certain soft rockers maintain a raw vibrancy to their studio performances.
3. 3. Frequent love songs: From Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" to Carole King's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" to Bread's "Make It With You," love songs dominate the soft rock genre.
4. 4. Minimal aggression: When soft rock came of age, pop rock radio was championing hard rockers like Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Soft rock went for a much smoother aesthetic, and it would later be considered an antipode to the blistering sounds of 1980s post-punk and heavy metal.
5. 5. Crossover into other genres: Many soft rockers blended smoothly into other styles of music. Lionel Richie came from a funk tradition while the Eagles’ Jackson Browne had a background in country and folk rock. Neil Diamond cut his chops writing hits in New York's Brill Building—both the physical building and subgenre of pop music. Despite different origins, soft rock groups gravitated toward a common aesthetic and were commercially rewarded for it.

Soft rock playlists and radio stations showcase a wide variety of artists. Five particularly thrived in the soft rock genre.

1. 1. Fleetwood Mac: Fleetwood Mac began as an English blues band under the guidance of guitar hero Peter Green, but the band took many forms over the course of the 1970s. Eventually, Americans Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the group and redirected its songwriting style. Records like Fleetwood Mac (1975) and Rumours (1977) remain gold standards of the soft rock genre.
2. 2. The Bee Gees: The Bee Gees, composed of the Gibb brothers from Australia, began as a psychedelic band in the 1960s, but it was their turn toward disco that made them a household name. The group's featured songs in the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack established the nexus of soft rock and nightclub music.
3. 3. Carole King: Carole King's 1971 record Tapestry was one of the earliest soft rock hits, and it remains one of the most intimate. King stood in contrast to major rock bands of her era—such as Led Zeppelin and the Who—and instead focused on a personal connection between herself and her audience.
4. 4. Eric Clapton: Clapton cut his teeth in classic rock groups like the Yardbirds, Cream, and Derek & the Dominoes, but some of his biggest hits came later in his career as he embraced soft rock. "Tears in Heaven" and "Wonderful Tonight" merge Clapton's famed guitar skills with mainstream pop hooks.
5. 5. Eagles: No soft rock album has sold more copies than the Eagles' first greatest hits full album, entitled Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975). Eagles originals like "Desperado," "Take It Easy," and "The Best of My Love" highlight the country-folk side of soft rock.

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