If you listen to classic rock radio long enough, you’ll start to notice a few things. First, you’ll be in love with the playlist. Why? Because classic rock is the best, that’s why! Secondly, you’ll notice that within the rock subgenre, there are even more subgenres. Different styles of classic rock—like little umbrellas underneath the big umbrella. One of the most compelling classic rock subgenres is… drum roll please… psychedelic classic rock.
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That music that will make you wonder if the walls really are melting all around you. Or if there really is a portal to a new dimension spinning in your living room. That’s the kind of music we wanted to explore here today. Indeed, these are three psychedelic classic rock bands that amaze!
Cream
Cream saw your mind like a metal rod. Then, when their music played, it was like two strong hands took each end of the metal rod and bent it, twisted it, turned it into a circle, a triangle, a knot, a pretzel. Your brain was taken and put into new shapes thanks to their brand of psychedelic, guitar-driven, rhythmic classic rock music. You put on songs like “White Room” and your spirit begins to leave your corporeal form. It drifts. Floats. And from space, you can see the metal rod of your brain turned into yet another position. Enjoy it!
Jimi Hendrix
You know you’ve hit it big in the world of psychedelic classic rock when there are rumors about your signature headband being soaked in acid. But silly rumors aside, Jimi Hendrix could make music that only Jimi Hendrix could make. It was like a passionate dream played through six strings and a whole bunch of distortion. His famous wah pedal was like a ghost crying in the rain. Hendrix summoned gods and demigods, and they ran amok in your imagination. With songs like “Purple Haze” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”, he was an impressionist painter with music.
Jefferson Airplane
All you need is one or two songs (tops!) from Jefferson Airplane to make you think you are on an actual airplane. Maybe yours is pink and soft like cotton candy or pastel clouds. Maybe you’ve been gifted a hookah to puff on as your transportation takes you to the outer realm of your own consciousness. A Jefferson Airplane song is like a ticket to a far-off land. That’s what you get when you press play on their tunes like “White Rabbit” or “Somebody to Love”. You’re taken, transported, and you may never return quite the same.
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