Celtic rock, from the outside in. Each step is a genre and the single record this encyclopedia would put on first. Play them in this order and the last one should sound like a next step rather than a wall.
- 1 The way in
Rock 1954
The whole family: guitar, bass, drums and a beat borrowed from blues and rhythm and blues. Every branch below grows out of this trunk, metal included.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
The Beatles - Revolver, if you want to understand why everything branched so fast.
The Beatles, Revolver (1966) - 2 Then
Folk rock 1964
Folk lyrics played on a twelve-string electric guitar. It taught rock that the words can matter as much as the riff.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Fairport Convention - Liege & Lief. The birth certificate of British folk rock.
Fairport Convention, Fairport Convention (1968) - 3 What you asked about
Celtic rock 1970
Traditional Irish and Scottish tunes set on drums and electric guitar. The direct ancestor of folk metal.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Thin Lizzy - Whiskey in the Jar. A centuries-old ballad played on twin guitars.
Thin Lizzy, Thin Lizzy (1971) - 4 Where to go next
Emo revival 2010
A new generation rediscovers the Midwest sound, this time with Bandcamp instead of fanzines.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Algernon Cadwallader - Some Kind of Cadwallader. Cap'n Jazz reincarnated, unapologetically.
Algernon Cadwallader, Some Kind of Cadwallader (2008)
Assembled from the tree: every genre Celtic rock descends from, in order. Celtic rock has no subgenres, so the last step is the genre that rates closest to it by sound.