Gothic rock in the context of "Goth subculture"

Glam rock (also known as glitter rock) is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the hairstyles, makeup, and flamboyant clothing of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diverse sources, ranging from bubblegum pop and 1950s rock and roll to cabaret, science fiction, and complex art rock. The flamboyant clothing and visual styles of performers were often camp or androgynous and have been described as playing with other gender roles.

The UK charts were inundated with glam rock acts from 1971 to 1975. The March 1971 appearance of T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan on the BBC's music show Top of the Pops—performing "Hot Love"—wearing glitter and satins, is often cited as the beginning of the movement. Other British glam rock artists included David Bowie, Mott the Hoople, Sweet, Slade, Mud, Roxy Music, Alvin Stardust, Wizzard and Gary Glitter. In the United States, the scene was much less prevalent, but US artists such as New York Dolls, Sparks, Suzi Quatro, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Lou Reed and Jobriath achieved success in the UK and/or US. Glam rock declined after the mid-1970s, but influenced other musical genres including punk rock, post-punk, gothic rock and glam metal. The new romantic movement, which began as an underground fashion subculture movement in nightclubs in the late 1970s before becoming mainstream in the early 1980s, was also inspired by the visuals of the glam rock era.

The Damned are an English rock band formed in London in 1976 by lead vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist (and later guitarist) Captain Sensible and drummer Rat Scabies. They were the first punk band from the United Kingdom to release a single, "New Rose" (1976), release a studio album, Damned Damned Damned (1977) and tour the United States. Nine of the band's singles charted within the top 40 on the UK singles chart.

The band briefly dissolved after Music for Pleasure (1977), the follow-up to their debut studio album, was critically dismissed. They quickly re-formed without Brian James and released Machine Gun Etiquette (1979). In the 1980s, they released four studio albums: The Black Album (1980), Strawberries (1982), Phantasmagoria (1985) and Anything (1986), which saw the band moving toward a gothic rock style. The latter two albums did not feature Sensible, who had left the band in 1984. In 1988, James and Sensible rejoined to play a series of reunion gigs, one of which was released the next year as the live album Final Damnation (1989). Their fast-driven punk rock has been cited for influencing and shaping the emergence of hardcore punk in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United Kingdom and the United States.

AFI (A Fire Inside) is an American rock band from Ukiah, California, formed in 1991. Since 1998, it consists of lead vocalist Davey Havok, drummer and backing vocalist Adam Carson, bassist, backing vocalist and keyboardist Hunter Burgan, and guitarist, backing vocalist and keyboardist Jade Puget. Havok and Carson are the sole remaining original members. Originally a hardcore punk band, they have since delved into many genres, starting with horror punk and following through post-hardcore and emo into alternative rock and gothic rock.

AFI has released twelve studio albums, ten EPs, one live album and one DVD. The band first reached substantial commercial success with their fifth album, The Art of Drowning (2000), which peaked at number 174 on the Billboard 200. They then broke into the mainstream with their sixth, Sing the Sorrow (2003), which peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 51 weeks. The album was supported by popular singles "Girl's Not Grey" and "Silver and Cold", both of which peaked at number seven on America's Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart in 2003. "The Leaving Song Pt. II" was also released as a single, reaching number 16 on the chart. Sing the Sorrow was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 2006 and is AFI's best-selling release, having sold over 1.26 million copies as of September 2009.

Post-punk (or postpunk) is a subgenre and era of rock music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. The concept was originally outlined by Jon Savage in his "New Musick" editorial for Sounds magazine in November 1977. The term has been noted for lacking a universally agreed-upon definition. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, adopting instead a broader, more experimental approach that incorporated a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-rock influences. Inspired by punk's energy and DIY ethic but determined to move beyond rock clichés, artists drew influence from German krautrock and experimented with styles such as funk, electronic music, jazz, and dance music; the production techniques of dub and disco; and ideas from modernist art, cinema, literature, and politics. They also established independent record labels, created visual art, staged multimedia performances, and produced fanzines. Among the early post-punk bands, only Siouxsie and the Banshees and Public Image Ltd. achieved commercial success in 1978, with debut singles reaching the top ten of the UK Chart.

Regional scenes developed across Europe alongside new wave music, the most notable being the Netherlands' Ultra movement, Germany's Neue Deutsche Welle, Spain's La Movida Madrileña, and the coldwave scenes in France, Poland, and Belgium, as well as the Soviet and Yugoslav new wave. The original post-punk era emerged in parallel with the no wave and industrial music scenes, and later provided a foundation for British new pop and the Second British Invasion in the United States. Post-punk also influenced the development of numerous alternative and independent music genres, including gothic rock, neo-psychedelia, dark wave, dance-punk, jangle pop, ethereal wave, dream pop, and shoegaze. By the mid-to-late 1980s, post-punk had largely dissipated.