cock rock

Derogatory term for a style of hard rock that was prevalent in the 70s, practiced in its purest form by the band Foreigner. Few bands played cock rock exclusively, but some artists with cock rock tendencies include Bad Company, Peter Frampton, Grand Funk Railroad, the Rolling Stones, Ted Nugent, John Fogerty, Aerosmith, AC/DC, and Bob Seger. Musically, cock rock overlaps with blues rock, southern rock, hard rock, and arena rock, but what ties it all together as cock rock is an egocentric, tough-guy swagger and lots of ridiculous macho posturing. The lyrics often equate hard-rocking with virility and dangerousness. The genre's primary audience was (and still is) guys with mullets and Camaros. Though cock rock still gets plenty of airplay on classic rock radio, there are (mercifully) very few new practitioners of the style.