History SignatureStyle / Music

* Japanese post-hardcore/electronicore band Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas [[IThoughtItMeant (not to be confused with the movie)]] have a very unique style. Is it a harsh vocalist contrasting with an [[AutoTune auto-tuned]] clean vocalist, mixed in with a post-hardcore band playing alongside synths or J-core/rave sounding sequences, usually both? On top of all that, and most importantly, does there seem to be no verse or chorus in the song? Yes? It's them.

* Country band Diamond Rio is defined by a mix of lead singer Marty Roe's high twangy voice fronting bluegrassy three-part harmonies, tight Telecaster picking intertwined with mandolin and keyboards, and an unusually heavy rhythm section for a country band.

* Songwriter Casey Beathard tends to write ''everything'' [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth in D major with an almost ridiculously limited melody]]. He also went from writing a lot of songs about drinking (e.g. "Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo" and "Drinkin' Bone" by Tracy Byrd, "The World Needs a Drink" by Terri Clark) to writing about being a father (e.g. "Ready, Set, Don't Go" by Billy Ray Cyrus, "Cleaning This Gun" and "He's Mine" by Rodney Atkins, "All I Ask For Anymore" and "Just Fishin'" by Trace Adkins, "I See Me" by Travis Tritt).

* Steve Lillywhite's best-known production technique is his "gated reverb" drum sound as heard on Music/PhilCollins' "In The Air Tonight"

* Masashi Hamauzu, composer for such games as the ''VideoGame/{{SaGa}}'' series and ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'', tends to use lots of strings and as one reviewer puts it, "crunchy" piano chords. And expect lots of [[RuleOfCool stylish]] violin solos. The result is a very elegant and uplifting sound.

* Creator/RichardWagner's music is famous for brass ensemble writing, though, contrary to CommonKnowledge, more of this is quiet than loud; the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw_SwaedUU0 Valhalla theme]] from ''Theatre/TheRingOfTheNibelung'' is a paradigmatic example. (Its scoring features the quartet of horn-like instruments specially invented for the work that have come to be known as "Wagner tubas.") Wagner's later operas (which he preferred to call music dramas) have long through-composed acts with a high density of {{Leitmotif}}s; the half-diminished seventh, popularly known as the ''[[Theatre/TristanUndIsolde Tristan]]'' chord, is actually prominently featured in several of them.

* Martin Hannett was known for using [[EchoingAcoustics lots of reverb]], especially on Music/JoyDivisions' albums.

* Music/NickCave, throughout the songs he's written, the novel (''And The Ass Saw The Angel'') and the film screenplay (''TheProposition'') has shown an enormous interest in four things: flowers, stomach-churning violence, discussion of literature -- often in very unlikely places, and semi-heretical yet extremely pious examinations of religion.

* Dennis Linde has a noticeable songwriting style. His songs are often quirky character sketches (e.g. "Bubba Shot the Jukebox", "Goodbye Earl"), about being obsessively in love with someone ("[[ElvisPresley Burning Love]]"), or both ("Queen of My Double Wide Trailer"). His other trademarks include a very steady beat and a tendency to break out of 4/4 time for a bar or two.

* Heather Alexander has a heartbreakingly gorgeous alto voice, and is generally to be found singing about Celts, pageantry or both.

* Typical elements of a SoundHorizon song and/or album include: {{Alternate Character Reading}}s, dead people, references to an EternalRecurrence, regular {{Song Style Shift}}s, foreign or fantastical settings, dead people, albinos, {{Long Haired Pretty Boy}}s, multilingual wordplay, and dead people. Also, dead people.

* Similarly, virtually every Manowar song is about at least one of the following: warriors and warfare, how awesome heavy metal is, and Norse mythology.

** Particularly true for the piano. He loves putting the piano in battle themes (see: "Decisive Battle" from [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX FFX]], "Saber's Edge" from [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII FFXIII]]) - to [[CrowningMusicofAwesome epic]] effect.

* If you hear a band with shouted vocals (often with a political message), a guitar with lots of delay (and other effects) played very rhytmically on the upper strings, an agressive pumping bass and drums that often back down a bit? Well then it's probably Music/{{U2}}.

* The guitar work of David Gilmour from Music/PinkFloyd has in itself a very distinctive signature style. He sets himself apart by playing melodically with very long sustain. He takes a page from Music/EricClapton and uses note bending (sometimes extreme) to make amazing wailing sounds with his guitar and gentle breeze-through passages. His signature Strat sound is aided by his customisation of pickups and electronics. This is most notable in "The Division Bell" and his solo works. Also, David is a powerful user (and an industry innovator) of electronics. Notable is his use of ramping up the gain and turning down the volume for that heavy, saturated distortion which Hendrix pioneered. You can hear this well in one of his solos from "Echoes". His blistering solos in "Time" and "Comfortably Numb" also display a lot of these techniques.

* Japanese post-hardcore/electronicore band Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas [[IThoughtItMeant (not to be confused with the movie)]] have a very unique style. Is it a harsh vocalist contrasting with an [[AutoTune auto-tuned]] clean vocalist, mixed in with a post-hardcore band playing alongside synths or J-core/rave sounding sequences, usually both? On top of all that, and most importantly, does there seem to be no verse or chorus in the song? Yes? It's them.

* Neal Diamond sideman Richard Bennett, on the rare occasion that he produces, seems to favor big walls of backing vocals, heavy percussion, and lots and lots of mandolin. This shows up mostly on Marty Stuart's early-90s work, plus both of George Ducas's major-label albums.

* Music/GeorgeStrait has a pretty straightforward, meat-and-potatoes style, with very changes in production style over a more than 30-year career (although his current producer, Tony Brown, didn't get on board until 1992). He can best be defined as the country everyman.

* [[SteveMillerBand Steve Miller]], at least by the late 1970s, was ''very'' fond of tight double-tracked lead vocals and spacy analog synth embellishments (though his music stayed in a catchy, blues-based guitar rock style).

* SonataArctica uses grim lyrics with a sound that sounds like an exploding Skittles factory.

* If you hear a band with shouted vocals (often with a political message), a guitar with lots of delay (and other effects) played very rhytmically on the upper strings, an agressive pumping bass and drums that often back down a bit? Well then it's probably {{U2}}.

* The charts of jazz bandleader Don Ellis is defined by [[UncommonTime offbeat time signatures]], Eastern tonalities, and unconventional instrumentation by big-band jazz standards (oboes, string quartets, etc.).

* Music/{{Nickelback}} has one, which causes a lot of SnarkBait on the internet.

* Country band Diamond Rio is defined by a mix of lead singer Marty Roe's high twangy voice, tight Telecaster picking intertwined with mandolin, and an unusually heavy rhythm section for a neo-traditional country band.

* For most of TheNineties, CountryMusic singer Mary Chapin Carpenter was known for smart lyrics (often introspective or ironic even while also being quirky and fun) set to slickly produced, happy melodies (e.g. "Shut Up and Kiss Me", "He Thinks He'll Keep Her" "Passionate Kisses") and her soft singing voice.
* Similarly, Music/KaceyMusgraves is a mix of smart but fun country, although with a looser, more organic production style and higher, more forceful voice.

* Mashup creator [[https://www.youtube.com/user/TripleKyun Triple-Q]] is seemingly obsessed with Music/{{Psy}}, as most of his mashups include "Gangnam Style" or "Gentleman." Some of his more recent mashups include Psy's voice clips from ''Crossy Road''. Expect lots of ''Anime/KillLaKill'' mashups and songs from various anime as well.

* Composer Philip Glass writes repetitive "minimalist" music that is easy to identify as his. Indeed, when asked what style of music he makes, he'll tell you that it's "repetitive minimalism" - See his sometime collaborators, Kronos Quartet, for another example