A broad term for a variety of bands, spanning all rock genres, that transcend the typical styles and themes of their genres. The band often combines experimental, avant-garde styles into their music. Because of the nature of
art rock, the
definition is a vague one and person A may consider a band art rock, while person B does not.
The term originated in reference to bands such as
pink floyd, who's members originally went to art school, but now can apply to even bands such as Thursday and Mineral.
Often confused with progressive-punk. Indeed, they were once synonyms, but over
time have diverged; prog becoming it's own genre of music while art rock maintaining loose and subjective to interpretation.