10 Glorious "Dad Rock" Albums
The Middle Aged Masterpieces.
Rock has certainly grown and matured since it was blaring out radio speakers back in the '50s. Ever since the likes of Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly graced the airwaves, there have always been kids who were willing to bend and twist the genre into something that no one had ever heard before. That doesn't mean that it's safe from getting dated though.
Even if most of these records sounded fantastic in their time, it's no secret that they haven't aged the greatest. Although the songs themselves still might be magical to listen to, it's hard to look at these as anything more than just dad rock. Hell, you can practically hear the middle aged dudes grumbling about how great music was back in their day just by listening to a handful of these tracks.
Then again, they are correct in that assumption. If this is the music that was going on in their youth, they were lucking out with some of the most extravagant music ever made, complete with the dirty rock distortion and the thoughtful songwriting that became a staple of the '70s. You might not need to go full on heavy for this one, but they're still worth diving into for any casual rock fan.
10. Bayou Country - CCR
Most of the greatest dad rock out there always has been indebted to country music. Outside of the normal bluesy licks that you'd get from bands like Grand Funk Railroad or Humble Pie, the more middle aged side of rock normally takes its cues from songs that felt timeless to begin with. And when we're talking about songs that have felt like they've always existed, you can't do much better than some Creedence.
Across their mammoth run of albums in the late '60s, any CCR album could have easily made this sort of list. What brings Bayou Country into true dad rock territory is just how much it seems to pay tribute to the classics of the time. Other than the covers of songs like Little Richard's Good Golly Miss Molly, this is also a classic example of the country infused songwriting of John Fogerty, with the opening track's ode to living the classic lifestyle on the river.
Even the more timeless hits like Proud Mary still feel like they wouldn't sound all that out of place if they were blaring out of some dads' '72 Chevy truck today. If the more dated stuff still stands up as being this damn good, then CCR has earned the right to choogle for as long as they want to.