Hardcore punk

Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as a reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by Washington, D.C., and New York punk rock and early proto-punk. Hardcore punk generally eschews commercialism, the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically charged lyrics".

• Defining hardcore is like defining falling in love -- definitions really miss the point. You don't need a definition to know if you're in love or not -- you just know it. You just feel real hardcore when you experience it.
  • Vic DiCara of Inside Out, as quoted by Brian Peterson in the book Burning Flight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution in Ethics, Politics Spirit and Sound. page 6. Revelation Records Publishing.

• Hardcore is first and foremost a form of music. That is to say that there are hardcore band s out there that have nothing at all to say, and there are others that have more to say than music to play. Additionally, I believe that there are more more components to hardcore than the other music.
  • Ryan Murphy of Undertow, as quoted by Brian Peterson in the book Burning Flight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution in Ethics, Politics Spirit and Sound. page 6. Revelation Records Publishing.

• Hardcore was the suburban American response to the late-seventies punk revolution.
  • Stephen Blush in the book American Hardcore: A Tribal History (2001), as quoted by Andy Greenwald in the book Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo. (published November 15, 2003). St. Martins Griffin. pp. 9.