Space rock  Space rock is a genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drumming, languid vocals, synthesizers and lyrical themes of outer space and science fiction. The genre emerged in late 1960s psychedelia and progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, and Gong who explored a "cosmic" sound. Later, the style was taken up in the mid-1980s by Spacemen 3, whose "drone-heavy" sound was avowedly inspired by and intended to accommodate drug use. By the 1990s, space rock developed into shoegazing and post-rock with bands such as Failure, Hum, Flying Saucer Attack, and Orange Goblin. Humanity's entry into outer space provided ample subject matter for rock and roll and R&B songs from the mid-1950s through the early 1960s. It also inspired new sounds and sound effects to be used in the music itself. A prominent early example of space rock is the 1959 concept album "I Hear a New World" by British producer and songwriter Joe Meek. The album was inspired by the space race and concerned human's first close encounter with alien life forms. Meek then went on to have a UK and US No 1 success in 1961 with "Telstar", named after the newly launched communications satellite and thus intended to commemorate the new space age. Its main instrument was a clavioline, an electronic forerunner of synthesizers. Pink Floyd's early albums contain pioneering examples of space rock: "Lucifer Sam", "Astronomy Domine", "Pow R. Toc H." and "Interstellar Overdrive" from their 1967 debut album "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" are examples. Their second album "A Saucerful of Secrets" contained further examples: "Let There Be More Light" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" with explicit science fiction themes, and their third, "More" (1969) had "Cirrus Minor". In early 1971, Pink Floyd began writing the song that would become known as "Echoes", from the 1971 album "Meddle". The song was performed from April until September 1971, with an alternative set of lyrics, written about two planets meeting in space. Before the "Meddle" album released, the lyrics were changed to an aquatic theme, because of the band's concern that they were being labelled as a space rock band.