The Most Influential Bands in the History of Russian Rock

5 Russian Rock Bands To Discover on Spotify

When it comes to Russian Rock, multiple disputes arise.

Some argue that it is a complete failure but others, instead, worship it as an expression of true Russian spirit.

If you are into rock music we’d love for you to give Russian Rock a try with these 5 bands we are going to talk about below.

You can find them all on Spotify and we include links to their most famous songs.

Drop us a comment below with your opinion – does Russian Rock, rock… or suck…?

Russian Rock || Kino

Russian Rock || BI-2

Russian Rock || Zemfira

Russian Rock || Splean

Russian Rock || Korol I Shut

Russian Rock || FAQs

Get a taste of Russian Rock with this Spotify playlist which includes some of our selections below

Russian Rock Bands || KINO (Кино)

We’ll start by introducing each band using some Spotify stats so you can get an idea of how big they really are, where they are popular, and each band’s most popular song.

Iconic, legendary, unique, authentic… These are the words that come to mind when we talk about Кино.

Founded in 1981 by Victor Tsoy and Aleksey Rybin in Saint-Petersburg, this band was one of the most popular all across the USSR.

Deep meaning lyrics that resonated with the political atmosphere of the time, brilliant music that conveyed the mood of the songs, and the enigmatic charisma of the frontman – Victor Tsoy, were driving people crazy.

From boys with guitars on the block to housewives and clerks, everybody was signing “Peremen” (lit. ‘changes’) and “Gruppa Krovi” (lit. ‘blood type’).  

DID YOU KNOW || Кино literally translates to cinema in English.

With the rise of the band’s fame, Victor Tsoy became a national hero and idol.

Tsoy was so popular that Russian movies “Assa” and “Igla” (Needle) had him starred, which never happened to other rock icons during Soviet era.

Sadly though, Tsoy tragically lost his life in 1990 at the age of just 28.

Tsoy died due to a car accident, but his legacy lives on to this day.

“Tsoy zhiv” or “Tsoy is alive” is still widely used today.

If you are not familiar with KINO’s music, but universally love rock, then you will truly appreciate band’s musical diversity which ranges from rock’n’roll, punk, new wave, folk to bit-music and pop.

My personal favorites are the following songs:

• “Mama anarchia”
• “Vesna”
• “Videli noch”
• “Tvoi nomer”
• “Prokhozhii”

Check them out using the Spotify embed player below.

Although Kino broke up almost half a century ago, the music and the image of the band are not lost.

Today a lot of young people in Russia and other Russian speaking countries love their music.

KINO’s legacy will never die.

Russian Rock Bands || BI-2 (Би-2)

Most Russian speaking people know this band because of their legendary songs “Polkovniku nikto ne pishet” and “Varvara” that were part of the soundtrack for renowned movies Brat and Brat 2 (meaning brother).

But the interesting thing is that the band was founded a decade earlier than the movies were filmed!

Furthermore, Bi-2 are not even from Russia!

So let’s dig deeper.

Originally from Bobruisk, Belarus, this rock band was founded in 1988 by Alexander Uman (nickname “Shura”) and Egor Bortnik (nickname “Lyova”).

Before making it they worked on the factory, in construction, computer graphics, they played in clubs, bars, small music festivals and had many ups and downs in their career before their 1999 debut on the big stage and first TV appearance.

It took Bi-2 11 years to make it 🤩

Never give up folks!

Bi-2’s music genre ranges from punk to alternative, postpunk, gothicism, and even jazz.

Critics say that the band’s music was largely inspired by western postpunk groups such as “The Cure”, “Joy division”, and “The Sisters of Mercy”.

The fan list of Bi-2’s best songs besides the above-mentioned include “Moi rock’n’roll”, “Kompromis”, “Serebro”, “Angely” and others.

We would specifically recommend you to listen to group’s performance with symphonic orchestra which you can find on YouTube. Focus on musical arrangement is what actually makes Bi-2 stand out, so spend some time if you want to dive in their art.

Russian Rock Bands || Zemfira (Земфира)

Take the guitar, play a few chords, and start singing “Пожалуйста, не умирай…» and everyone will understand that this is Zemfira (and they’ll likely start singing too).

Her extraordinary voice, heartfelt music and lyrics will take you away to the galaxy of your youth filled with nostalgia, bright memories of first love, friendship, worries and period of growing up.

Every bit of Zemfira’s music, every line of her lyrics resonate with real life and thus find a place in the hearts of her audience.

She started her musical career at the end of 90’s.

Since then, Zemfira has become an integral part of Russian cultural code along with KINO and other bands listed in this article.

Her concerts gather hundreds of thousands of people in Russia and abroad.

Her albums are some of the bestselling in the history of Russian music.

You can frequently hear her songs on the radio, social media, movies and clips.

Although universally we can call her music part of rock culture, Zemfira experiments with other genres like jazz, pop-rock, and even bossa-nova.

Fancy trying it out yourself? We recommend you to start with the following songs:

• “Hochesh”
• “Iskala”
• “SPID”
• “Sozrela”
• “Arrividerci”
• “Rakety”

Russian Rock Bands || Splean (Сплин)

Gloom, sadness, grief – that’s the meaning of the band’s name that accurately conveys the character and the mood of the songs written by the vocalist and the longtime leader – Alexander Vasilyev.

Listen to “Tantsui”, “Vyhoda net”, “Romans” and “Maria and Huanna” and you will notice that these songs can be characterized by melancholic sound translated by lyrics and music.

Believe me, even if you don’t understand the words, you will feel the vibe.

Сплин particularly focuses on the lyrics which makes their songs so well-known.

Their music, like an almanac, tells us a story of Post-Soviet Russia and the problems aroused after the collapse of the communist empire: depression, unemployment, rise of crime, alcoholism, suicides, and drug addiction.

We can hear the pain of the generation of 90’s through the music of Splean.

But don’t get me wrong here.

Splean’s music is not all about depression, they write music about love, home, and happiness like “Moyo Syerdtse” (lit. ‘My Heart’), “Teplo Rodnogo Doma” (lit. ‘Warmth of Home’), “Novye Lyudi” (lit. ‘New People’).

FUN FACT || Сплин’s song “Gni svoyu liniyu” was also a part of the soundtrack for the movie “Brat-2” that was mentioned earlier. It seems that most of the iconic Russian rock bands created music for this movie.

Russian Rock Bands || Korol I Shut (Король и Шут)

This band is nothing like the others in our list but the at the same time one of the most interesting.

Welcome fans of Grimm, Mohawk haircut, leather jackets, and horror-punk!

Король и Шут (which means King & Joker/Jester) from Saint-Petersburg are renowned for their unique style and lyrics.

Every song itself is an accomplished story mostly on mystical, fantasy, and historical topics.

Vampires, maniacs, demons, werewolves are the usual characters in band’s music.

Although this might sound very informal, atypical, and, for some of you, scary, Korol i Shut have won love from millions of people all over Russia.

Their rhythmic music in combination with interesting fantasy stories tied into lyrics will definitely catch your attention.

More than that, the group also talk of love and relationships in a very unusual way, like in the song “Devushka and Graf” (lit. ‘Girl and Count’), where they dream of living together in the eternal darkness.

I would personally advise you to listen to:

• “Kukla kolduna”
• “Proklyatyi staryi dom”
• “Lesnik”
• “Bednyazhka”

Russian Rock really does exist! And guess what? There’s so much more than these 5 bands.

We’ve just touched the tip of the iceberg.

Nevertheless, Russian Rock culture is much bigger than that. There are legendary bands such as Agata Kristi, Mumy Troll’, Nautilus Pompilius, Chaif, Ariya, Alisa, Bravo, Sektor Gaza and many others that we would love to tell you about.

Today though was about the very best that Russian rock can offer. Now it’s your turn to share your opinion about Russian Rock!

Drop us a comment below with your favourite Russian rock artists and songs.

Russian Rock Music | FAQs

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