Rave

Rave is the high-energy electronic dance music of the original British rave era, roughly 1988 to 1993, when acid house collided with imported techno and hip-hop breakbeats in warehouses and fields. As the sound hardened it centred on breakbeat hardcore: sped-up Amen breaks, piano riffs, synth stabs and chipmunk vocal samples, made by acts such as *The Prodigy*, *Altern 8* and *SL2* for promoters like Fantazia and Raindance. The Criminal Justice Act and the music's own fragmentation into jungle, happy hardcore and big beat ended the era, but 'rave' survives as the name for its anthemic, hands-in-the-air sound.