Heartland rock hit its stride in the ’80s, when Bruce Springsteen’s stadium-sized anthems and John Cougar Mellencamp’s lively roots tunes provided sly social commentary while dominating the charts. Although the guitar-heavy genre served as an alternative to the decade’s synth-pop hits, it wasn’t at odds with keyboards and, more important, wasn’t meant to represent one singular authentic American experience. In fact, the heartland-rock catalog strives to capture a diverse cross-section of eras, emotions, and approaches, including Laurel Canyon folk rock, down-and-dirty blues, brawny Southern rock, and realistic character-driven vignettes.