Synthesizers may have helped define the sound of the 1980s, but the guitar was very much still alive and well in rock music.

Bands like Nine Inch Nails, Sublime and Deftones have dipped back into the past to give a hit from the '80s a second life.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Quentin Singer is music journalist who covers rock and heavy music. Dad-rock is this fascinating label in pop culture that’s often ...