Music : Rock

The first comprehensive survey of critical approaches to pop music. The diversity of the essays covers sociological, feminist, semiotic and musicological points of view. more...

Price: $33.95

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Price: $10.95

Rock and roll traces its roots to the music of the early 20th century. Its infectious sound, characterized by catchy guitar rhythms, a strong beat, and youthful lyrics, sparked a musical revolution beloved by the young and initially scorned by many adults. The emergence of rock and roll signaled a monumental change in popular music, and as rock grew, it assimilated a vast range of influences, including country, folk, jazz, gospel, and international styles, to become one of the most dynamic musical genres of contemporary times. American Popular Music: Rock and Roll explores the history of this musical genre as it took the United States by storm. more...

Price: $67.00

In this new study, David Pattie examines the apparent contradiction between authenticity and theatricality in the live performance of rock music, and looks at the way in which various performers have dealt with this paradox from rock music's early development in the 1960s up to the present day. more...

Price: $76.50

Few styles of popular music have generated as much controversy as progressive rock, a musical genre best remembered today for its gargantuan stage shows, its fascination with epic subject matter drawn from science fiction, mythology, and fantasy literature, and above all for its attempts to combine classical music's sense of space and momumental scope with rock's raw power and energy. Its dazzling virtuosity and spectacular live concerts made it hugely popular with fans during the 1970s, who saw bands such as King Crimson, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, and Jethro Tull bring a new level of depth and sophistication to rock. On the other hand, critics branded the elaborate concerts of these bands as self- indulgent and materialistic. They viewed progressive rock's classical/rock fusion attempts as elitist, a betrayal of rock's populist origins. In Rocking the Classics, the first comprehensive study of progressive rock history, Edward Macan draws together cultural theory, musicology, and music criticism, illuminating how progressive rock served as a vital expression of the counterculture of the late 1960s and 1970s. Beginning with a description of the cultural conditions which gave birth to the progressive rock style, he examines how the hippies' fondness for hallucinogens, their contempt for Establishment-approved pop music, and their fascination with the music, art, and literature of high culture contributed to this exciting new genre. Covering a decade of music, Macan traces progressive rock's development from the mid- to late-sixties, when psychedelic bands such as the Moody Blues, Procol Harum, the Nice, and Pink Floyd laid the foundation of the progressive rock style, and proceeds to the emergence of the mature progressive rock style marked by the 1969 release of King Crimson's album In the Court of the Crimson King. This "golden age" reached its artistic and commercial zenith between 1970 and 1975 in the music of bands such as Jethro Tull, Y more...

Price: $24.95