<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: a truly insightful, stunning book on rock music
Review: I keep finding myself coming back again and again to this excellent study from Pattison which convincingly argues that rock's aesthetic is a vulgarized form of the ideals behind the great romantic poets. Far from the clueless, absurd academic piece that one may fear, Pattison proves to be a real fan of rock music, in fact he is in many ways more thoroughly versed in rock than many respectable big-name rock critics like Marcus or Marsh. Black Flag, the Fall and the Meat Puppets are just a few of the groups touched on. The most insightful chapters, in my opinion, are the ones dealing with the white romanticization of black Americans as "soulful" others, as well as the myth of the noble lower-class hillbilly. Pattison provides the only believable explanation (too complex to go into here) as to why the racially divided south produced the great black-white musical hybrids of our time (country, blues, jazz and rock n' roll). Pattison doesn't see the pagan roots of rock n' roll or romantic poetry as negative.
Rating:
Summary: one good angle on the direction of our culture
Review: I read this book long ago when it was first published and found it fascinating. I found myself reflecting on it today as I was thinking about the slow death of "classical" music. The author makes the case that rock music is the product of the ideas of 19th century on democracy and individualism, the celebration of things common. While there has always been a divide between the music of the upper and lower classes, I suppose it was not until late in the 19th century and continuing on that the "lower class" music began to be celebrated by the established musicians. I'm thinking specifically of the folk tune inspired works of composers like Brahms and Dvorak. My reflection on Pattison's book now is that his thesis has been more than adequately proven with the continued growth of bottom-up trends in fashion and music. While rock and roll, as he argues, may have a mythical relationship to African music, modern hip-hop seems to have a very real relationship to current lower class culture. Other authors since then have dealt more generally with this theme I am sure (Theodore Dalrymple comes to mind), but I thought Pattison did great work showing how the ideas of the 19th century thinkers have influenced this development.
Rating:
Summary: one good angle on the direction of our culture
Review: I read this book long ago when it was first published and found it fascinating. I found myself reflecting on it today as I was thinking about the slow death of "classical" music. The author makes the case that rock music is the product of the ideas of 19th century on democracy and individualism, the celebration of things common. While there has always been a divide between the music of the upper and lower classes, I suppose it was not until late in the 19th century and continuing on that the "lower class" music began to be celebrated by the established musicians. I'm thinking specifically of the folk tune inspired works of composers like Brahms and Dvorak. My reflection on Pattison's book now is that his thesis has been more than adequately proven with the continued growth of bottom-up trends in fashion and music. While rock and roll, as he argues, may have a mythical relationship to African music, modern hip-hop seems to have a very real relationship to current lower class culture. Other authors since then have dealt more generally with this theme I am sure (Theodore Dalrymple comes to mind), but I thought Pattison did great work showing how the ideas of the 19th century thinkers have influenced this development.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding But Strangely Flawed
Review: One of the best and most eurudite studies of Rock music as a cultural phenomenon and sociology. Pattison is both a critic and fan of Rock music, but the latter function doesn't turn him into a sniveling sycophant full of pretentious drivel like the usual Rock music magazine writers. He hits the nail right on the head with his comparison to romanticism. Pattison doesn't take his study far enough, however, as he ignores his own glaring exposes of the neo-pagan/religious dimensions of Rock music. He performs an intensive study of why Rock music is such mindless, vulgar pagan "jungle music" that people react to without thinking, a powerful cultural force. But in the last few pages he tries to discount everything he has written and substantiated in his book! He cannot accept the very conclusion he has so devestatingly exposed! He realizes that he seems to have come too close to the stance of the Christian right (and most of traditional Christianity) in its attack on Rock-n- Roll as "devil's music." As a true Rock fan (no true "holy roller" Rock detractor could have as much crucial information about Rock music and its details as Pattison), Pattison doesn't want to push his argument to its logical conclusion and condemn the music he so loves, therefore he makes a pathetic jab at the Christian right at the end and chicken's out. He is docked a star for this. Nevertheless, this is the best, most intelligent and objective study of Rock music that I have read, I have read a hell of a lot on the subject--most of it is drivel.
Rating:
Summary: Unknown classic of rock criticism
Review: This is the best single book ever written on the general subject of rock and roll. It is free of the both the sloppy hype of trashy works on popular culture, and the ludicrously inappropriate jargon of high-toned academic treatments of the subject. Pattison demonstrates very convincingly rock's roots in nineteenth-century pantheism, and shows how, to a surprising extent, all of pop music's "rebels" conform to its tenets. The author is clearly a knowledgeable fan of rock but doesn't make outrageous claims for it; he shows amazing taste and discretion. A book as enjoyable and stimulating as it is neglected; I've never seen a reference to it in the rock press or met anyone else who has read it. It's definitely worth the effort to find it.
<< 1 >>
| 
