Rhythm and Noise : Aesthetics of Rock

Roving through the history of rock music from Elvis Presley's first recordings in 1954 to kurt Cobain's suicide in 1994, this book gives an account of rock as a distinct artistic medium. Theodore Gracyk argues that rock and roll is a performance style, one in a number of musical styles comprising rock. What distinguishes rock is how it is mediated by the art of rock is in the recording. In establishing this claim, Gracyk uses interviews, observations and comparisons with other musical forms. He investigates the relationships between rock and romanticism and commercialism, and challenges the orthodoxy of making grand distinctions between "serious" and "popular" art.