Art rock

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Art rock is a term describing a subgenre of rock music that tends to have "experimental or avant-garde influences" and emphasizes "novel sonic texture."[1] Art rock is an "intrinsically album-based" form, which takes "advantage of the format's capacity for longer, more complex compositions and extended instrumental explorations.[1] The Golden Age of Rock lectures define art rock as "a piece of music in the rock idiom that is appealing more intellectually or musically, that is, not formulated along pop lines for mass consumption." The lectures note that it is "...usually somewhat experimental", using "a long structure with several themes like classical music" or "a suite of individual songs." Art Rock "almost always features keyboards more than guitar." As well, art rock is "not so much for dancing as for listening and it often tells a story or has a philosophical theme to the lyrics."[2]

Contents

[edit] Relationship with progressive rock

The concept of "art rock" has also sometimes been used to refer to the "progressive rock" bands which became popular in the 1970s. The All Music Guide states that "Progressive rock and art rock are two almost interchangeable terms describing a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility."[1] Progressive rock eventually stuck as a label for a specific genre of rock music, while "art rock" was used to refer to a wider, more subjective and harder-to-categorize collection of bands.

Princeton University's Wordnet dictionary states that "progressive rock, art rock" are "a style of rock music that emerged in the 1970s; associated with attempts to combine rock with jazz and other forms; intended for listening and not dancing".[3] As well, the book American Popular Music by Larry Starr & Christopher Waterman defines art rock as a "Form of rock music that blended elements of rock and European classical music. It included bands such as King Crimson; Emerson, Lake & Palmer; and Pink Floyd."[4] Bruce Eder's essay The Early History of Art-Rock/Prog Rock states that "'progressive rock,' also sometimes known as 'art rock,' or 'classical rock'" is music in which the "bands [are] playing suites, not songs; borrowing riffs from Bach, Beethoven, and Wagner instead of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley; and using language closer to William Blake or T. S. Eliot than to Carl Perkins or Willie Dixon."[5]

The Guide to the Progressive Rock Genres lists "art rock" under the subheading "Forms Tangential and Peripheral to Symphonic Rock/Progressive Rock." The guide states that "art rock" is "another term often used interchangeably with progressive rock, [which] implies rock with an exploratory tendency." The guide also gives another definition of "art rock", which "describes music of a more mainstream compositional nature, tending to experimentation within this framework", such as "Early Roxy Music, David Bowie, Brian Eno's 70s rock music, and Be Bop Deluxe.[6]

Connolly and Company argue that the "creation of the “art rock” sub-genre, whose members were identified by music played with artistic ideals (e.g., Roxy Music, 10cc)...was in many ways a response to prog rock’s long-winded concepts, an attempt to condense progressive rock’s ideas into shorter, self-standing songs." He argues that "Art rock’s lifespan was brief, generally contained to the ‘70s."[7]

Art rock may be considered "arty" through imitation of classical "art" music or literature, or simply through eclecticism. Examples of the former include Queen, The Moody Blues, The Who,[8][9] Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Nice, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, David Bowie, The Velvet Underground, Kate Bush, The Beatles Sgt. Peppers and Love (Forever Changes) and examples of the latter include Peter Hammill, Roxy Music, Genesis and Yes.

[edit] History

[edit] 1960s-1970s

Music critic Piero Scaruffi claims that "the "emigration" of rock music from the USA to Britain [in the 1960s] was not only beneficial but even pivotal for the development and propagation of the new genre." He arguest that when UK musicians such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones toured the US in the so-called "British Invasion," the rock music that they played was "a completely mutated species. The original "grass-roots" phenomenon [of US rock music], raised in thousands of garages by illiterate kids, graduated to an intellectual discipline practiced by university alumni who belonged to artistic schools and movements." Scaruffi argues that "[i]n other words," the British rock bands had converted rock music into a " 'high' art."[10] Music critic George Graham argues that "... the so-called Art Rock scene arose" in the 1960s, "when many artists were attempting to broaden the boundaries of rock." He claims that art rock "was inspired by the classically-influenced arrangements and the elaborate production of the Beatles Sgt. Peppers period" and states that the "style had its heyday in the 1970s with huge commercial success by Yes, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and later Genesis."

However, Graham notes that art rock "quickly faded when punk rock and then so-called alternative rock arose at the end of that decade, exactly as a reaction to the sophistication, and in many cases, pretense of big, elaborate rock productions, be they art rock or slickly-produced pop singers." Graham claims that since the late 1970s, "art rock has remained at the fringes and become one of many venerable styles...that attracts small numbers of avid fans, and continues to be perpetuated by a combination of some of the original artists and new generations of players."[11]

In the US, a number of late-1960s bands experimented with "long compositions", with each band "trying to out-psychedelic the other" with unusual sonic experiments. The Golden Age Of Art Rock lectures state that the "piece that caused the explosion of Art Rock more than any other, starting in 1968" was Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. In response, many other bands tried to emulate this art rock style, such as "Jefferson Airplane, The Steve Miller Band, The Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, H.P. Lovecraft and It's A Beautiful Day." The Steve Miller Band "had quite a lot of Art Rock in the early albums. The lecture argues that the "two main long pieces" by The Doors ("The End" and "When The Music's Over") are "good examples of Art Rock."[2] Similarly, The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album could be included in Art Rock. However, in the 1970s, US rock music "moved away from Art Rock", as southern rock bands became popular. Art rock reached its commercial height with the popularity of the aforementioned progressive rock bands, such as King Crimson, Yes, Rush, Genesis, and especially Pink Floyd. After the punk rock revolution of the late 1970s put DIY simplicity back in style, and as openly 'progressive' bands drifted toward the mainstream with hit singles and more commercial productions, their 'art rock' designation fell away. Brian Eno has been called the "experimental end of the [art rock] spectrum" for his early 1970s recordings.[2]

In Western Europe the band Phoenix from Romania released their concept album "Cantafabule" (1975) that could be included in the Art Rock movement.

[edit] 1980s-1990s

In the 1980s explosion of "New Wave Music, Art Rock faded away to the background", with the exception of "Laurie Anderson, who had wonderful solo albums like Mr. Heartbreak and Strange Angels even up into the Nineties."[2] Anderson's experimental performance art included performances with her homemade "tape-bow violin" which has a tape head in place of strings, and a strip of magnetic tape in place of the hairs on a bow. Since the later 1990s Anderson collaborated with Lou Reed on a number of recordings, such as "Call On Me" from Reed's collaborative project, The Raven.

[edit] 2000s

In the 2000s, some pieces by Moby could be considered art rock, "but many of his records alternate beautifully realized Art Rock with raucous punk attacks and they are a little hard to take as a whole."[2] In 2004, the phrase "art rock" was used by British musical writers from publications such as NME to describe a movement of mostly "indie" bands influenced by the 1970s/1980s work of artists like David Bowie, David Byrne, Tom Verlaine, Peter Gabriel, and Brian Eno, and by the post punk scene in general.

These new "art rock" bands such as Coheed and Cambria, The Mars Volta, Dredg, Oceansize, The Matches, Tool, Silverchair, Hurt, Deerhoof,[12] Whirlwind Heat, Radiohead, Glassjaw and Axis of Justice generally eschew self-conscious descriptions as "art rock", there is also a continuing subcultural movement of underground, sometimes highly uncommercial music with original roots in punk rock, post punk or the radical avant-garde whose style or philosophy would fall under common definitions of "art rock". Some of these bands may also be described as experimental rock, while the even more abrasive and abstract acts such as Wolf Eyes and Merzbow may be described as noise music.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c Art Rock at Allmusic
  2. ^ a b c d e The Golden Age Of Art Rock: Part One: Making It Last 2. Cosmik Debris Magazine Presents The Golden Age of Rock, January 2002 www.cosmik.com/aa-january02/go http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Rock_Art_96958714.aspx
  3. ^ wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
  4. ^ Key Terms and Definitions. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
  5. ^ "The Early History of Art-Rock/Prog Rock" by Bruce Eder (All-Music Guide Essay). Available at: http://www.vanguardchurch.com/the_history_of_art_rock.htm
  6. ^ A Guide to the Progressive Rock Genres
  7. ^ What is prog?
  8. ^ Stuessy, Joe. Rock and Roll: Its History and Stylistic Development, 5th ed., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003. ISBN 0-13-099370-0
  9. ^ uk.real.com
  10. ^ The History of Rock Music - The Sixties
  11. ^ George Graham Reviews Tom Taylor's "The Crossing"
  12. ^ Deerhoof Make Magical Art Rock. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.

[edit] References

  • Rockwell, John. "Art Rock" in Henke, James et al. (Eds.) (1992). The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll: The Definitive History of the Most Important Artists and Their Music. ISBN 0-679-73728-6.
  • Stuessy, Joe. Rock and Roll: Its History and Stylistic Development, 5th ed., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003. ISBN 0-13-099370-0
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