Rock as Art MUSC-21600: The Art of Rock Music Prof. Freeze 26 October 2016 Rock in the 1970s • Cultural context: from counterculture to mainstream • Youth culture: less countercultural, more materialistic, hedonistic • Audience: racial divide, emerging generational divide • Music industry: consolidation • Rise of the “rock star”: rich, unfettered artist who makes albums • Radio formats: AM (mass appeal, mono), FM (niche appeal, stereo) • AOR format: bridged divide between commercial success / artistic ideals • Venues: getting larger • Technology: sound systems, LPs, cassettes, Rock as Art • Rock’s creative crisis (late 1960s) • One solution: Art Rock/Progressive Rock “High” Art “Low” Art • Family traits of art/progressive rock: Appeals to mind Appeals to body • Long, multi-movement songs • Monumental concept albums Purely aesthetic, no Social function (like • “Demanding” music requires listener focus social function dancing, world • Using state of the art technology (esp. synthesizers) peace) • Rock covers of classical music Complex, difficult Simple, accessible • Yes Transcendent value Ephemeral • Concerned with issues of hippie spirituality Non-commercial Commercial • Instrumental virtuosity, classical influences • “Roundabout” (Yes, 1971) • See listening guide Pink Floyd • Blues revival band meets psychedelic improv, experimentalism, and . • Classical/artistic influences • Albums akin to operas, song cycles • Use of musique concrète (use of recorded, created sounds; cf. The Beatles, “Revolution 9”) • Complex meters; complex, layered textures; long, classical forms • The Dark Side of the Moon (1973; Album 1) • Explores insanity, alienation, paranoia, schizophrenia • Unification in lyrical motifs (sun/moon = reality/lunacy) • Unification in music: themes, non-musical sounds, musical reprises • “Money” (Pink Floyd, 1973) • Cash register sounds at beginning • 7/4 meter (3+2+2) • Back to 4/4 for guitar solo • But based on 12 bar blues progression (adjustments made) Glam Rock and David Bowie • Growth in production standards, theatricality • Extended to fictional characters in glam rock • David Bowie • “Space Oddity” and Major Tom (1969) • The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) • “Ziggy Stardust” (David Bowie, 1972) • Role playing throughout song • Vocal tone altered for every section • Vocal and instrumental hooks saturate song • Spare, uncluttered texture • Clear break from traditional masculinity • Hippie androgyny? • Performing a compromised masculinity? • A masculine rebellion that coopts drag and androgyny? • Performance of masculinity an issue in glam, heavy metal, punk Glam: Gothic and Progressive • Gothic glam = Fictional persona + Non-traditional gender identities + Horror Movie • Alice Cooper • single persona thoughout career (contrast Bowie) • Explored darkest corners of imagination • “School’s Out” (Alice Cooper, 1972) • Teenage fantasy with a dark twist • Bluesy guitar riff, then fuzztone • Propulsive drumming, uneven eighths • Creepy sing-song vocal quality, thinner texture (“No more pencils . “) • Queen • Glam + progressive rock + hard rock • “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Queen, 1975) • “Bohemian”? • Catch-all term for outsiders/artists, connotating freedom from norms of behavior • Freddie Mercury: challenged gender stereotypes • See listening guide.