From Library Journal
Martin (philosophy, DePaul Univ.) is an experienced amateur electric bassist with two previous publications in this field (Listening to the Future and Music of Yes: Structure and Vision in Progressive Rock). Despite such ostensibly solid credentials, he misses a golden opportunity to fill a musicological vacuum with a reasoned survey of experimental rock, instead producing an arrogant, blatantly personal manifesto. His scope is ridiculously narrow, neglecting the vast expanse of his chosen subject and devoting half of the text to only five arguably significant but hardly central proponents of "experimental" rock music: Jim O'Rourke, Bj rk, King Crimson, Sonic Youth ("the 'heroes' of this book"), Yes, and, oddly, nonrocker John Cage. He further belies the scope promised in his title by devoting almost one-third of the book to jazz artists, nonrock aleatory composers, classical pianist Glenn Gould, and rappers. His book is riddled with hyperbole and unsupportable opinion, plus arcane in-jokes alongside allusions to a "rock for dummies" matrix. While Avant Rock should get some credit for reminding us that generally ignored "fringe" artists such as Merzbow and Stereolab are nonetheless vital agents in the evolution of rock music, this can be recommended to only the largest academic collections with a completist's interest in nonmainstream rock music. Jerry Lucky's The Progressive Rock Files (Collector's Guide, 1998) and Bradley Smith's The Billboard Guide to Progressive Music (Watson-Guptill, 1997, while not perfect, are each preferable to this. The second edition of Rock: The Rough Guide (Rough Guides, 1999), although not exclusively devoted to progressive rock, cogently profiles over 1000 bands including most of rock's major and minor "avant-architects" and remains not only the definitive guide to rock as a whole but also the best extant sourcebook treating the primary experimental movements, innovative recordings, and progressive performers within rock music. Bill Piekarski, Angelicus Webdesign, Lackawanna, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Booklist
Having previously inspected the band Yes (Music of Yes, 1996) and progressive rock (Listening to the Future, 1997), Martin turns to avant-garde rock. His choice of subjects follows the course of rock's experimental spirit well. Early on, he deconstructs the John and Yoko dynamic, considering whether it eventually broke up the Beatles and whether that was a bad thing. The breakup freed Lennon to pursue his more philosophical side, at the cost of McCartney's more sophisticated music making; meanwhile, Yoko became a considerable force in avant-garde rock, Martin says. No white rock critic afflicted with "overcomprehension," Martin devotes significant space to such progressive black artists as George Clinton, Jimi Hendrix, and John Coltrane. Later he labors to say something good about Brian Eno, and readers must take the good with the pompous. After assessing avant perennial King Crimson, Martin blasts into the present with "Bjork, Jim O'Rourke, and Beyond." Vital and balanced, intellectual but engrossing, this is rock criticism in which to sink one's teeth while shaking one's hips. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
