Customer Reviews

The Aesthetics Of Rock (Da Capo Paperback)

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R. Meltzer may not have actually invented rock criticism, but he created a writing style approximating the way music sounds. With words jumping from the page, flowing from idea to idea, ranging from stylistic jams to short tight bursts like perfectly crafted two-and-a-half minute poptunes. Who else would've lead his tome with a literal printing of the lyrics of "Surfin' Bird"? There was nothing being written about rock music remotely close to "The Aesthetics of Rock." Nearly 40 years later, there still isn't. Before there was Lester, there was Meltzer, and he's still standing. And writing. It's a good thing. PS - Buy his other works, too.

Written in an age where rock critics were still in diapers and hungry for that which was R n'R, Meltzer explores the burgeoning music scene of '66-'68 and uses all the words at his disposeal to get at the heart of the great musical beast wiht as crude and delicate a knife as possible:that of a kid running through a candy store who has the ability to find what doesnt work , could work and eventually does work (on a good day). It's more unusual than a normal book with the sort of title it has, and the rock world benefits and is sadly struck dead (now, at least) with immesne amounts of tragic justice which it does/doesn't deserve. But man, I tell ya, that there music he speaks of is good for every single reason he finds. Read it if you can see what's in the typing.

The temptation is strong, when reviewing a Richard Meltzer book, to slip into his style of writing. I will resist that, and maintain a dull tone. This is the funniest book I have ever read about rock music; it is also one of the few that I've read more than once. Anybody who's read more than a few serious, scholarly, University-press-published books on rock will find this to be a refreshing alternative. Meltzer's 1988 collection of essays, "L.A. Is the Capital of Kansas," appears to be out of print, but is also well worth seeking out.

Richard Meltzer has been going on for years about how he invented rock criticism. He probably did, but that's a bit like saying you invented prog-rock - I love prog-rock, or at any rate some of it, but I don't really care who invented it, cause so much of it is just plain awful. His genius is that he is a great WRITER, on a word-to-word basis. "The Aesthetics of Rock" was considered for years as some sort of prank; I once had a rubbishy hack book called "Atrocities of Rock & Roll", or something, which poked mindless fun at it for being unreadable and pretentious. It's no more unreadable than James Joyce. What Meltzer did was to treat rock, or pop, or whatever, as a field worthy of being looked at, if not always taken entirely seriously, and it mattered nothing to him whether the record under examination was by the Beatles or by the Standells - he was looking for whatever all this stuff had in common. (Personally I think Joe Carducci succeeded better in his wickedly funny "Rock and the Pop Narcotic", but then Carducci had a much wider field to write about, since his book came out in the 90s and Meltzer's book stops around about 1968.)

To read Meltzer applying Heidegger to doo-wop is to have the structure of your brain rewired in new and interesting ways. His actual career as a paid-up rock critic was short and, well, sour, although he nobly championed the Minutemen in later years; but by then he had ceased to be on anyone's guest list. He is a great American writer and this is the opus that gave him, if not exactly fame and fortune, at least notoriety. You owe it to yourself to check it out, and also his wonderful anthology "A Whore Just Like The Rest", in which he savagely tears into Greil Marcus' patronising introduction. A Meltzer could never happen now, when rock writers (I won't dignify them with the name of "critic") have to be industry ... in order to get any work at all; but at least he's still alive, still sane, still as honest as anyone could hope for, and still writing.

This is one of those books that falls into the category of "ahead of its time." Well, that was 40 years ago. Does it hold up? Kinda-sorta. It goes on and on, mostly about records nobody cares about anymore. A lot of sharp comments but you have to wade through a lot to find the insights. But if you like Greil Marcus and haven't read this, you should have a look.

The temptation is strong, when reviewing a Richard Meltzer book, to slip into his style of writing. I will resist that, and maintain a dull tone. This is the funniest book I have ever read about rock music; it is also one of the few that I've read more than once. Anybody who's read more than a few serious, scholarly, University-press-published books on rock will find this to be a refreshing alternative. Meltzer's 1988 collection of essays, "L.A. Is the Capital of Kansas," appears to be out of print, but is also well worth seeking out.

If you are going to read this book, be prepared for facing the question of whether the author is a brilliant satirist or a drug-addled lunatic. Truth of the matter is that there's a fine line between those two descriptions and author Meltzer manages to hop, skip and jump all around it. This book is going to come across as utterly wonderful to some folks and utterly incomprehensible to others. It requires a deep and abiding passion and commitment to rock `n' roll to absorb the references.

In a perfect world, one would read this monologue from start to finish in one sitting because - by doing so - one would nearly duplicate the attitude and tone that many/most/all of us baby-boomers assumed when discussing "our music" during the 1960s and early 1970s. That most of us were achieving sensory distortion from ingestion of various and sundry legal and illegal items only heightened the importance and depth of what we were saying. (I can remember the joy I felt in finally understanding the hidden meanings in Jethro Tull's `Bungle in the Jungle' in just that way.)

Make no mistake, it is a difficult read if only because of its stream of consciousness structure in combination with pages-long digressions and digressions within digressions. It's easy to lose track of the narrative flow - something obviously and deliberately exacerbated by the writing style. There aren't really any conclusions or great pronouncement with which the reader can agree or disgaree. As I said, it's a lot like a group of less-literate Nick Hornby-types sitting around talking music...just think of the characters in the book/movie High Fidelity and you'll get my meaning.

Other reviewers have mentioned the author as the father of rock criticism, a statement that is undoubtedly true. While I mean and intend no disrespect whatsoever, the textual flow in this book appear to me to have been the driver behind Lester Bangs' style (read `Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung,' especially the James Taylor rant and you'll see what I mean)

So, in the end, what you will hold in your hands - should you elect to purchase and read this book - is an opportunity to immerse yourself in rock `n' roll which in and of itself is not that important in the grand scheme but at the same time is an essential part of our lives.

A real Classic. Griel Marcus and Greil Marcus both contribute a lot to the book, as designer/illustrator, and it's safe to say that Marcus' book-cover design/drawing really adds to the tone of the tome...which previously had sported a photo of Tina Turner and Mick Jagger touching each other on stage, I believe. Meltzer of course is one of the most serious, committed writers on rock, with a political stance and a moral (but not moralistic) outlook that really gets at why rock remains such an important force for good in the world. He applies philosophy to rock in a way that illumes both disciplines and as in his later work (which explores the humanistic/political ramifications of the work of Springsteen, Tom Petty, and R.E.M.), "Aesthetics" looks at Arthur Lee, Hendrix, the Beatles, Cream, the Move, Jimmy Soul, Arthur Conley, Marvin Gaye, the Searchers, the Left Banke, Van Morrison, Chester Arthur Burnett, and many more in light of their connection to the tenets of Western Philosophy. Who else could have shown us the connection between Howlin' Wolf's "Shake for Me" and "Natchez Burning" to the Political Unrest of the day or given us such a beautifully articulated philosophical/musical analysis of "Here Comes the Sun" and "Sunshine of Your Love," two Rock Masterpieces not commonly associated? Meltzer remains a serious contributor to music magazines and certainly ranks up there, as one of the inheritors of the best aspects of New Deal Democratic thought, with Grail Marcuse and Richard Christgau. Long may he wave.