Customer Reviews

Rock and Roll: Its History and Stylistic Development (3rd Edition)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I used an earlier edition of this fine book some years ago in teaching a college-level history of rock and roll, and the only reason I give it four rather than five stars is the obscene price. Stuessy's aim in writing the book was not just to introduce the history of rock and roll, but to introduce students to the various elements of music (melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre) and of musical formal structures: these items are covered in detail, relating to the music of the appropriate chapter, in end-of-chapter supplements. In other words, Stuessy is trying in part to promote musical literacy among people who do not take a more traditional class in "music appreciation." I would not expect that many people without some formal musical training could make complete sense of the supplements, but it is a textbook, not a self-help manual, and I had great success with the book in class. The main text, however, is independent of the more technical supplements, and can be read as an excellent and insightful history of rock and roll.

This book has a publication date of 2008, and while it thoroughly covers the history of rock music through the 1980's, it's very unfortunate that it does not provide significant coverage of the last two decades. The 00's are almost over, and there have been significant changes to rock over the past two decades that deserve much greater coverage.

There is barely any coverage of the grunge era, and little or no coverage of the post-grunge era, the fusion of metal and hip-hop (Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine, Papa Roach), the new alternative metal scene of the 00's (Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle), the re-emergence of punk and the new genres it has spurred (emo, new garage rock, pop-punk), the fusion of rock music with dance (Finger Eleven, Good Charlotte), or the thorough history and maturing of rap and hip hop. The last two decades have provided a very rich history of developments in rock music and should be covered if you are going to claim to provide a "complete" history of rock music through 2008. Rock music does not just cover the "60s, 70s, 80s, and today." "Today" should not be inclusive of the 90s and 00s, for each decade deserves its own unique chapter in the history of the most advanced form of popular music in the history of the world.

I have always been happy with my purchases from amazon, but this product was disappointing. I was so excited for this textbook because of the course it's for and I was so happy when it arrived today! But then I opened the package and this book is ruined, if this book I received is what's called "good condition" I'm scared to see what "poor condition" looks like. The cover corners are bent, the bottom looks like it got wet and all the pages are wrinkled and there's a brown stain on the bottom corner. This book is a huge disappointment in appearance, and I normally love all products I get from amazon.

I am very happy in my textbook. It came sooner then then amazon said it would come and the condition of it was exactly what i was expecting. Thank You.

I can't really give you a review of this book because I bought if for my son for his music class in college. The price was excellent and the book was in great condition.

I will continue to use this method to save money on books.

This book is predictable, boring, and prejudiced. What did I expect from a textbook? More, I guess. I've been listening to a lot of rock and roll from a lot of different time periods in the past two years and have been trying to understand the history of the music, influences on bands, where different trends came from, flashes of originality ... I don't mind an academic perspective, I hoped for some music theory, but this book is just plain stupid. What a waste of money.