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Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an artistic statement, [7] opting for a more experimental and conceptual outlook on music. [3] .
Sep 6, 2024 · Art rock, eclectic branch of rock music that emerged in the late 1960s and flourished in the early to mid-1970s. The term is sometimes used synonymously with progressive rock, but the latter is best used to describe “intellectual” album-oriented rock by such British bands as Genesis, King Crimson,
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- The Birth of Art Rock
- The Who
- The Velvet Underground
- Psychedelia in The UK
- The Beatles Lead The Charge
- Provocateurs and Deconstructionists
- The Impetus to Progress
- For Your Pleasure: The Rise of Glam Rock
- Art Punk: An Impulse to Shock and Provoke
- Art Rock in The Modern Era
By common consensus, British art schools in the late 50s and early 60s served as hothouses of musical creativity. Several of the era’s prime movers famously brushed at easels before wielding plectrums: John Lennon (Liverpool College of Art), Ray Davies (Hornsey College Of Art, then Croydon Art School for its film and theatre programme), Eric Clapto...
In mid-60s Britain, no one joined the dots between art and music more assiduously than The Who, bedecked in the arrows and roundels of their hi-vis pop art regalia, adapting the flags and medals of a crumbling empire to their own symbolic, sartorial, and gestural ends. Whether or not guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend diligently took notes when at...
Meanwhile, in the US, The Velvet Underground boasted an explicit link to the art world by dint of being squired and theoretically managed by a genuine artist, Andy Warhol. Warhol designed the sleeve of their March 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, and was a galvanic, totemic presence during the recording. The album in question was ex...
In the UK, the onset of psychedelia in 1966/67 signified open season for bands with a plausible claim to art rock pertinence. (The late Patrick Lundborg defines the first flush of art rock as “an intellectualized form of psychedelia” in his book Psychedelia: An Ancient Culture, A Modern Way Of Life.) The Pretty Things, led by art school compatriots...
As was so often the case in the 60s, The Beatles had led the charge. “Tomorrow Never Knows,” from August 1966’s Revolver, was a properly avant-garde construct, wholly without precedent for a pop group. A collage of tape loops, a disembodied vocal channeled through a rotating Leslie speaker, a backward guitar solo, and a lyric derived from Timothy L...
Lennon would subsequently marry Japanese conceptual artist Yoko Ono, an abstract provocateur whose liberating influence should never be underestimated. However, with regard to artful tape editing and manipulation, it was Frank Zappa who punted the ball into the stratosphere on 1967’s Lumpy Gravy and 1968’s We’re Only In It For The Money– with due r...
It gets trickier when prog rock is brought into the equation. The impetus to “progress” was inherent in the description, yet there was something about the genre’s emphasis on grandstanding virtuosity which, ironically, often seemed too traditional and eager-to-please to qualify as “progressive” – let alone art rock. Emerson, Lake & Palmer, for exam...
It was actually in the UK singles chart of the early 70s that art rock was most overtly visible, in the idiosyncratic shape of Roxy Music. Even in the peacock context of glam rock, Roxy looked and sounded intoxicatingly exotic; and in vocalist Bryan Ferryand synth manipulator Brian Eno, they housed, unsustainably, two intractable personalities whos...
For all that punk appeared to espouse an anti-intellectual agenda, the impulse to shock and provoke was nevertheless consistent with art rock principles. Of the ostensible new wave, bands including Wire, Devo (so arty they had their own manifesto), The Clash, XTC, The Soft Boys, and Adam And The Ants all contained members who had attended art schoo...
In the last 20 years, the most high-profile adherents to an art rock ethos would have to be Blur, whose fitful desire to look beyond formulaic pop conventions spoke volumes about the knock-on effects of a bohemian background. (Damon Albarn’s father, Keith, ran the School Of Art And Design at Colchester Institute, while guitarist Graham Coxon had be...
- Oregano Rathbone
Feb 20, 2024 · In the realm of progressive rock, bands like Radiohead, Tool, and Muse have embraced the ethos of Art Rock, incorporating complex arrangements, conceptual themes, and avant-garde influences into their music.
Jun 27, 2024 · Art rock music is a subgenre of rock music that emerged in the late 1960s and gained prominence throughout the 1970s. Characterized by its experimental approach and emphasis on artistic expression, art rock combines elements of traditional rock with influences from classical music, avant-garde, and other forms of art.
Jun 24, 2024 · Art rock, a genre that blends the sophistication and conceptual ambition of art with the visceral power and accessibility of rock music, has played a pivotal role in the evolution of modern music. From its definition and historical development to essential artists and tracks, and its relationship with other genres, art rock’s rich ...
Jun 13, 2024 · Art rock is a unique genre that blends rock with other artistic elements to create a sophisticated sound. Here are 20 of the best art rock bands that have left an indelible mark on music history.
