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Art rock is a term used to describe a subgenre of rock music with "experimental or avant-garde influences" that emphasizes "novel sonic texture." ^[1] Art rock is an "intrinsically album-based" form, which takes "advantage of the format's capacity for longer, more complex compositions and extended instrumental explorations. ^[2]

The concept of "art rock" has also sometimes been used to refer the "progressive rock" bands which became popular in the 1970s. The All Music Guide states that "Progressive rock and art rock are two almost interchangeable terms describing a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." ^[3]) Progressive rock eventually stuck as a label for a specific genre of rock music, while "art rock" was used to refer to a wider, more subjective and harder to categorize collection of bands.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Mainstream 1.2 Punk and new wave 1.3 Avant-garde 1.4 2000s 2 Notes 3 References

Art rock was born in the 1960s with records such as the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), it being an "unabashedly eclectic, musically clever (harmonies, rhythms and, above all, arrangements) melange that could only have been created in the modern recording studio."^{[citation needed]} Acts like The Velvet Underground, The Doors and Frank Zappa severed "rock" as a genre from the confines of primarily blues influenced rock n' roll, opening up wider sonic possibilities.

Art rock may be considered "arty" through imitation of classical "art" music or literature, or simply through eclecticism. Examples of the former include The Moody Blues, The Who^[4][5], Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Nice, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Love (which exploded into art rock with their seminal album Forever Changes) and examples of the latter include Roxy Music, Genesis and Yes. Folk music has also been considered a popular "art" music with musicians who are greatly critically acclaimed such as Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Simon and Garfunkel.

Art rock reached its commercial height with the popularity of the aforementioned progressive rock bands, such as King Crimson, Yes, Rush, Led Zeppelin, and especially Pink Floyd. After the punk rock revolution of the late '70s put simplicity back in style, and as openly 'progressive' bands drifted toward the mainstream with hit singles and more commercial productions, their 'art rock' designation fell away, and a new breed of artists took their place on the cutting edge of 'art rock'.

Though technically one might think of art rock as the antithesis of punk rock's straightforwardness, most well respected so-called art rock bands of the last 30 years made music influenced by the punk rock ethic, if not the sound, in some regard. Sonic Youth began as a wildly experimental venture, influenced by the noisiest fringes of punk rock and the classical avant-garde — especially the guitar works of Glenn Branca; by the late 1980s, their music was accessible enough to influence a new generation of alt rock and grunge bands.

In fact, the webs of connections are so twisted that original progressive rockers King Crimson and New Wave punk rocks Talking Heads actually converged on very similar styles of music in the 1980s, even sharing the same guitarist (Adrian Belew). But both groups throughout their varied careers are considered by many to epitomize art rock, as the term refers to a perceived aesthetic or ideology of pop music, rather than a specific musical style.

The use of art in art rock should not be confused with its use in art music, which generally connotes western classical music, not "arty" popular music. However, it must be noted that late 20th-century "classical" composers such as John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass, with their interest in rhythm, repetition, and texture, have come ever closer to bridging the gap with popular music.

The only remaining line between certain forms of "art rock" and avant-garde classical is a vague one, with some artists, such as Laurie Anderson, existing right on the boundary. Avant-garde and minimalist music, like other classical music, is still usually composed and written down so that it can be played in concert by various performers, while in art rock, like any other modern pop music, the music is not written down because the primary medium is the original recording, and subsequent live performances are usually done by the songwriters/composers themselves.

But even here the line is blurred, since many of these same avant-garde "classical" composers have relied on recorded sound and tape loop or electronic manipulation just as much as any art rock band, or indeed, originated the forms or technologies that were later adopted by these bands. Glenn Branca was at first a punk rocker who became more and more involved with 20th century "classical" composers. Frank Zappa has composed avant-garde classical music and jazz. Likewise, some art rock is written down. Robby Steinhardt, violinist for Kansas performs using sheet music.

Around 2004, the phrase "art rock" has been popularly used in the British music press (i.e. NME) to somewhat loosely describe a movement of mostly "indie" bands influenced by the 1970s/1980s work of artists like David Bowie, David Byrne, Tom Verlaine, Peter Gabriel, and Brian Eno, and by the post punk scene in general. These new "art rock" bands such as The Mars Volta generally eschew self-conscious descriptions as "art rock", there's also a continuing subcultural movement of underground, sometimes highly uncommercial music with original roots in punk rock, post punk or the radical avant garde whose style or philosophy would fall under common definitions of "art rock". Some of these bands may also be described as experimental rock, while the even more abrasive and abstract acts such as Wolf Eyes and Merzbow may be described as noise music.

However, due to their existence on the fringe of popular success, and the resulting disconnect from the most mainstream styles, nearly all independent music performers, subgenres or scenes of rock music may be considered as "art rock" by some of their adherents who have an interest in seeing them as such.

Indeed, much like the idea of art itself, the idea of art rock is amorphous and practically any practitioner of rock or pop music, no matter how seemingly "generic", may be considered as "art rock" if someone is willing to mount a defense on their behalf. However, in the early 2000s, use of the terms remains quite uncommon outside of music journalists, and is not especially common in serious popular music criticism either, as the term, while convenient, is often seen to be pretentious and lacking in clarity.

Art rock has different meanings to different people. Most would argue that the term is interchangeable with 70s progressive rock. Unlike traditional African American blues rock roots, art rock is usually European influenced from classic music. Like classical music, art rock can be very sophisticated. Singers are often highly trained with clear & pristine voices, such as Jon Anderson,Dennis Deyoung or Freddie Mercury. Instrumental arrangements involving complicated time signatures & very colorful tones such as synthesizers are common place. You might say punk/alternative rock is the opposite type of rock, with blues rock not being far behind. The average fan of punk or blues rock would not like art rock. Singers with rough or deep voices from too many cigarettes would never work in art rock. Likewise musicians with limited knowledge of chords & tones would also not work for art rock. Art rock is less about the drugs, and more about taking music seriously. Other forms of rock are often more about the mood it puts the listener in, rather than concentrating on listening to the actual music.

• Rockwell, John. "Art Rock" in Henke, James et al. (Eds.) (1992). The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll: The Definitive History of the Most Important Artists and Their Music. ISBN 0-679-73728-6.

• Stuessy, Joe. Rock and Roll: Its History and Stylistic Development, 5th ed., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003. ISBN 0-13-099370-0

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