This offers the first detailed examination of rock music from the perspective of gender. The first section of the book explores the basic premise that much of rock is rooted in misogyny, and that the more rebellious the stance of the artist the more virulent the misogyny as reflected in both attitudes and lyrics. Giving many examples of this from the Stones to the Clash to Manic Street Preachers, the authors root this in a male flight from domesticity and emotional commitment, women being seen as the carriers of these qualities both symbolically and literally.
The second section of the book looks at those artists who do acknowledge the feminine as reflected by a desire for the mystical and oceanic, with many examples ranging from Van Morrison to Pink Floyd. Yet as they point out much of this is also a movement away from the everyday domesticity and emotional commitments of ordinary relationships with women. The final third is an 'herstory' of rock, examining the roles of women artists such as Patti Smith and Chrissie Hynde through to Courtney Walsh and Madonna. It is here where female aggression combines with a feminine sensibility that is unafraid of emotion and domestic reality that the reactionary structures of rock begin to 'warp, buckle and corrode' and a genuine radical position can emerge.
Despite the strong critical perspective of the authors the book is neither dour nor negative. Reynolds and Press are both fans of the music and the artists they describe. The tension between the emotional and musical impact generated on the one hand and the critical perspectives they hold on the other they acknowledge as being theirs as much as in rock itself. The one major criticism I would make is that the book is overwhelmingly about white heterosexual artists and attitudes and the enormous influence of black and gay cultures including the different masculinities contained therein are generally ignored. Adding this dimension would have created an even more illuminating book. Nonetheless I found it both enjoyable and informative.
Paul Wolf-Light
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