Description
For your second paper, you’ll consider the role of music criticism in shaping rock history. To do so, you will need to:
Choose a rock album released between 1970 and 1990. If in doubt, please ask.
Find the original Rolling Stone review for that album. The easiest way to locate older reviews is to search Google; use the phrase “rolling stone review [name of album],” e.g. “rolling stone review pink floyd the wall.” Be sure to check the date of the review, as the magazine has reviewed some albums multiple times.
Go to Rock’s Back Pages and find 2-3 additional reviews of the album from the same year. Rock’s Back Pages can be accessed through the Berklee Library’s website (click on link).
Read the reviews carefully, comparing the authors’ tone, language, and reaction to the album. How much of each review is dedicated to an analytical discussion of the music? The language? The production values? Can you detect any obvious authorial bias?
Find 1-2 contemporary articles or reviews of the same album. The more recent articles/reviews must have been published within the last 10 years, and appeared at a major media outlet (e.g. New York Times, Slate, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, NPR). How do the original reviews compare with contemporary assessments of the album?
Sample Solution
