Nevermind The Beatles, here's Exile 61 and Nico: ‘The top 100 records of all time’ – a canon of pop and rock albums from a sociological and an aesthetic perspective

Abstract

For this article the authors analysed thirty-eight lists of ‘The 100 greatest albums of all time’ type. As the findings demonstrate, a canon of popular music has evolved which shows strong tendencies towards stability in featuring albums from the late 1960s (especially those by The Beatles), while only a few albums from the 1990s have gained ‘classic’ status. The canon's contents and exclusions are explained by the social dispositions of the participants, predominantly white males aged twenty to forty. Influenced by efforts of the cultural industries, these actors also evaluate certain albums for the purposes of distinguishing themselves from the ‘mainstream’. Furthermore, aesthetic and artistic criteria underlying the esteem of the ‘masterworks’ are identified by analysing reviews. The authors suggest that future research on canonisation should interlock sociological and aesthetic perspectives. Findings from such an approach might initiate reflection among music fans about their own exclusions, and result in an opening up of the meaning and significance of the canon.

¿Autonomía, sumisión o hibridación sonora? La construcción del canon estético del pop-rock español

“…These differences are also partly due to a division along generational lines, as mentioned by von Appen and Dohering (2006). …”

“…Una década después, Ralph von Appen y André Dohering (2006), analizando el caso del poprock anglosajón, y teniendo en cuenta el trabajo de Regev, cotejaron más de 30 listas del tipo Los 100 mejores discos de todos los tiempos para demostrar que hay un canon establecido y que tiende a consagrar en primer lugar obras producidas en la década de los años sesenta. Por su parte, Vaughn Schmutz (2005), partiendo de una de esas listas en particular («The 500 greatest albums of all time», Rolling Stone, 2003), y teniendo en cuenta las formas bourdianas de reconocimiento, investigó la manera en que las obras se consagran retrospectivamente según las ventas, los premios de la academia y la opinión de la prensa especializada, en el caso norteamericano, concluyendo que el peso de la crítica es fundamental para consagrar una obra, y que la edad de la obra también ayuda a su consagración.…”

Cultural Uniqueness and Aesthetic Cosmopolitanism

“…The justifications used for erecting the canons are permutations of the traditional modernist ideology of autonomous art, meaning that the importance of films and their directors, of albums and their musicians, is determined not necessarily by relating to their impact in the sales market, but by pointing to their aesthetic and cultural value (Allen and Lincoln, 2004;Appen and Dohering, 2006;Irvin, 2001;Regev, 1994; Sight and Sound international critics and directors poll, September 2002). That is, the canonic films and pop-rock albums are believed to be ultimate embodiments of the potential hidden in the expressive technologies of film making and pop-rock to be genuine artistic and creative means.…”

Autenticidad enunciativa y sociosemántica del pop-rock en español

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SummaryFrom a sociological perspective, the aesthetic value of authenticity is considered a key feature musicians must have in order to enter the pop-rock canon (Val, Noya & Pérez-Colman 2014;Appen & Doehring 2006). The present paper aims to identify and analyse different strategies employed to suggest authenticity regarding enunciation (Laferl 2005) and social semiotics (Halliday 1978) in pop-rock song lyrics.

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