Most of books on rock music are histories of the hits. The charts decide, i.e., the masses decide. marx would have loved
it, escept there is a catch. Each person grew up with a different set of idols, and tends to center the history of rock music around those idols, whether Led Zeppelin or Doobie Brothers. Fans mainstream music will claim that it all boils down to personal taste. There is an absolute factor that bestows a form of primacy on alternative music. Tell anyone (alternative or mainstream musician) that she or he is playing mainstream music and she or he will get upset. This book is divided in five parts that roughly mirror the timeline of the rock music history.