This powerpoint is designed to accompany a unit on Art Rock that I've designed for a High School General Music course.

1. ART ROCK

2. Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you, no man ask for
Under pressure that burns a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets
It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming, "Let me out!"
Tomorrow gets me higher
Pressure on people - people on streets
Chippin' around, kick my brains 'round the floor
These are the days - it never rains but it pours
People on streets - people on streets
UNDERPRESSURE

3. It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming, "Let me out!"
Tomorrow gets me higher, higher, higher...
Pressure on people - people on streets
Turned away from it all like a blind man
Sat on a fence but it don't work
Keep coming up with love but it's so slashed and torn
Why, why, why?
Love
UNDERPRESSURE

4. Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking
Can't we give ourselves one more chance?
Why can't we give love that one more chance?
Why can't we give love, give love, give love, give love, give
love, give love, give love, give love?..
'Cause love's such an old-fashioned word
And love dares you to care for
The people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is our last dance
This is ourselves
Under pressure
Under pressure
UNDERPRESSURE

5. ART ROCK HISTORY
Art Rock is a subgenre of rock music that grew as an extension of the
experimental work and conceptual outlook taken on music in the late
1960s. Many bands felt that the current rock was too basic and simple.
They wanted to develop more complex ideas, extending the limits of Rock
& Roll. The style was created with the intention of listening and
contemplation rather than for dancing. Other bands wished to show off
their impressive techniques.

6. INFLUENCE:
Influences were drawn from several genres, such as:
Classical Music
Experimental Rock
Avant garde
Jazz

7. LYRICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Art Rock artists became focused on deeper meaning in their lyrical content,
creating a less danceable and less commercial product than that other rock sub-
genres. The lyrics of the songs were often poetic and imaginative, with
philosophical, sociopolitical, or science-fiction themes.
The style was traditionally used within the context of concept records, with lyrical
themes that unify all of the songs in the album.

8. MUSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
The genre often feature complex or frequent rhythm and time-signature changes.
The new technology of synthesizers helped many bands create new and varied
sounds. In addition to the standard rock-band lineup (guitar, bass guitar, drums,
and vocals), these groups often featured the Mellotron (a tape-loop-
based keyboard instrument often used for orchestral sounds), organ, piano, and
early synthesizers. Some bands also incorporated symphonic orchestration.
Another important element of Art Rock is form. In contrast to most popular music,
which was often in binary form with a verse-chorus and perhaps differing a bridge
section, artists organized Art Rock songs into movements, similar to that of
classical music.

9. Art Rock Artists
{selective overview}

10. PINK FLOYD
One of the most experimental of all art rock bands, they used
organized sound, non-musical ideas and unusual time signature
such as 7/4 on their most famous album Dark Side of the Moon.
This album begins and ends with the pre-recorded sound of a
heartbeat. The song, Money, from the same album has unusual 7-
bar phrases.
DAVID BOWIE
A figure in popular music for over five decades, he is regarded
as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s. His career
was marked by reinvention and visual spectacle, his music and
stagecraft significantly impacting popular music.

11. THE MOODY BLUES
The band frequently used orchestral backing. Their most famous
song Knights in White Satin was released in 1967 and re-released
in 1972. It featured the London Festival Orchestra.
GENESIS
Formed by Peter Gabriel, the group was well established by 1970
and their original songs frequently used synthesizers, complex
ideas and poetic lyrics. When Peter Gabriel left in 1975, they
became less experimental and much more commercial.

12. QUEEN
Queen is a British rock band that formed in London in
1970. The classic line-up was Freddie Mercury (lead
vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor
(drums, vocals), and John Deacon (bass guitar).
Queen's earliest works were influenced by art rock,
hard rock, and heavy metal, but the band gradually
ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly
works by incorporating further styles, such as arena
rock, and pop rock, into their music.

13. Assignments:
-Vocabulary Terms
-Listen to “Bohemian
Rhapsody” by Queen

14. BOHEMIAN
RHAPSODY

15. Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide,
No escape from reality.
Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see,
I’m just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,
Because I’m easy come, easy go, little high, little low,
Any way the wind blows, doesn’t really matter to me, to me.

16. Mama, just killed a man,
Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he’s dead.
Mama, life had just begun,
But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away.
Mama, oooh, didn’t mean to make you cry,
If I’m not back again this time tomorrow,
Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters
Too late, my time has come,
Sends shivers down my spine, body’s aching all the time.
Goodbye ev’rybody – I’ve got to go,
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth.
Mama, oooh (anyway the wind blows), I don’t want to die,
I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all.

17. I see a little silhouetto of a man,
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?
Thunderbolt and lightning – very, very fright’ning me.
Gallileo (Gallileo),
Gallileo (Gallileo),
Gallileo Figaro – Magnifico!
But I’m just a poor boy and nobody loves me.
He’s just a poor boy from a poor family,
Spare him his life from this monstrosity.
Easy come, easy go, will you let me go?
Bismillah! No, we will not let you go. (Let him go!)
Bismillah! No, we will not let you go. (Let him go!)
Bismillah! We will not let you go. (Let me go!)
Will not let you go. (Let me go!) (Never!)
Never let you go – (Let him go!)
Never let me go – oooh
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
(Oh, mama mia, mama mia.) Mama mia, let me go.
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me.

18. So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye.
So you think you can love me and leave me to die.
Oh, baby, can’t do this to me baby,
Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here.
Ooh yeah, ooh yeah,.

19. Nothing really matters, anyone can see,
Nothing really matters,
Nothing really matters to me.
Any way the wind blows…

20. Section Musical Characteristics Lyrical Content
Section 1:
Opening
Middle
End
Section 2:
Section 3:
Section 4:

21. ● Another Brick in the Wall - Pink Floyd
● On the Run - Pink Floyd
● The Great Gig in the Sky - Pink Floyd
● Bicycle -Queen
● Mood for a Day -Yes
● Roundabout - Yes
● Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
● Trouble Every Day - Frank Zappa
● Sunday Morning- The Velvet Underground
● Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
● Life on Mars? - David Bowie

22. ➢What modern artist could be
a catalyst for an Art Rock
revival?
Explain why based on your
knowledge of their work and
your knowledge of art rock
characteristics.