Postmodernism in Rock 2

Julie and I are doing our taxes. It is a ritual of paper shuffling, shredding and eventual disposal done to the tunes of Planet Rock. From this mornings listening I can confirm and enlarge upon yesterdays prognosis. Certainly modernist rock, as exemplified by Zeppelin's Heartbreaker or the Stones Gimme Shelter, both from 1970, are straightforward blues mewings put to astonishing effect, meanwhile it is clear that ACDC are the SOM of modernist Rock, ever to be relied upon to give the dog a bone forever and ever.

Beyond this, the post modern rock trajectory suddenly demands the need for story telling. Weirdly architecture did this too, we called it narrative. Usually, for rockers, these are everyday stories of roads, Armageddon or fairyland. Archetypes heard this morning include Bon Jovi's Dead or Alive but could include almost anything from anybody hacking down rock verse from 1974 on. Here Jethro Tull are exemplary (in an awful way) and became at one dreadful point in history the biggest live act in the USA, and Yes who remain indefensible. A further extremity of lyrical garbage would be reached with Rush, who even bring in quaintly Disneyesque motifs (Tom Sawyer). However I'll save that for later. I think it was Def Leopard who actually tried to do the Somme.

Meanwhile remember Judas Priest's 'Breaking the Law' is exactly the same as Thin Lizzy's 'Boys are Back in Town'.