Two ambitious works written by French-speaking scholars tackle rock music as a research object, from different but complementary perspectives. Both are a definite must-read for anyone interested in the contextualisation of rock music in western popular culture. In Une histoire musicale du rock (i.e. A Musical History of Rock), rock music is approached from the point of view of the people – musicians and industry – behind the music. Christophe Pirenne endeavours to examine that field from a m...