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The Philosophy Behind Rock OmnibusIn the midst of the Information Age, music is accessible everywhere, which works to solve one problem while creating yet another. With such a tremendous influx of data, sorting through all of it can be a daunting task. The media is quite adept at dumping piles of information at your feet, but where it doesn't function well is in providing adequate perspective of this digital onslaught. In our eagerness to become exposed to more and more of what's available in the music world, what we've been lacking is a way to filter through it effectively on a macro level. The media can't be the answer, because it's always going to be too preoccupied with being cutting edge for it to pause and take stock of the situation. They churn out songs, and for all they care everyone can make sense of them later. This helps us in the short-term, but ultimately leaves us out in the cold for the long-term. As a result, current events enthusiasts have a field day, while those interested in the historical or nostalgic — even a couple years back — are left to fend for themselves without any adequate tools. Rock Omnibus, therefore, is nothing near resembling a regurgitation of existing playlists, but is instead a completely fresh look at the musical landscape, meaning you’ll find considerable untapped music in the various rock and pop genres, including hundreds of artists either unknown to or ignored by the charts. And you'll even find on our list songs that were buried deep in albums of artists you already know, but which songs never got their rightful airplay. Read our FAQ Section, and ask the author questions about the book.See sample pages from the book...
Hover over the following link to see a sample from the 436-page pdf version of the book, previously sold at $12.95 — fully searchable and indexed with bookmarks. Our list is believed to be the most comprehensive and eclectic compilation in existence of rock and related styled song rankings for the rock n’ roll era. If you want to dig beneath the pop charts and see what’s really out there at various junctures in rock and popular music, this is the right tool. Rock Omnibus takes the perspective of rock music being the pantheon, and focuses most on rock and then pop styles, while also examining the significant offerings from related styles (jazz, country, folk, R&B, new age). The 2011 edition is the first in an ongoing project. The 2015 edition will be available in early 2015. The list is organized according to significant tracks from each artist’s catalog, displaying songs in order of the overall ranking what are deemed by this system as the highest quality songs by each artist, along with the album title and running time of each ranked song. Click here to refer any of your friends to Rock Omnibus, and we'll send them an e-mail about our offer. | |||||||||||
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Below is a small random sampling of the wide array of 4000+ artists included in the Rock Omnibus Top 17,800, with the number of track listings on the list indicated for each corresponding artist. Several of the most prolific artists have over 40 songs listed in our rankings. Who You'll Find On Our List: ... over 3,900 more! See the Complete Artist Listing |
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Where did the Rock Omnibus list of songs come from?
The list developed organically, from the ground up. It wasn’t derived from any other lists, so it’s not a rehash. It was built one song at a time. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the songs were listened to individually and assessed by the author. (other unlistened-to songs were occasionally included among honorable mentions for their historical value) The criteria for the song rankings is solely from the critical review of author Rusty Southwick, and with no correlation to the music chart success, or record sales, radio play or consensus critical review. Thus, what you’ll find is a greater overview of the rock n’ roll landscape, unencumbered by the churned-out product of the recording industry machine, along with its constituency of critics who will commonly try to put the best face on the wares they’re connected to. Rock Omnibus is affiliated with no industry or record label, and as a result is not compelled to be loyal to a certain product. What you get is straight analysis, with no allegiances going on behind the scenes. Table of contents from the book
Rock Omnibus provides a thorough and wide scope of the best songs from the most significant artists in the six-decade rock n’ roll era into 2010. Rock Omnibus maintains the balance of comprehensiveness without peppering the list needlessly with inconsequential songs and artists for the music fan to wade through. If you rely on the pop charts to outline a recommendation of the best songs within any grouping, what you get is a reflection of which songs were well-promoted, hyped, or anticipated, which had the best timing, which revolved around the best news stories, which had the most interesting video clips, which were on the major record labels, which were piggy-backing on hits from the same album, and other such arbitrary conditions. Not to mention that the charts play to the radio and video crowds, meaning that the catchy chorus is going to be emphasized heavily, at the expense of the more nuanced compositions. All these extraneous concerns have been stripped away in Rock Omnibus. What's left is truly the best in rock and popular music. From the rock perspective and the other music surrounding it, this book explores the material that is most substantive. We think you'll agree it's the best music reference book on the market today.
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