Music encyclopedias often use the (sounds pretentious, doesn't it?) term Art Rock interchangeably with Prog or Avant Garde. According to the most established definition "art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an artistic statement, opting for a more experimental and conceptual outlook on music". So the various musicologists lump everyone from The Velvets to Floyd to Radiohead, even some Beatles albums, under this category. While I couldn't give you any kind of definition, I tend to apply that label more narrowly, to music that abides to pop rock formulas while incorporating more challenging compositional and instrumental elements. Since that's also quite generic, maybe some examples would help with the categorization: Kate Bush, Roxy Music, Supertramp=>Art Rock. Genesis, Yes, King Crimson=>Prog. Can, Zappa, Eno=>Avant Garde.
The term may be somewhat nebulous still, but it does come handy when you try to describe bands like Be Bop Deluxe: Despite the fact that Modern Music has elements of Glam, Prog and even nascent New Wave, it doesn't fit in any of these categories, so "Art Rock" will have to do. Most of the songs stick to a radio-friendly 3-4 minute duration, even though Side 2 merges a few songs together, possibly inspired by The Beatles' Abbey Road. There's an overall full sound, the band playing together with no single instrument dominating - which isn't necessarily an advantage when you have a guitarist like Bill Nelson, a rare case of a virtuoso who doesn't keep stealing the spotlight. His playing throughout is excellent, I wouldn't mind hearing more of it. The album opens with "Orphans Of Babylon", an upbeat and melodic slice of pop followed by the more theatrical, Cockney Rebel-like, "Twilight Capers". Lead single "Kiss Of Light" has a quasi-exotic beat, catchy chorus and nice guitar licks. "Bird Charmer's Destiny" is a short piano-and-vocal interlude setting the mood for a pretty ballad called "The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow". "Bring Back The Spark" is the album's first bona fide rocker with a fantastic guitar coda. Side 2 opens with a bit of radio noise and song snippets before settling into the "Modern Music" suite, a rather pessimistic piece inspired by Nelson's experiences touring the USA. Of the 6 songs comprising it, the same-titled track is easily the most memorable, while funk jazz "Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids" also stands out as it gives the album an unexpected Zappa-esque flavour. The LP closes with 3 songs reminiscent of the band's glam beginnings, the Bowie-like "Down On Terminal Street", hard rocking "Forbidden Lovers" and acoustic "Make The Music Magic". When one looks at the album's components, it's difficult to find a fault: stylish cover, well-crafted songs, intelligent lyrics, excellent playing and high quality production - by John Leckie who'd go on to produce seminal Brit rock classics by Radiohead and Stone Roses (did I mention that Art Rock is considered an almost exclusively UK phenomenon?). Yet as a whole I feel it fails to ignite, being too "brainy" and low on truly memorable hooks for the pop charts, and too restrained to qualify as truly progressive/experimental.
**** for Twilight Capers, Kiss Of Light, Bring Back The Spark, Modern Music
*** for Orphans Of Babylon, The Bird Charmer's Destiny, The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow, Dancing In The Moonlight (All Alone)/Honeymoon On Mars/Lost In The Neon World/Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids/Modern Music (Reprise), Forbidden Lovers, Down On Terminal Street, Make The Music Magic
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