Music
A Subversive History

Quotes

"A dauntingly ambitious, obsessively researched labor of cultural provocation."—Robert Christgau, Los Angeles Times

"[A] sweeping study...The author aims to subvert our ideas about music history-essentially, Western classical tradition and its contemporary and popular offshoots-in part by removing its pedestals...Gioia challenges notions of progress based solely on aesthetic or stylistic innovation...characteriz[ing] music history as a cyclical power struggle with shifting battle lines."—Larry Blumenfeld, Wall Street Journal

"Music: A Subversive History is by some distance the most wide-ranging and provocative thing he's [Gioia's] come up with... In terms of scope, well, put it this way: it starts out talking about a bear's thighbone that Neanderthal hunters apparently turned into a primitive flute somewhere between 43,000 and 82,000 years ago and ends up, 450 pages later, discussing K-pop and EDM."—Guardian

"Gioia's great strength as a writer is his sensitivity to the vast range of all the world's music, and his impressive grasp of the literature on world music, jazz and pop, as well as classical music... This book feels like the summation of a lifetime's avid musical exploration and reading. It has an epic sweep and passionate engagement with the topic that carries one along irresistibly."—Telegraph

"In this excellent history, music critic Gioia (How to Listen to Jazz) dazzles with tales of how music grew out of violence, sex, and rebellion... Gioia's richly told narrative provides fresh insights into the history of music."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Gioia draws on social science research into the past and present to forge a sweeping and enthralling account of music as an agency of human change."—Booklist, starred review

"I can't speak highly enough about Music: A Subversive History...[Gioia] is always fun to read...I suspect that academic scholars will pooh-pooh aspects of Music. That's as it should be...Gioia remains something of an outsider critic, convinced that the passion for destruction can be a creative passion."—Michael Dirda, Washington Post

"Scintillating... Gioia is writing about evolution and magic-this is a music history that synthesizes both Darwin and Frazer, and, at least in terms of writing for a general audience, is the first to do so. We need this story."—Brooklyn Rail

"Gioia's argument is persuasive and offers a wealth of possibilities for further exploration. This fascinating recontextualization will appeal to anyone who ever wondered why "Hound Dog" became a hit only when Elvis Presley covered it."—Library Journal

"A revisionist history highlights music's connections to violence, disruption, and power. In a sweeping survey that begins in "pre-human natural soundscapes," music historian Gioia (How To Listen to Jazz, 2016, etc.) examines changes and innovation in music, arguing vigorously that the music produced by "peasants and plebeians, slaves and bohemians, renegades and outcasts" reflected and influenced social, cultural, and political life... A bold, fresh, and informative chronicle of music's evolution and cultural meaning."—Kirkus