art rock
1
7.1
- noun
- /ɑrt rɑk/
:
art rock
- Many listeners appreciate art rock for its experimental nature and thought-provoking lyrics.
- British art rock
- kinds of art rock
Examples
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Suburban flight, soft rock, art rock,
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The band's latest album is a stunning example of art rock, blending classical influences with modern sounds.
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In the 1970s, art rock emerged as a genre that prioritized intricate compositions over danceable beats.
Synonyms
2
5.6
Rock music with long, complex songs that mix other styles and sounds
Music that mixes jazz solo playing with rock rhythms and electric instruments
How Experimental
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a style of rock music with artistic or experimental qualities' is directly and transparently built from combining 'art' (artistic) with 'rock' (the music genre) — i.e. rock that is artistic. This noun+noun composition is a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words can reasonably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Art rock: The noun art rock comes from musicians who treated rock music as art: they mixed ideas from jazz and classical and used new, unusual sounds to make albums for careful 'listening' rather than for dancing. That's why today art rock means rock music that focuses on creative ideas and 'listening' instead of dancing.