What If Velvet Mania Ruled Music?

Chuck Klosterman's "Rock*: A Mainstream Alternative History of Alternative Mainstream Music" presents a fascinating hypothetical scenario: what if The Velvet Underground's 1967 album, "The Velvet Underground & Nico," achieved massive commercial success instead of The Beatles' influence dominating rock history? This alternate timeline imagines a late 20th century where a cultural shift towards gender experimentation, inscrutability, and apathy occurred, driven by the success of Lou Reed and Andy Warhol's band.

In this reimagined history, the brutalist drumming of Moe Tucker overshadows showmen like those in Led Zeppelin, and the influence of rock critics becomes more significant than even powerful unions. Klosterman, known for his work on actual music history, crafts a narrative filled with fabricated charts and critic lists, exploring a world fundamentally different from our own.

The author notes the book is intended for serious fans of rock history, acknowledging its niche appeal. He expresses a personal nostalgia for the more humorous and irreverent style of music writing prevalent in the 1990s, contrasting it with the current landscape where music criticism often focuses on broader societal implications rather than sonic elements.

Klosterman explains the book's timeline concludes with the emergence of The Strokes in 2002, marking a personal turning point as he moved to New York and witnessed firsthand the shifts in music media and consumption with the rise of the internet. The book also touches upon a real historical event: a failed attempt by rock critics to unionize in 1973, which Klosterman humorously extrapolates into a scenario of immense critical power.