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The reformer's charter: setting Bloom's Anxiety of Influence in the context of melodic rock

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2010

Benjamin Earl
Benjamin Earl
Affiliation:
19 Hillside Court, Ty-Gwyn Road, Penylan, Cardiff CF23 5JA, UK E-mail: earlb@cardiff.ac.uk
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Abstract

When a band reforms after a period apart, they offer intertextual observations on their previous releases, and consequently on their generic positioning both in the present, and prior to splitting up. This paper considers how reformed bands deal with the weight and expectation that is caused by their initial, original existence before splitting up. I modify Harold Bloom's theory of poetic influence in order to theorise how a reformed band struggle with the weight of themselves as precursor, including not only analysis of the text itself, but the inter-textual discourses surrounding the work. I argue that Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow, a release by the melodic rock band Magnum, showcases the band's struggle to gain subcultural capital in their field, and look at the position-taking strategies they employ to deal with their anxiety of influence as the melodic rock field shifts position relative to the field of large-scale production.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 29 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 131 - 142
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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Magnum discography

Kingdom of Madness. Jet, JETLP210. 1978Google Scholar
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Magnum II. FM, WKFMLP119. 1989Google Scholar
Chase the Dragon. Jet, JETLP235. 1982Google Scholar
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On A Storyteller's Night. FM, WKFMGP34. 1985Google Scholar
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Rock Art. EMI, EMD1066. 1994Google Scholar
Kingdom of Madness. Jet, JETLP210. 1978Google Scholar
Kingdom of Madness. FM, WKFMLP118. 1989Google Scholar
Magnum II. Jet, JETLP 222. 1979Google Scholar
Magnum II. FM, WKFMLP119. 1989Google Scholar
Chase the Dragon. Jet, JETLP235. 1982Google Scholar
The Eleventh Hour. Jet, JETLP240. 1983Google Scholar
On A Storyteller's Night. FM, WKFMGP34. 1985Google Scholar
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Goodnight LA. Polydor, 845568-1. 1990CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Rock Art. EMI, EMD1066. 1994Google Scholar

(Post-reformation)

Breath of Life. SPV, 8572902. 2002Google Scholar
Brand New Morning. SPV, 8569632. 2004Google Scholar
Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow. SPV, B000MX7UM6. 2007Google Scholar