High volume in the form of high sound pressure level (SPL) is ingrained in the aesthetics of many forms of popular music, most obviously in rock and its associated sub-genres, but also in many other genres and styles including various forms of dance music, hip hop, reggae and electronic music. The primary site of expression of the notion of loud-as-good is in the performance of music in public spaces or venues (live, recorded or a blend of both). The reproduction of discourses of loud-as-good is woven through popular music culture, from bands in tiny rehearsal studios to the world record for “loudest” band (Deep Purple or The Who, depending on the year of publication of the Guinness Book of Records). Loud-as-good discourse has been satirised in other media: the “mockumentary”, This is Spinal Tap (1984) and Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, both of which are addressed here. This essay identifies five discourses of loudness as they appear in music journalism, and in fiction. These are: loud-as-good, loud-as-bad; loud-as-good for the audience, but bad for the journalist; loud-as-good for the journalist, but bad for the audience; loud-as-irrational.
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