200
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #161,056 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★☆
This may not be what you think
If you want this because you think you enjoyed it on PBS, it's important to know that PBS has broadcast at least two similarly-named 10-hour series on the topic of rock music history. One, titled "Rock and Roll" by "The Experience Project", as I recall, is a little "deeper" and I gained some appreciation of even topics in which I had little interest (e.g. punk rock). The other series, "The History Of Rock And Roll", by Time-Life (now Time-Warner), which is what you see here, is enjoyable but mostly shallow, and I was annoyed that the live performance clips are short (don't expect to see a complete song).
Both series were produced several years ago, and this series has no coverage of recent music.
If you could only afford one series, I would normally recommend "Rock And Roll", not this one. However, PBS seems to have a monopoly on "Rock And Roll", and last time I checked they would sell it only to educators, not the general public.
At $100 for 10 hours, this is not a great value. The price per hour is nearly 3 times the price of, for example, a year's worth of M*A*S*H episodes (24 episodes, each with 22 non-commercial minutes, for about $35).
Despite my criticisms, I did enjoy the series, and if you are
fortunate enough to be able to fit this into your budget, as I was, then I do recommend it.
