"Rock and the Pop Narcotic" is perhaps the only book of popular music criticism that attempts to achieve a genuine aesthetic of rock music. Other works, such as Richard Meltzer's "The Aesthetics of Rock" or Simon Frith's "Performing Rites: On the Value of Popular Music", either focus on lyrical content or on the sociology of the music's listeners. "Rock and the Pop Narcotic" is both a critique of the sociological approach and a polemic in favour of the music's artistic qualities.