流行摇滚Pop Rock

流行摇滚（Pop rock）是Pop音乐与摇滚乐的混合音乐，特色是使用平易近人的流行风格、明亮歌词以及吉他为基础的歌曲。流行摇滚有着许多不同的定义，从“乐观的摇滚音乐”到“Pop音乐的一个分支”。学者认为流行乐和摇滚乐常处于相反立场：流行乐的反对者常称流行乐为华而不实的商业产品，而摇滚乐的拥护者则主张摇滚乐是真实、真心、反商业的音乐。

《American Popular Music》这本书定义流行摇滚为乐观的摇滚音乐，代表歌手有艾尔顿·强、保罗·麦卡尼、艾佛利兄弟二重唱、洛史都华、芝加哥合唱团和彼得·佛莱普顿。相反地，音乐评论家George Starostin 将流行摇滚定义为Pop音乐的一个分支，使用平易近人的流行风格、明亮歌词以及吉他为基础的歌曲。Starostin 主张大部分被称为“power pop”的音乐都是属于流行摇滚的分支。他认为流行摇滚中充满感情的内容是“音乐的次要部份！”

评论家Philip Auslander 认为，比起英国，美国流行乐和摇滚乐之间的差异更为明显。他认为美国的流行乐是发源于如派瑞·柯摩等的白人歌手，而摇滚乐则是来自摇滚（Rock and Roll）等受到黑人影响的音乐。Auslander 指出，流行摇滚的概念，与原来彼此对立的流行乐与摇滚乐是不同的。Auslander 和其他学者如Simon Frith 和Grossberg，主张流行乐常被认为是不真实、虚假、商业化的一种娱乐型态。而摇滚乐则是真实的、真心的、反商业的音乐，还有一个很显著的特点：摇滚乐的内容对于社会人文有批判性的独到见解。并强调由歌手或乐团自己创作，演奏的技巧，和“与听众的连结”。

Simon Frith 对于50年代到80年代流行音乐历史的分析，遭B. J. Moore-Gilbert 的批评。他认为Frith 和其他学者太过强调“摇滚乐”的脚色，在每个新音乐类型的字尾都加上“摇滚”。因此，当受到民谣影响的音乐开始在60年代发展，Frith称他为“民谣摇滚”，而70年代的音乐则称之为“流行摇滚”。Moore-Gilbert 认为这不合理的方式将摇滚乐放在顶点，让受到其他音乐影响的特色成为摇滚乐核心的附属品。

Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its (typically) guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music. The detractors of pop rock often deride it as a slick, commercial product, less authentic than rock music.

Pop rock has been described as an "upbeat variety of rock music represented by artists such as Elton John, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Chicago, and Peter Frampton." Critic Philip Auslander argues that the distinction between pop and rock is more pronounced in the US than in the UK. He claims in the US, pop has roots in white crooners such as Perry Como, whereas rock is rooted in African-American-influenced forms such as rock and roll.

Auslander points out that the concept of pop rock, which blends pop and rock is at odds with the typical conception of pop and rock as opposites. Auslander and several other scholars such as Simon Frith and Grossberg argue that pop music is often depicted as an inauthentic, cynical, "slickly commercial" and formulaic form of entertainment. In contrast, rock music is often heralded as an authentic, sincere, and anti-commercial form of music, which emphasizes songwriting by the singers and bands, instrumental virtuosity, and a "real connection with the audience".

Simon Frith's analysis of the history of popular music from the 1950s to the 1980s has been criticized by B. J. Moore-Gilbert, who argues that Frith and other scholars have over-emphasized the role of "rock" in the history of popular music by naming every new genre using the "rock" suffix. Thus when a folk-oriented style of music developed in the 1960s, Frith terms it "folk rock", and the pop-infused styles of the 1970s were called "pop rock". Moore-Gilbert claims that this approach unfairly puts rock at the apex, and makes every other influence become an add-on to the central core of rock.