[1][2] The book has a similar title to the 1978 work by Noel McGrath, Australian Encyclopaedia of Rock and Pop,[3] but is not otherwise related.

Publishers, Allen & Unwin described McFarlane's encyclopedia as containing over 870 entries and an "essential reference to the bands and artists who molded the shape of Australian popular music [...] in an A-to-Z encyclopedia format complete with biographical and historical details.

"[4] The first edition is out of print, but was for a time available on the whammo.com.au online record store, and is still in the Internet Archive.

Steven Carroll of The Sydney Morning Herald opined that "Any survey of Australian pop and rock that includes entries on such bands as Serious Young Insects (via Boom Crash Opera) is a serious tome.

It's so easy to get lost in this revised edition: one band leading to another, and so on, until you're suddenly asking yourself what happened to the last hour.