[citation needed] Rock and the Pop Narcotic is both a critique of the sociological approach and a polemic in favour of the music's artistic qualities.

Unlike many writers on pop music, he has no truck with the idea that popularity is an index of quality; this attitude leads him to dismiss many major performers, such as U2 and Bruce Springsteen, as artistically null.

III The Whole World's Switching the Channel: How mass media and other cultural forces have shaped the music business.

Each subsection begins with a listing of and short comment on the best rock artists of the decade in Carducci's view.

The book closes with several appendices which include radio show playlists, catalogs from his time at Systematic, gig posters from Black Flag, Saccharine Trust, etc.

Only Robert Christgau in the Village Voice praised it in public, calling it "important if not terribly good".