Author defends rock legends

For everyone who has ever bought the latest CD by their favorite rock legend and been disappointed, here’s the book for you.

“The Advanced Genius Theory” (Simon and Schuster, $15) by Atlanta author Jason Hartley asserts that no matter what they do, musicians like Brian Wilson, Sting and Bob Dylan have not lost their musical minds. They are just so genius, they are still ahead of the times, and their former fans just haven’t caught up to them yet.

Hartley’s theory, which he first cooked up over a meal at Pizza Hut with lifelong friend Britt Bergman, classifies musicians as Overt or Advanced. Overt musicians may be “conventionally brilliant,” but their talent is limited, and they tend to appeal to a small fan base. Advanced musicians start out Overt, but not only do they eventually gain a mass following, they ultimately alienate their original fan base by producing work spectacularly different from what launched their careers.

Case in point: Bob (“Voice of a Generation”) Dylan outraged fans by lending his talents to a Victoria’s Secret commercial in 2004. And last year, he released a CD of traditional Christmas music. Both efforts fit three of the tenets of Advancement: They alienated fans, they were unpredictable and they were produced without irony.

“To be Advanced, you have to have supreme self-confidence,” said Hartley. “They are not afraid of being made fun of or appearing ridiculous.”

The theory started as something of a boyhood game. Hartley and Bergman spent hours debating the theory’s application to various artists over the years. But it gained momentum when Hartley got a job copy-editing for Spin magazine and shared the concept with other music writers. Eventually, influential music critic and pop culture author Chuck Klosterman wrote a story about it for Esquire magazine, which led Hartley to start a blog (advancedtheory.blogspot.com) and write the book.

The theory has a greater purpose than to give music geeks another way to debate their favorite topic. Hartley says it has real applications to all music lovers. To use Dylan again as an example, Hartley points to the musician’s foray into Christianity and the religious nature of his album “Slow Train Coming,” which critics hated and fans avoided. But Hartley asserts that a thoughtful listen to it reveals some of Dylan’s finest work.