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No, not for classical - for classical, there's the score and live performance. Recordings take a back seat in classical.
Rock music is defined for me by the recording, it's one of the things that makes rock music interesting - that the recording is the central document - the work resides in the recording, not a score or in its realization.
I wasn't trying to knock live performance, I just think it's secondary, and so it couldn't make me change my opinion of a certain group. But then again, maybe it comes down to the individual group. I mean, its hard to say that the Grateful Dead are defined by their recordings. That would be dumb. But they're improvisational. Maybe its sort of a continuum when it comes to popular music or even 20th/21st century music in general. The addition of recording complicates things. I mean, there are 20th century classical works that exist only as recordings. Somebody needs to write a book on this, not me.
But rock in general became a distinct musical practice in the 60s (right?) and was initialllly defined by the recording. I'm thinking of the Beatles, Beach Boys, and so on. This is also why I feel that musicianship isn't all that important in rock music - being good on your instrument can almost get in the way even.
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