A top critic offers his 100 picks for the best and most influential rock albums Rock and roll has engendered a whole myriad of subgenres-from metal to reggae, folk rock to funk, country rock to hip-hop, punk to grunge, rockabilly to soul.In assertive and original essays, Jon Pareles, the rock music critic for The New York Times, addresses what he calls the "panopticon" of genres that grew out of the early traditions. He includes several of these seminal artists who laid the.