The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Address:	1100 E 9th St, Cleveland, OH 44114, USA
Phone:	+1 216-781-7625
Site:	rockhall.com
Rating:	4
Working:	10AM–5:30PM 10AM–5:30PM 10AM–9PM 10AM–5:30PM 10AM–5:30PM 10AM–9PM 10AM–5:30PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 4

Edward Tarrant

My wife and I were slightly dissappointed with the hall. If youre a fan of rock and roll, you have to see this place. Plan on, at least, half of a day. Lots to see and do. Many interactive displays. There is a ton of history to see. BUT...there should be a seperation of items donated from hall of fame members and non hall of fame members. It seems like they just put stuff wherever there was room. I.e.; Lady Gagas meat dress and an outfit of Taylor Swifts amongst a Jimmie Hendrix exhibit. It seemed as if more focus was put on where the artist came from than the artists themselves. Why do some hall of fame members get exhibits and others dont? We saw exhibits for various members of various sizes. Arguably, some made sense, some did not. We expected to see large exhibits for artists like The Beatles and Elvis, but, we saw no exhibit for others, such as The Eagles. We saw a few pieces from such groups, but it seemed as if they were just tossed in with other things. Why are some artists in and others are not? Many of the hall of fame members were understandable, whether or not we were fans of the artist. I think Bruce Springsteen is overrated, but, I would expect him to be in the hall of fame. I like most of Cheap Tricks music, but I would NOT expect them to be in. (They are in) I would, however, expect other artists from the same era, who were far more popular, to be in, such as Styx, Foreigner or REO Speedwagon. (They are not in) Id be curious to know the criteria for becoming a member. Why are some artists in, at all? Again, some members were obvious. Others, questionable. But, some..? This is the "Rock and Roll" Hall of fame. Why are there Rappers and R & B artists, etc here? Ok, some of these artists may be, arguably, rightfully here. Perhaps they were pioneers of their genre. I.E.; The Sugarhill Gang, Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, RUN DMC, Johnny Cash, et. al., but, Grandmaster Flash? The Beastie Boys? Come on...you wont see Lynard Skynard in any R&B or Rap museums. The Rolling Stones wont be gracing the halls of any Country Music museum... The word is, exhibits change regularly. I think Ive made my perspective clear about the three star rating. Definitely a must see. But it could be much better. Also worth mentioning...the cafeteria was very overpriced, as expected, and the food was "blah", not as expected. The gift shop, which is run by FYE, had a nice selection and friendly staff. More impressive, to us, was that we did not get a hat that we purchased put in with our other items. This was not discovered until several days later, when we returned home. Expecting to be told tough luck and losing out on a $25 hat, we called to ask about it and they said, "We were hoping youd call. We have your hat. Give us your address and well send it to you." That impressed us! 2 days later I had my hat! Bravo, FYE, Bravo!

Butch Buchanico

Just returned with the family from a spectacular trip to the Hall. Be careful about reading old reviews because the staff is now very friendly and accomodating. Photos are freely allowed without flash and the staff will lead you where you want to go. I suggest grabbing the pamphlet at the entry desk and follow the numbers. I had 4 teenagers and a 9 year old and they were all fascinated and interested in the origins and development of music and video. The MTV movie montage brought back a lot of memories. Keep in mind that this is a Hall where music artifacts are on display to enjoy. It is also all music. People are under some created impression that rock and roll means electric guitars and head banging. As you flow freely through the displays you will find that many influences of the artists come from the roots of R n R. The interactive displays were OK. Basically just music juke boxes for the artists either inducted or featured. Follow the advice on dining here. It is what it is! Its not a restaurant but rather a cafe type. Great views of the lake and if the weather is nice you could sit outdoors. There was a live band of some sort and a couple private functions going on at the main level but other then being extremely loud, it did not affect us. We could tolerate a live band at a Rock and Roll venue.The gift shop is a nice size but just OK. My kids were looking for items (shirts,etc) from specific bands who are inductees but to no avail. We did grab a few trinkets as a momento. Parking was 8 bucks next store which is more then reasonable for a city venue of this type. I cant give it a 5 for a few reasons. The Rolling Stones display/feature could have been done a lot better. It appeared to just be piled into the upper floors. Not one mention of the Stones participation in Live Aid! Some of the inductees are not even prominately represented. My wife is a huge Rod Stewart fan and nothing, at least that we could find. A common critique is that some classic bands not being present in any sort. (No items from YES?) The actual reason you go to a Hall of Fame is to see the inductee information. As mentioned by others TERRIBLY DISPLAYED! They have a round type structure on the middle floor with the inductee speeches. Why waste your day here? A suggestion is to take a look at other "Halls of Fame" , these people need their own LEVEL! We went on a Wednesday night at about 6pm and it was perfect. It took us about 2.5 hours to get the experience. I would return and I know my children will be. Overall, it seems the Hall is really trying to listen to us. I see nothing but improvement!

michael quinn

We thought the museum could have been much better. I wanted to leave a review on their website, but it did not appear to be possible. First, the place had a lot of cool stuff. The challenge was that there wasnt much guidance on how to approach the exhibits in any meaningful way. It seemed to be laid out willy nilly. There as also no "Hall of Fame" list of people/bands on a wall or plaque. The website covers this very well, so before you decide to visit, check out the website first. The exhibit we saw as the Stones. It was very cool and I enjoyed it. The part that was very disconcerting was that they had the video exhibit for the Stones being played opposite the permanent Beatles exhibit. The audio for each exhibit was playing simultaneously, so it was basically noise pollution, which gave me a headache after twenty minutes or so. Very, very poor design consideration which is a significant conflict. They could have had these exhibits apart, or had some sound partition wall between them. I am in my late fifties, and I could identify with nearly all the music and artists. It is a beautiful building located on the lake. The developers and the architect did a great job with design and concept. The place needs to consult with an expert that can reorganize the displays in a more logical layout. If they at least had a ":Wall of Fame" listing the artists, you could get a better sense of appreciation of where they set the standard. Lots of talented people who seem obscured by the chaotic layout.

Melanie Tam

If youre expecting an interactive museum, this isnt what it is. But if youre looking to learn about the history of music, its roots, genres and its masters, then this place is amazing! I never understood why the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was in Cleveland. It seemed really random. But upon doing some research for this review, I found out that it was because a DJ from Cleveland coined the term, "rock and roll", and that it was also home to the first major rock and roll concert. So it makes a lot more sense now. Admission is $23.50 (I bought discounted tickets through work for $19, so definitely check your company websites first!) We only spent about two hours there, which was really rushed since we were also trying to go to the Hall of Science across the street. Two hour isnt ideal but it was enough to have a quick look at everything. You start in the basement, which is main area and where youll likely be spending most of your time. They have everything from the origins of rock and roll, to a replica of Lady Gagas meat dress. As you go up, the exhibits on each floor get smaller and smaller, which makes sense since the building is a pyramid. They have different exhibits from time to time so you can check their site to keep up with the latest. If I ever go back to Cleveland, I would definitely come back for another visit. People thought your review was: