Rating: 
Summary: The Complete & Real Truth About De-Evolution
Review: * * * * *
"This book is as close as anyone will ever come to explaining where Devo's brilliant absurdity came from -- and more importantly, why that brilliant absurdity was so culturally essential."
-Chuck Klosterman, SPIN Magazine
* * * * *
"An entertaining portrait of a time, a place and an attitude that still resonates today -- even for readers who aren't particular fans of Devo. And the authors bring a credible breadth and depth of knowledge to their subject."
-Susan Edwards, WEEKLY PLANET
* * * * *
"When Devo's concepts and music wormed their way into my consciousness, I realized that this was the new prog; this is the future; this is all that matters. De-Evolution became my religion, education, and inspiration. It's high time this amazing story was told."
-Robert Pollard, GUIDED BY VOICES
* * * * *
Rating:
Summary: more intelligent than most - laughed out loud
Review: * * * * *"Devo is more intelligent than most rock bands, and this book is correspondingly more intelligent than most books about rock bands. As the world's most fervent Devo worshipper, I'm ecstatic to find my clay-footed gods treated right, for once."
-Rev. Ivan Stang, CHURCH OF THE SUBGENIUS
* * * * * "Devo was definitely the nuclear core of that little Akron explosion back in the late-'70s. I was there, but I still laughed out loud reading and simultaneously remembering it. I recommend this book to anyone who needs to know, 'Why Devo? Why Akron?'"
-Rod Firestone, RUBBER CITY REBELS & manager of THE CRYPT, Akron * * * * * "Given the propensity of Devo to propagate misinformation about themselves, it is comforting to finally have a book that appears to draw all threads of these men, who lived so deliberately, into a knot of actual events. Inspiring stuff."
-Phaedra Velvet, ROCK SOUND MAGAZINE * * * * *
Rating:
Summary: Now it can be told!
Review: All-in-all, it's quite an interesting book. I think the thing that struck me the most was realizing how little I really knew about the early history of the band. I mean, being a longtime fan of the band, sure I knew the major things (i.e, forming at Kent State, Jerry witnessing the shootings there, etc), but I never really had a grasp on how Bob Lewis played into the picture, or just when Jim left the band, or how Alan got the job. And I'd never really heard much about the Gorj character, either. That's not to say it's a book merely for hardcore Devo fans. I think that anyone with an interest in the band or the 70's punk/new wave scene in general will enjoy the book.
Rating:
Summary: The Beginning Was The End
Review: As a long time fan of the band (particularly their formative years in Akron, O-hi-O, 1974-1977), I found Dellinger and Giffels's book to be quite a captivating read. The book may indeed be weighted very heavily towards the band's pre-"Whip It" career, but I'd argue that the few years leading up to their pop stardom represent the band's creative pinnacle. I'd personally rather read about the band's recording sessions with Brian Eno or their early live gigs than, say, why "Shout!" is such a lousy album. The book presents a very Akron-centered narrative, from the events discussed to the people interviewed. It's as much a story of those individuals left behind by Devo when they got in bed with big business as it is a story of the band itself. Bob Lewis, according to this account, shares equal footing with Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale in the development of Devo-- you'll read a lot more about him than you'll read about Bob Casale or Alan Myers. Bob Lewis has always been the intriguing "missing link" in Devo history and, whether you believe him or not (I tend to take his account with a particularly large grain of salt), it's fascinating to finally hear a fleshed-out version of his story. Fortunately, the authors make it clear that this is just one account of Devo--an account that is permeated at all times by the conflict between Jerry Casale and Bob Lewis. Overall, it's a fairly well written book that presents one version of the Truth About De-Evolution. I'm hoping that this book will inspire one of the spudboys themselves to declare, "Now it can be told...", and write their own book.
Rating:
Summary: Now it has been told
Review: Devo looms large in my life. They're responsible for my interest in music in general and my predilection to "question authority," for lack of a better term. Perhaps "question EVERYTHING" would be more apt. As a little kid, I liked them even before I was into music; Back in the late 70s when I was around 9 years old, I was making a habit of staying up late to watch Saturday Night Live because I was obsessed with Mr. Bill. One night Devo happened to be the musical guest and this was how I first experienced Devo. The music was over my head, but I was transfixed. I couldn't get enough of their uniforms and robotic movements. They were like some kind of futuristic militia. It was somehow violent and shocking when they tore off their yellow suits in mid-song and finished the performance in black t-shirts and shorts and bright orange knee and elbow pads and helmets. A few years later my sister gave me a Devo album (Oh No It's Devo) for Xmas. I liked it OK, but I still wasn't much of a fan. It was around this time that I saw them interviewed on a cable show called Night Flight. I saw them sitting and talking and joking around like normal guys. Somehow this is what really got me into them, the realisation that they weren't actual robots. They had personality. From then on all my weekly allowances were saved up to buy their previous albums. Ironically, their first two albums were possibly my least favorite. They were more guitar oriented and I'd come to think of Devo as a very high technolgy synthisizer band. (Years later those first two became my favorites.) I sought out and devoured any and all info on Devo I could find, but it was hard to come by. How did they form? When? Why? Occasionally I'd somehow stumble across an old magazine with an interview, but Devo always came off as very aloof when talking about their past, answering questions with absurd stories about being scientists etc. Eventually I gave up wondering about their true origins. Now, over 20 years later, all the info I ever wanted is at my finger tips. It's all in this book. It goes all the way back to 1966, when Jerry entered college. (And even further back than that, if you count the bits about their childhoods and parents' lives.) Tragically, it's been a very long time since I was a passionate Devo fan, and I'm just not as interested in this info as I once was. Still, I read this book from cover to cover in a couple of days and it has me listening to them again for the first time in years. One great thing about the book is that it puts my old "Hardcore Devo" CDs (demos from 1974-77) and The Mongoloid Years (live album from 1975-77) into a whole new context. The book doesn't tell much about the "later" years, with the final chapters being listed as "1979 and beyond." But in light of their work from 1980 on, I personally don't have too much of a problem with this. That is to say, I still enjoy Devo's 3rd, 4th and 5th albums, but I don't hold them on the same pedastal as the 1st and 2nd. One disappointment I do have is to learn after all these years what a creep Jerry Casale (apparently) was. I always had the impression that he was a sweet guy. This book paints him up to be a calculating, back-stabbing, two faced, greedy grabbing SOB. Or was that just another example of "plastic reality"? Hmmm... EDIT: I've been listening to all of my old Devo albums lately, and I have to admit... while Freedom Of Choice, New Traditionalists, and Oh No It's Devo smack heavily of commercialism, they've still got some excellent and catchy synth rock on them. Even Shout has its moments. These are not throw away albums. However, I'll be in the cold, cold ground before I can get into Total Devo and Smooth Noodle Maps.
Rating:
Summary: FINALLY, IT CAN BE TOLD
Review: Finally, a book about my favorite spuds from Akron. For years, the band seemed to be wrapped in the same shroud of mystery that enveloped Kraftwerk (with similar Bowie/Eno connections) but now it can be told. This is an excellent history of the band's evolution (and eventual de-evolution) from anonymous Akronites to visionary pioneers that have sadly gone their separate ways. I must agree that the later years have been grossly glossed over and reported incorrectly at that (on page 202 it states that "Mark released a solo album in Japan called Music For Insomniacs" while he really recorded 2 solo CDs in L.A. for release in Japan in '88 and are titled Muzik For Insomniaks - Vol. 1 & 2). I am a little disappointed that there is no Discography/Videography at the end of the book. All errors, omissions, etc. aside, this is a must have for all Devo fans and will have to do until one (or more) of boys step up to tell their own tale. Long over due but welcome none the less.
Rating:
Summary: FINALLY, IT CAN BE TOLD
Review: Finally, a book about my favorite spuds from Akron. For years, the band seemed to be wrapped in the same shroud of mystery that envelops Kraftwerk (with similar Bowie/Eno connections) but now it can be told. This is an excellent history of the band's evolution (and eventual de-evolution) from anonymous Akronites to visionary pioneers (who might have been scalped) that have sadly gone their separate ways. I must agree that the later years have been grossly glossed over and reported incorrectly at that (on page 202 it states that "Mark released a solo album in Japan called Music For Insomniacs" while he really recorded 2 solo CDs in L.A. for release in Japan in '88 and is titled Muzik For Insomniaks - Vol. 1 & 2). I am a little disappointed that there is no Discography/Videography at the end of the book. All errors, omissions, etc. aside, this is a must have for all Devo fans and will have to do until one (or more) of boys step up to tell their own tale. Long over due but welcome none the less. Must I repeat? O.K., let's go.
Rating: 
Summary: **WARNING** UN-AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY!!!
Review: Having researched the band DEVO on several other occasions, I found it quite odd that most of the quotes from the band, I had actually read elsewhere. It initially made me wonder if the author had actually interviewed the band at all. It wasn't until today when I read on the official DEVO site (www.clubdevo.com) that in Jerry Casale's very own words that it was IN FACT, an unauthorized biography. Here is what Jerry had to say: "...the book was done without our approval or co-operation (most of the quotes were extracted from pre-existing sources and the short "interview" with me was done under a different pretext) .The book is loaded with mis-information, delusional distortions and outright lies perpetrated by people with axes to grind. The result is that the significance of the creative process that spawned the almost 100 songs that Mark and I wrote and the excitement of the concepts and aesthetic influences behind our stage shows, costumes and videos gets trivialized and even buried by petty and spiteful politics. These politics are perpetrated by people who often times weren't even involved in the events they spin so far afield but their spin is never-the-less swallowed by the book's writers hook line and sinker. Some day soon we will release another book that sets the record straight on what it meant to be DEVO. -- Gerald Casale." Aside from all of this, even when I thought it was an authorized release, I found the author repeating information in a very unnecessary way. At least three times does he mention that Mark had an obsession with the Beatles. And he doesn't just mention it, he goes into depth about it. This was another thing that made me wonder if they were just short on material. The cover I found a little boring, and not well-designed. Another warning that I did not heed. I'm very disappointed that I actually paid money for this book, not to mention spending hours pouring over it. I would highly recommend passing this one by, as it would be a terrible waste to support the fools who wrote it.
Rating: 
Summary: Quit knitpicking and buy this book - Real fans will agree
Review: I enjoyed this book because it contained great details of the actual history of this unique group of entertainment twisters. Some complain about its lack of depth AFTER "hitting it big" - But that is the EASY info that gets lost in the shuffel of jumping through corporate hoops. No, this book dives into the background, well before the groundbreaking '74-'77 sessions were recorded, and years before the world heard of "Whip It". The flukes that happened to aid their creative visions, along with the surprising names that dropped into their career, made for more of an information-heavy read than I thought I would get! The group themselves need to write their own book - but they haven't yet - So get this, the first one. I've heard the band isn't completely happy this book is out, as it isn't all praise and buttkissing. I'd give it 4 energy domes.
Rating:
Summary: Quit knitpicking and buy this book - Real fans will agree
Review: I enjoyed this book because it contained great details of the actual history of this unique group of entertainment twisters. Some complain about its lack of depth AFTER "hitting it big" - But that is the EASY info that gets lost in the shuffel of jumping through corporate hoops. No, this book dives into the background, well before the groundbreaking '74-'77 sessions were recorded, and years before the world heard of "Whip It". The flukes that happened to aid their creative visions, along with the surprising names that dropped into their career, made for more of an information-heavy read than I thought I would get! The group themselves need to write their own book - but they haven't yet - So get this, the first one. I've heard the band isn't completely happy this book is out, as it isn't all praise and buttkissing. I'd give it 4 energy domes.
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