Electro Shock! (Paperback)

by Greg Rule (Author) "trace the course of music evolution and you'll find a handful of key historymakers at each link in the chain..." (more)
Key Phrases: music listening guide, vine clarke, vince clarke, Eby Greg Rule, Chris Carter, Pro Tools (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Parents and friends of the young, on the lookout for something else to worry about, may be interested in increasing their knowledge of techno music as delineated by Rule and company. In a stylistic gambit perfect for the subject, Rule pairs capsule descriptions of and interviews with some of the leading purveyors of techno and "Product Spotlight" features detailing the wonderful toys used to create the electronic music. Among the interviewees: Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, and techno's founders, Kraftwerk. All the instruments' profiles (of the ARP 2600, N.E.D. Synclavier, Sequential Prophet-5, et al.) are interesting, though more for the maven than the casual fan. But you can't talk techno without talking technology, and reading this book confers a fine rudimentary understanding of what and who makes an exciting rock genre tick. Of current grim interest: Sascha, of KMFDM (Kein Mehrheit fur die Mitleid; i.e., No pity for the majority), an alleged favorite of the Littleton, Colorado, teen shooters, is another of the interviewees. Mike Tribby

Review
"An exciting key to understanding the latest electronic music makers and their sounds." -- Bookwatch, July 1999

"In a stylistic gambit perfect for the subject...this book confers a fine rudimentary understanding of what and who makes an exciting rock genre tick." -- Booklist, June 1999

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Miller Freeman Books (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879305827
• ISBN-13: 978-0879305826
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,374,262 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Electro Shocked My Socks Off!, March 8, 2000

By	Clint Rule (Oklahoma, USA) - See all my reviews

This is an excellent chance to learn about the music, gear, and artists behind the phenomenon known as electronica. Everything from the the primordial creators of the genre to it's wide-spread, present-day personalities.

Rule's interviews are always informative yet personal, thus allowing the reader to learn not just the hard music facts but the personal details just as well. The equipment reviews are equally entertaining and informative. Rule goes above and beyond the usual instrument critiques by releasing its birthplace, birthdate, measurements, price, availability, lengthy description, and often an interview of a person(s)who played a part in the production of the unit.

As both an electronica fan and musician, I was able to extract knowledge and entertainment from this book. I experienced no "tedious reading" while exploring this book--it was a grand safari. I reccomend this book to any one that remotely enjoys electronica or would like to more about the genre.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A limited introduction to electronica, August 10, 2001

By	Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This is a rather conservative reading of the electronica canon -- Bjork, Aphex Twin, The Chemical Brothers and Trent Reznor are all more or less household names, and while, sure, it's a small pool of readers that would be interested in a more esoteric selection, as an overview of the genre, this is a pretty limited and timid survey. Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode are included as representatives of the old school -- no one remotely less commerical is given consideration. Most of the book is made up of interviews with his idols, but even these are less than gripping, being mainly preoccupied with fetishistic technical detail (-- what kind of filters do you use? --what range of equalization do you prefer? etc.) I had hoped, since the book was geared towards the pioneers of the genre, that it would deal more with its philosophies, rather than its techniques: Why choose to work in a medium that is deliberately mechanical and artificial? How does the human element come into play? How assiduously do the artists include or mask its presence? Sadly, these are issues that this book doesn't address in a meaningful way. Rule takes it as a given that the aesthetics of the genre are accepted and need no exploration, and thus he seems to have missed several golden opportunities in his face-to-face meetings with the very artists who might shed some insight into what makes this potentially remote music so compelling to so many people.

2.0 out of 5 stars Basic, Commercial, January 18, 2008

By	J. Bruins (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I, for some reason related to my enthusiasm for the subject, was really excited to read this book. Unfortunately, it essentially reads like a compilation of promotional material about products and a number of artists. Nothing original here. If you're reading this, you obviously have an internet connection and access to much more information than is in this un-original text.