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perch15's review
4.0
I burned through it in four days, which is no mean feat on a Sun. - Wed. GBV have a special place in my heart just like they do in the hearts of many people my age. Uncle Bob is a hero to a lot of us. This book is an excellent—if perhaps a bit fawning—peek into the history of GBV and Bob Pollard’s creative genius. Read it.
readingrealgood's review
5.0
A thrilling read for this GbV lifer. My biggest disappointment was that it ended so soon! I was reading on a Kindle and the formatting on there threw me for a loop: I was really looking fwd to spending the last hour that Kindle said I had to read. Little did I know that all the photos, notes, and index info were stuck at the end, so I only had 5 mins left to read! Bummer, but perhaps appropriate for the subject, who has always left me wanting more. I found this to be a good companion piece to Greer's book, there was definitely still some meat left on the bone.
_b_t_h_'s review
2.0
Silly lyric quotes used in the narrative as easter eggs aside it‰ЫЄs a mostly solid rock bio, and certainly a must-read for recovering (like myself) or current Pollard obsessive compulsives. Most of the backstory will be familiar to those described above, so I was mostly curious to read about the lead up to, and subsequent ending of, the ‰Ычclassic lineup‰ЫЄ, which is only given a cursory handful of pages. And for all the nitty-gritty given to interpersonal relationships between band members from GBV‰ЫЄs conception up until ‰ЫПMag Earwhig!‰Ыќ why does the author then drop that aspect of the story entirely by the time we get to the quote, un-quote last album?
From page 302 (17 pages before the book ends):
‰ЫПThe band itself seethed with innumerable petty resentments and unresolved conflicts.‰Ыќ
We are never told what those conflicts were, or why Chris Susarenko‰ЫЄs admittance to the band caused so much alleged discord. Or why Todd Tobias ‰ЫПvanished‰Ыќ from the band, which is why Susarenko ended up there in the first place. Or why in 2016 a guitar player was fired on stage during a show. We get deep details on some things (mostly pre-reunion), then scant details on others, which are glossed over using juicy quotes like the one above.
And the shoehorned Robert Pollard/Geppetto, his songs/Pinocchio metaphor sprinkled throughout felt like some sophomore English Major trying to be literary.
So, yeah, I don‰ЫЄt know. It‰ЫЄs fine. The subject matter makes up for the author‰ЫЄs shortcomings.
From page 302 (17 pages before the book ends):
‰ЫПThe band itself seethed with innumerable petty resentments and unresolved conflicts.‰Ыќ
We are never told what those conflicts were, or why Chris Susarenko‰ЫЄs admittance to the band caused so much alleged discord. Or why Todd Tobias ‰ЫПvanished‰Ыќ from the band, which is why Susarenko ended up there in the first place. Or why in 2016 a guitar player was fired on stage during a show. We get deep details on some things (mostly pre-reunion), then scant details on others, which are glossed over using juicy quotes like the one above.
And the shoehorned Robert Pollard/Geppetto, his songs/Pinocchio metaphor sprinkled throughout felt like some sophomore English Major trying to be literary.
So, yeah, I don‰ЫЄt know. It‰ЫЄs fine. The subject matter makes up for the author‰ЫЄs shortcomings.
kmk182's review
2.0
GBV were on the outskirts musically for me. I liked some of what I heard just not enough to spend money on it pre-streaming. I read an article on the band 15 years ago (in Blender maybe?) that has stuck with me. All of the excess of punk rock from a guy who was a school teacher? This book however is not The Dirt. It's more of a breakdown of the music and glosses over the drama. It seems 50 people go in and out of the band with little fan fair. For the hardest of hardcore fans only.
thecommonswings's review
5.0
This is a fascinating book about a fascinating/ maddening band and about as good as any book can be on the subject whilst also being approved by the main subject. Pollard doesn’t come out of it squeaky clean, and comes out as controlling, mercurial and contradictory at times but, honestly, one listen to a Guided By Voices album would tell you that of the man behind them
What’s most interesting is how Pollard stacks up against the other obsessively prolific cult musicians of our time - the two similarities are Mark E Smith of the Fall (dictatorial, constantly changing line ups, creating records from dischord, ludicrously prolific, likes his beer) and the Representative from Corwood Industries, Jandek/ Sterling Smith. Pollard is actually far closer to Jandek, which is the the most interesting takeaway. I mean, not that any of us can ever truly know Jandek’s methods, but he shares with Pollard a sense of the entire output over the years as the actual work in question, not the records themselves as individual units. There’s a shared sense of a world that makes sense only fully in the head of the creator, a feeling that the records all share a unified vision in some way. Smith was always at the whim of whatever lineup of The Fall he had created, almost conducting them to create the vague visions he had for the music
Pollard’s greatest gift, and it’s one the book captures brilliantly, is that he understands on an almost visceral level that art doesn’t just pop into your brain fully formed. Not everyone is Brian Wilson with his teenage symphonies to God. Pollard creates his music by feeling around sensations and tones and treating it almost as the musical equivalent of the collages he makes. It’s a genuinely empowering call to appreciate the power of finding your own way to create your own artistic path and it’s one I will cherish for a long, long time
What’s most interesting is how Pollard stacks up against the other obsessively prolific cult musicians of our time - the two similarities are Mark E Smith of the Fall (dictatorial, constantly changing line ups, creating records from dischord, ludicrously prolific, likes his beer) and the Representative from Corwood Industries, Jandek/ Sterling Smith. Pollard is actually far closer to Jandek, which is the the most interesting takeaway. I mean, not that any of us can ever truly know Jandek’s methods, but he shares with Pollard a sense of the entire output over the years as the actual work in question, not the records themselves as individual units. There’s a shared sense of a world that makes sense only fully in the head of the creator, a feeling that the records all share a unified vision in some way. Smith was always at the whim of whatever lineup of The Fall he had created, almost conducting them to create the vague visions he had for the music
Pollard’s greatest gift, and it’s one the book captures brilliantly, is that he understands on an almost visceral level that art doesn’t just pop into your brain fully formed. Not everyone is Brian Wilson with his teenage symphonies to God. Pollard creates his music by feeling around sensations and tones and treating it almost as the musical equivalent of the collages he makes. It’s a genuinely empowering call to appreciate the power of finding your own way to create your own artistic path and it’s one I will cherish for a long, long time
windingdot's review
4.0
GBV has been my favorite band since 1994 (although of late they’ve taken a back seat to Wussy, but that’s another story), so this is essential reading. More in-depth and covers more ground than Jim Greer’s book that came out a number of years ago. I don’t think this will appeal much beyond GBV fans, though. There’s not a lot of contextualizing to make it more universal.
It’s an authorized bio, but Pollard definitely didn’t shy away from letting Cutter portray his flaws. Honestly, he comes across as kind of a jerk and a bully in a lot of places. If you’ve followed the band for a long time, it’s not exactly news that Bob is a jock and an alpha male type, with both the positive and negative implications of that. He makes brilliant music, though, and that’s what we’re here for. There’s a lot in here about Bob’s process of making music and recording albums. This is usually where music bios bog down for me, but I enjoyed it here, maybe because I’m way more into GBV than most musicians whose bios I read.
There is some sloppy editing in parts - dropped words, the spelling of a name changes several times over the course of a page. Hopefully if it comes out in paperback that will be fixed.
All in all, a necessary read for GBV/Pollard fans. Probably not so much for the less obsessed.
It’s an authorized bio, but Pollard definitely didn’t shy away from letting Cutter portray his flaws. Honestly, he comes across as kind of a jerk and a bully in a lot of places. If you’ve followed the band for a long time, it’s not exactly news that Bob is a jock and an alpha male type, with both the positive and negative implications of that. He makes brilliant music, though, and that’s what we’re here for. There’s a lot in here about Bob’s process of making music and recording albums. This is usually where music bios bog down for me, but I enjoyed it here, maybe because I’m way more into GBV than most musicians whose bios I read.
There is some sloppy editing in parts - dropped words, the spelling of a name changes several times over the course of a page. Hopefully if it comes out in paperback that will be fixed.
All in all, a necessary read for GBV/Pollard fans. Probably not so much for the less obsessed.
wampusreynolds's review
5.0
This is an expert apprising of the works and processes of Bob Pollard. It's an authorized biography but it does show Pollard's flaws and bad moments. Putting him and his work in the context of life in Cold War Dayton and capturing the theme of Bob's creative output and industry as his way to capture his imaginative dreams from childhood on are both impressive achievements.
Greatly researched and resourced, this should serve as an inspiration to artists and fans alike.
Greatly researched and resourced, this should serve as an inspiration to artists and fans alike.
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