Daryl Easlea

Daryl Easlea’s Without Frontiers: The Life and Music of Peter Gabriel provides an exhaustive look at the man’s career, but much less so his life; and the scholarly approach and heavy reliance on secondary source quotes does not permit an intimate portrait. Easlea fairly gushes with fawning praise for Gabriel in the Prologue and Introduction, but the tone thankfully becomes more evenhanded thereafter. It is certainly a worthy read for hard-core fans, but others will be numbed by the excessive detail.… (meer)

Peter Gabriel is quite possibly my favorite musician of all time. I've read almost everything related to his life and everything written about Genesis over the years. Have seen him in concert all over the world several times. His shows are bar none the best rock-n-roll event anyone could ever hope to witness in ANY era of his career.

This particular read was thus far my favorite. Easlea is a huge fan and there is very little negativity, he almost gushes with praise. But Gabriel is extremely praise-worthy. He is an innovator in every sense of the word. His collaborations are unsurpassed and interesting to read about. He is a humanitarian and well-loved by all who know him and have the privilege of working with or for him.

My only criticism of the book is that it jumps around a bit within the chronology of major events. It relies heavily on interviews with associates and friends and less on direct discussions with PG (though there is some). There is a fabulous index of his work at the end, everything he's ever done. Very handy for the serious fan or collector.

If you are at all interested in PG, this is a must read. If you haven't seen him live and have the opportunity, don't miss it.… (meer)

There are unauthorized biographies and then there are unauthorized biographies, and you really want to read the kind where the subject refused to have anything to do with the book because the biographer was treading on sensitive territory, the Kitty Kelley model. Those are the good juicy ones. And then there are the biographies where the subject had zero involvement from the start, so all the material is found and rehashed from previous interviews... and that's this one. It's not bad, but it reads like more of an extended discography/filmography/costume analysis. The quotes of Cher's from other sources are so lively that they throw the rest of it into a sort of drab contrast. I did like reading about how her acting career evolved, and frankly the book made me want to go out and find some more primary material. Cher is a hoot.… (meer)