Beautiful Mess
4.2
5
22
22
Slow, easy read
About the book
Can a band comprised of six very talented but very different musicians make a difference with their music?
What made it possible for Diamond Rio to weather the storms inherent in the fickle world of fame and fortune and go more than two decades without a single lineup change? Any reader in search of transparency and a behind-the-scenes look into the life of the band as a unit as well as the individual lives of the players and singers will be well satisfied. Can true loyalty exist within the competitive, seemingly unforgiving music industry? In Beautiful Mess, Marty Roe, Dan Truman, Jimmy Olander, Brian Prout, Gene Johnson, and Dana Williams each has an entire chapter devoted to his personal and professional life. Beautiful Mess is a wild ride from the edge of disaster and a little-known secret to an ongoing heart-warming revival.
My thoughts
I enjoy learning about the lives of others and I love country music, so when I had the opportunity to review Beautiful Mess: The Story of Diamond Rio, I was excited. There is nothing wrong with the writing or the stories, but I was just not drawn into the book. It took me a LONG time to just get through it. It is a good story, just not one that I found compelling enough to keep picking up. I did like to reading each of their individual stories and the story of the group as a whole. I also liked seeing the pictures of how they changed through the years.
I recommend this book to Diamond Rio fans, as a book to read when you want something you can pick up as you feel like it. This is the kind of book you can pick up to relax just before bedtime and not have to worry about being able to put it back down.
Disclaimer
A special thank you to the author and publisher for the complimentary copy of this book that I received in exchange for this review. As always, my opinion is my own.
August 31, 2012
As a longtime fan of the band and their tight musical harmonies, I was interested in learning more about Diamond Rio in Beautiful Mess, written with Tom Roland.The book begins by outlining the path that led the members of the band together. Turns out that the old Opryland themepark played a major role in the formation of Diamond Rio, which was originally known as the Tennessee River Boys. The bulk of the book takes time to address the individual life stories of the six band members: Marty Roe, Dan Truman, Jimmy Olander, Brian Prout, Gene Johnson and Dana Williams.The final chapters of the book chronicle the band's struggles and successes. Considerable time is spent detailing the band's significant community involvement; particularly with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.Basically, if you're a fan of Diamond Rio, you'll find the book interesting. If Diamond Rio is not a band that interests you, the book won't either.
April 22, 2010
Review of "A Beautiful Mess" "A Beautiful Mess" is the story of Diamond Rio, the country music group. It was really interesting to read the story behind the story so to speak. For those of us who remember when Diamond Rio hit the scene, it almost seemed to be overnight success for them. The book gives a very different view of the time frame spent on their "overnight success". The struggles and the amount of time spent getting from a group of guys playing around together, to the award winning group is a story worth reading.Much of the book deals with the group as a whole, the road that led them to country music stardom, and the challenges and pitfalls that were and are a part of musical success. It was sort of fun seeing pictures of the different band members as they aged, along with the rest of us! It was also fun reading about the different venues they played and the times they truly thought about giving up. Thankfully for all of their fans, they did not give in to that temptation, but persevered and eventually came into their success.Several of the chapters are devoted to individual band members and their own struggles in and out of the band. The reader is allowed to see intensely personal struggles, victories and defeats for those members. The general population tends to idolize those who are at the "top of their success" and do not realize the personal challenges that success can bring. The band is very open about successes and failures in their personal lives throughout their career.The book will be a great read for those who are fans of the group.
March 24, 2010
Beautiful Mess is the story of the band Diamond Rio, starting with each member's story from a child up, and finishing with "where they are now," and including their rise to fame, triumphs and struggles in the middle. It is a comprehensive look at six different (very different!) men and how they became not only a group, but a wonderfully committed, thoroughly bonded group of family men.I've never been a country music fan, nor very up-to-date on CCM, so I had never heard of Diamond Rio before receiving this book from Thomas Nelson publishers to review. Nevertheless, the book was well written and even as an introduction to the band, it was an engaging read and enjoyable. Each man in the band had a unique story, and other than music, they had little in common before joining the band together. Nevertheless, their music and their faith cemented their bond. I loved seeing how they supported each other through thick and thin (and there was plenty of both!), and how they worked together throughout the many years during which they sang together. If you like reading the story behind the music, this is an excellent book for you!
February 24, 2010
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