Customer Reviews

Beautiful Mess: The Story of Diamond Rio (NelsonFree)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you're going to do an autobiography, you need to be honest and willing to share things with your readers. That's where "Beautiful Mess" by the band Diamond Rio trips up. Some of the members seem less than forthcoming about their stories, which makes the book feel unbalanced. For instance, Dana Williams is very candid when he writes about the breakup of his marriage. But when members Brian Prout and Dan Truman go through similar situations, it is dealt with in terse, one-paragraph summaries. Truman's situation is especially frustrating: "Facing unforseen challenges, Dan and Wendee ultimately ended their marriage, and the divorce was being finalized in 2009." What challenges? Pressures of the road? Religion? Readers have no clue. And as this book is published by a Christian publisher, it is a bit odd that readers would be left so unenlightened. If Prout and Truman were not ready to discuss such issues, perhaps now was not the time to release an autobiography?

Other sections in the book are more interesting, as we follow the group's origins and rise to fame. But the group's dismissal from Arista Records is handled rather briefly -- die-hard fans know the group's singles started to perform poorly on the charts, but that's not found in the book. It would also be nice to learn more about the band's spirituality. One gets the idea that some members are more devout than others, but this isn't something that is pursued. In the end, the book feels more like a marketing tool to tie in with the group's first contemporary Christian album than a genuine testament of faith or an honest-to-goodness autobiography. Too bad, because I still love the group's music.

I had always been a fan of Diamond Rio's music. In the 1990's especially, they were a constant presence on my radio. There music has always appealed to me. That being said, I did not know a whole lot about the group, so I was curious to find out more.

This book gives a great history of the group. I found their formation and Opryland roots in particular to be really fascinating. There are also chapters written by and about each guy in the group. Since I didn't know all about them, this was particularly interesting for me. All the history and facts was new for me, so I really enjoyed it. I imagine that if you already know everything about Diamond Rio, this might be old information to you; but I still think it is presented in a way that is fun to read.

I learned a lot about the group, and about each of the guys in Diamond Rio. I have more respect for them than I had before, and it was fascinating to read all the stories behind the music.

One of my favorite things about this book is that when you buy it you also get free digital and audio copies that you can download from the publisher's website. I downloaded the audio version because I wanted to hear each of the guy's voice reading their section, and the audio provides that. I wasn't really interested in a digital copy to read on my computer or other device, but that is an option as well.

This book is certainly a bargain -- in that you get three formats for the price of one! The book is a great read, and I really enjoyed reading about one of the great bands of country music!

I have not read many autobiographies, so when the opportunity came my way to review this book I thought it would be great to read. I loved Diamond Rio when I was younger and I thought it would be fascinating to read about how they got together, etc.

The book starts out with the reader learning that things were not going so well with Diamond Rio. The lead singer Marty Roe couldn't sing on key anymore. It was a real trying time for them and if Marty couldn't fix the problem with his vocal cords then the group would have to break up.

Then the book takes a chapter for each of the band members and sort of gives you there life story from when they were small to when the group gets together under a different name at the time called the Tennessee River Boys. The one thing that bothers me is the chapters seem sort of short and do no contain enough information since it is a autobiography I believe it should be a bit more revealing and more personal than biographies are, so I found it a bit lacking.

Then after the chapters on each band member it takes you through the wild ride they have had together and then back to the original problem of Marty's voice and how it gets fixed. Yes, you can say that Diamond Rio's ride through country music has been A Beautiful Mess, but I just think the book could have been a bit better.

I would recommend it to anyone who loves reading autobiographies because it is a decent book.

Beautiful Mess: The Story of Diamond Rio... NELSONfree version

With the purchase of the NELSONfree version you get the audio book and the ebook.

"If your only exposure to Diamond Rio is the band's flawlessly layered harmonies and tender lyrics, you only know a fraction of the story."

Beautiful Mess is a great collectors item for any fan of Diamond Rio. I would recommend this book to anyone that is a lover of their music. It takes you behind the music scene. You get to know the history of the band and how they overcame obstacles.

After reading the book, it gave me more respect and admiration for Diamond Rio.

The story shows how the group followed God's plan. In the world today it's hard to make the decision to follow God's plan and not our own. We need to put away our wants and accept the blessings that God gives us.

I tried reading this book. I really did. I tried five or six times from November to now. It just didn't pull me in, it was exhausting to read, and I really didn't care. I hate not liking books. But it happens. I guess this one wasn't for me.

As a fan of Diamond Rio since the '90s, I was delighted when this book appeared as as part of the "Vine" program at Amazon: I was not aware of its existence. Now that I've read the book I'm not nearly as delighted.

I find that "Beautiful Mess", like so many musical artist bios, spends too much time delving into childhoods and early years breaking into the music business and not nearly enough time discussing what matters the most to the fans: the music! In "Beautiful Mess" this trend is compounded as we have six group members and each gets a chapter about his childhood and early personal life which accounts for about 40% of the book. Another 20 page chapter, "Team Rio", focuses on their charitable endeavors: it's great to know that the boys are doing good and giving back but... YAWN!

Their impressive musical output - and again, isn't this what attracted fans to them in the first place? - is glossed over in a few chapters, none of it examined in depth. There are very few insights into the creative process, what happens in the studio, and what is behind those incredible hits in terms of Rio's unique instrumental and vocal sound: Diamond Rio sounds like NO other country group out there. Too much time is spent on lead singer Marty Roe's voice problem which, apparently, is the only professional challenge they've had since becoming successful. Really? It would have been interesting to read how the group has been adjusting to the changing face of country music and country radio in this decade, something that many neo-traditional acts that emerged in the late '80s and early '90s have been struggling with. Again Roe's vocal problem seems to be the only musical challenge they've encountered since their '91 debut Diamond Rio, or at least the only one they wish to discuss here. So what happened musically between 2002's Completely, which went "Gold", and 2007 when they released their excellent Christmas effort The Star Still Shines: A Diamond Rio Christmas? ("Can't You Tell?")

I love the music of Diamond Rio and will continue to listen to my collection of their CDs (from '91's self-titled debut through '07's "The Star Still Shines") and can, without reservation, recommend every one. However "Beautiful Mess" will only be of interest to dedicated fans who are interested in learning details around personal lives and background and not so much about Diamond Rio's artistry or recordings.

Newbies: for a nice introduction to their music start here: 16 Biggest Hits

Reading "Beautiful Mess: The Story of Diamond Rio" was a curiously disappointing experience. Perhaps as a die-hard fan of the band's music since the release of their first CD, I was hoping for too much. I expected a lively, engaging account of the band's development that would focus on their formation and the evolution of their music; I wanted some insight into each musician's personality in terms of their contributions to the band's unique sound.

Instead, "Beautiful Mess" came across like a very dry, dull history which contained a lot of facts, interspersed with a liberal helping of flat, uninteresting quotes from the band members that failed to illuminate their characters or their story. The actual text, without appendices, ran about 264 pages and was chock full of photographs; nevertheless, it seemed to drag on endlessly, laden down with too many dates, names, and other minutiae to ever really spark my interest. No doubt the book was scrupulously researched, but that's exactly how it read ... like research.

"Beautiful Mess" was written by the band's members with the assistance of Tom Roland, and perhaps therein was the problem: I was left with the distinct impression that the book might have been livelier and more penetrating without the participation (and the influence) of its subjects. At any rate, Diamond Rio's legacy can best be appreciated through their wonderful music, rather than this uninspiring volume.

I knew "Beautiful Mess," the story of Diamond Rio's rise to fame and near fall from it (which turns out to be way less dramatic than the back cover would have you believe), wasn't going to be my favorite book ever. I'm familiar with some of their songs, but I wouldn't consider myself a fan. Still, biographies, if done well, can make for good reading. So I had an open mind.

A promo of the book on the band's Web site claims it "pulls the curtain back ... allowing fans unlimited access into their personal lives." Hardly. Chapter after shallow chapter is filled with irrelevant details of band members' lives while glossing over significant events. For example, six paragraphs are spent describing the slaughterhouse band member Brian Prout's family owned in his childhood. But only one terse sentence is devoted to the breakup of his marriage: "Brian and Nancy Prout bit the dust."

Despite this book's shortcomings, fans of Diamond Rio might enjoy it - not just the story but the extras, such as the behind-the-scenes photos and the awards appendix. Overall, this book fails to portray the story of Diamond Rio as one of redemption, which apparently is their new calling card.

Beautiful Mess takes us through the 20-year history of Diamond Rio, along with the personal histories of all six band members and the band's pre-Diamond Rio days. By bouncing back and forth through the years, the book tells us how the band members changed for the first few years while being billed as the Tennessee River Boys until the present band members came along. We also get a detailed history of each of the current band members.
I like Diamond Rio, but this book still couldn't hold my interest. I started reading it and got bored. It took me months to pick it back up and finish it.
I'm not sure if there is just too much information packed into the book or if it's because of the way the book goes back and forth through time, but it was hard for me to read. I felt like I was ping-ponging through history and it was just too distracting. I did learn some interesting things about the band and the country music industry, but I'm not sure it was worth struggling through the book to do so.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

This was a very fascinating read. I enjoyed it tremendously and would highly recommend it to anyone. It provided lots of interesting details about the group and each member in general. Lots of great music industry tidbits as well.