Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't put it down
Review: I have always been captivated by Sting's lyrics and found myself captivated by the stories he tells in Broken Music. Sting has had some incredible experiences that he tells with his beautifully descriptive style sure to entertain even his critics. This was one of those books that once I started reading, I couldn't put it down, at the expense of a sleep-deprived next day at work. It was worth it!
Rating:
Summary: BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!
Review: All I can say is BRILLIANT!!!!! A great piece of work!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Broken Music
Review: Even if you don't like the music of Sting you will find this book most interesting. His life as a boy and growing into manhood and a top singer. The book is heavy on his life growing up in a small town, which makes it a very interesting book. I like stings music so reading the book even makes the music seem better now knowing where he came from. A must read-Larry Hobson -Author "The Day Of The Rose"
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Memoir
Review: While Christmas shopping I saw this book and thought what a nice Christmas present this would be for myself. So I "requested" it. Being the mother of a toddler it was time to put away the parenting books and reconnect with my old self and the things that had previously interested me. I finished the book within a week.Stings journey had taken me as the reader into my own journey. I learned more about his musical influences, his romantic idealism, relationships and the man that he had evolved into. It brought me back to a fun time in my life in the early 80's when my girlfriend and I would have traveled abroad; me for Sting and her for Bono. In a quest for something unatainable. It was interesting getting to know him on a more personal level from the boy in Newcastle to the man and the witty story telling about his earlier gigs and following his dream. I found myself laughing out loud many times and wondering to myself how my life would have turned out had I chosen a non conventional path. As my husband turns to me and says he needs to go to bed early to get up at 600am and take out the trash, I laugh and realize my life is the epitomy of what Sting didnt want. Having been a Police fan since HS with the release of Outlandos d'Amour I really enjoyed reading about how the band originated. It would have also been nice to read how his solo career took off. My feeling is that was not the intent of this memoir. However, I do feel this project was somewhat self serving and that like alot of successful people he was a bit of an opportunist. In his past there were some hurtful relationships. At some point there comes a time to take responsibility and accountability to try and heal those emotional wounds. I feel he needed to flush this out and find some peace and clarity in the decisions he had made along the way. I am however, very grateful he has chosen to share this personal journey with his fans and colleagues. This book is a five plus. Its engrossing and funny. I highly recommend it for Police and Sting fans.
Rating:
Summary: ARTISTICALLY INSPIRING
Review: I can't put this book down! I can barely wait for the new one I've noticed that is available in MAY!
Rating:
Summary: Harnessing the raw energy
Review: I only asked for one thing for Christmas.... Broken Music. I read it within 24 hours. Delicious. I love the image of him defiantly wearing the tennis shoes on the cruise ship to perform. "They're more comfortable!" I laughed and I cried. A superb read. I was incredibly surprised Sting could write so well and just enthrall the reader with his early years. How very intriguing that he begins with the ayuhuasca experience (risk taker that he is) and then intertwines it with the gut wrenching experiences of his youth. Wow. Bravo. I've always really loved his music, but now it is nice to know that he is a person who actually cares deeply about others, even his teachers -and those were glowing accolades. Je t'embrasse et je t'envoie mille bisous! Une prof de français à Détroit
Rating: 
Summary: Dear Sting: Please sir, can we have some more?
Review: Dear Sting: I just finished your powerful book. As a fan of yours, I was, of course, very pleased with your work -- this generous helping of memories about growing up in Newcastle, and your formative years. I got the impression that you had three goals with the book. One: to exorcise some guilt about and bring some closure to some of the still-open wounds in your life -- such as your relationships with your parents, your former wife, and with your former band mates from Last Exit. Two: to trace and share the growth of your career, examining the milestones and turning points that led you to become the artist you are, and provide some encouragement to others who are as "musically obsessed" as you. And three: to say "thanks" to all those whose positive influence pointed you in the right direction along your path to stardom and success. I especially enjoyed your tributes to your teachers, I felt you were in a real "groove" during this portion of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed your sense of humor, your attention to detail, your metaphors, your compassion, and your courage to share such intimate moments, such as saying goodbye to your parents. My only wish is that you write another book of equal depth and intimacy, starting at about 1983, around the time I saw you at Shea Stadium. You have said in other books and interviews that this night was a pinnacle moment in the history of the Police, and also the point at which you had decided to bring and end to the band. It would be thrilling to read about your experiences while touring the world with the Police, and examining the process which led to your decision to "go solo." I suspect I'm not alone in wanting read your thoughts about the forming of the Blue Turtles Band, the making of "Bring on the Night" and all your subsequent solo albums, your love affair with and marriage to Trudy, and how you became involved in world causes like Live Aid, Band Aid, The Secret Policemen's Ball, Walden Woods, The Rainforest Foundation, and Amnesty International, to name a few. Thanks, Sting, for the generous helping of your innermost thoughts from when you were a child. I suspect you have at least another two or three more books in your heart to share. I only hope you can find the time and desire to open your heart again. And soon. Sincerely, Tom
Rating:
Summary: Not Just A Rock Star...an Articulate, Entertaining Writer
Review: I was pleasantly surprised that this rock star can actually write!! He might have another career ahead of him,if he ever wants to give up writing music and write books instead. I found Broken Music to be funny, sad, and insightful. Overall, an interesting read whether you're a Sting fan or not. I am a picky reader, and I would recommend this book to almost anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Another person who considers himself supernatural
Review: Sting, like so many countless other people who have achieved financial success, has come to the realisation that his early life was not really random and in vain, but led by a divine being who would touch him to become the superhuman person he believes he is.
I was excitedly going to buy this book until I saw Sting's performance and behaviour on the Victoria's Secret runway show. After seeing him perform his new single, I have to assume he is going through a severe mid-life crisis. What the hell was he thinking when he designed that song?? He looked absolutely ridiculous shaking his buttocks in that freak designer suit he was wearing. Backstage you could tell he was really full of himself and single again. His "duet" with a black female rapper was like trying to mix oil and water. I am really disappointed with what I saw and have lost any interest in reading about his rise from blue-collar hell to freak-show stardom.
Rating:
Summary: "I want to be singular"
Review: "I know I want to make my living solely as a musician, but I also want to be recognized as someone unique, defined by my voice, by my abilities as a songwriter, to have the world know my songs and my melodies . . . I want to be singular, and if that means being marginalized, then so be it."
Sting has more than fulfilled his wish. As lead singer for the seminal 1980's rock band The Police, and onward through a still-thriving solo career, Sting has earned a reputation as a musical craftsman of exceptional melodies and offbeat, insightful lyrics. All the more reason why Broken Music, his rather flatly-written autobiography, is such a disappointment. Rather than pen the conventional tell-all celebrity bio, Sting opts for a more personal route through his past, concentrating principally on the years between his birth and the recording of Roxane, his breakout song with The Police. His enormous success beyond this point is not of interest to him, as he explains on the book jacket: "I found myself drawn to exploring specific moments, certain people and relationships, and particular events which still resonate powerfully for me as I try to understand the child I was, and the man I became." Sting (born Gordon Sumner) grew up in the small English community of Wallsend, raised by a father who regarded "hugs and kisses as needless and flamboyant," while his mother was the polar opposite, "a rare and exotic bird, dangerous and unpredictable within the confines of her domestic cage." Perhaps predictably, Sting's early home life is "a series of squalid, ugly conflicts," leading to eventual adultery and breakdown. Luckily, Sting discovers an outlet for his frustration. "Without the piano . . . I may well have become delinquent, vandalizing bus shelters, stealing junk from Woolworth's, and other petty crimes." Soon, music becomes his overriding passion; "To be a professional musician . . . able to sight-read sufficiently to hold down a job, to play in whatever style was required - this was the ultimate goal." There is at first an appealing directness to Sting's writing style, a quiet fusing of the pathos of Frank McCourt's autobiographical Angela's Ashes with the earthy travails of Roddy Doyle's fictional Irish band The Commitments. He is an competent and well-read storyteller, able to capture the dingy nature of a travelling band, quote Hobbes and William Blake, and use such statements as "the sine qua non of the ethnogenic realm" without seeming pretentious. After awhile, however, the sameness of Sting's tone becomes wearying. This is very much the elder statesman Sting, the ecology spokesman and singer of love songs, looking back on his life with wistful nostalgia, accepting of his flaws and gracious in his descriptions of others. Everyone he meets, no matter how dire the circumstances, is depicted in the same sepia tones of good humour and melancholy. Unfortunately, his overwhelming graciousness robs the narrative of all tension. Sting constantly reminds the reader that things work out well in the end, depriving the story of any intensity. Broken Music desperately needs an infusion of the younger Sting, the rebel singer who wrote jangled, frenetic songs of "raw, visceral power" and "primitive punk charm." A singer who took chances. In an age of seemingly endless one-hit pop phenomenons and profit-driven boy bands, it is refreshing to hear the tale of a musical journeyman who loves what he does, constantly strives to hones his talent, and worked his way from the bottom for what he achieved. No one can say that Sting has not achieved his success honestly. Yet Broken Music, for all its possibilities, badly needs fixing.
|
