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Destiny Stopped Screaming: The Life and Times of Adrian Borland
Biography on Adrian BorlandAdrian Borland, was singer/guitarist and main songwriter with The Sound, a band which between 1979 and 1987 released seven albums that never failed to be at the very least full of passion and raw emotion. They made their debut in 1979 with the "Physical World" e.p, but it wasn't until the release of the "Jeopardy" album in 1980 that it became clear how special the band was. Two more albums for WEA followed, "From The Lions Mouth" and "All Fall Down", which resulted in the band leaving the label. Indie label Statik signed the band and released "Shock Of Daylight" and "Heads & Hearts" along with the double live album "In The Hothouse". A move to the Belgium based Play It Again Sam brought with itthe band's final album "Thunder Up". They disintegrated at the end of 1987.
Luckily Adrian continued with a solo career that whilst different in many ways to The Sound, still displays all the rare qualities that made them such a loved band. Adrian released five solo albums, first together with his new backing band The Citizens, later on his own. In 1989 he released "Alexandria" and in 1992 the wonderful "Brittle Heaven", an album that really threatens to rival his previous work, being a collection of richly emotional songs, with all the twists and turns you find in music that really draws the listener in. The third album "Beautiful Ammunition" released in 1994, was Adrian's first real solo album and contains 'Re-United States of Love'. Cinematic" released a year later, was similar in tone, but a shade lighter as a 90's feel began to seep into his work. Also in 1995 he brought out his first cd with White Rose Transmission, his congenial collaboration with Carlo van Putten from The Convent.His following solo record "5:00 A.M." - released in 1997 - was again a link to his most successful time and pours scorn on all those that herald the death of the guitar and of song-crafting. The album contains a plethora of genuinely great songs and sensitive, perceptive moments. Without merely echoing past glories "5:00 A.M." re-establishes the qualities for which the band has become renowned and successfully places them in a contemporary setting, making this an ideal staring point for the uninitiated. His last finished work is the second White Rose Transmission album "700 Miles Of Desert", which was recorded in Bremen between November 1998 and February 1999.His following solo record "5:00 A.M." - released in 1997 - was again a link to his most successful time and pours scorn on all those that herald the death of the guitar and of song-crafting. The album contains a plethora of genuinely great songs and sensitive, perceptive moments. Without merely echoing past glories "5:00 A.M." re-establishes the qualities for which the band has become renowned and successfully places them in a contemporary setting, making this an ideal staring point for the uninitiated. His last finished work is the second White Rose Transmission album "700 Miles Of Desert", which was recorded in Bremen between November 1998 and February 1999.Adrian was also active as a producer for bands such as Felt, Dole, Into Paradise, Red Harvest, Steve Lake, Cassell Webb and The Prudes. Sadly, Adrian often fell into deep depression, lyrics from his last compositions hint at his gloomy state of mind before he took his own life on April 26 1999."Adrian's albums showcased the unflinching honesty and sensitivity that was his forte. In the end it was maybe that self-same sensitivity that made life just too painful for Adrian.This book tells the Life and Times of Adrian
Luckily Adrian continued with a solo career that whilst different in many ways to The Sound, still displays all the rare qualities that made them such a loved band. Adrian released five solo albums, first together with his new backing band The Citizens, later on his own. In 1989 he released "Alexandria" and in 1992 the wonderful "Brittle Heaven", an album that really threatens to rival his previous work, being a collection of richly emotional songs, with all the twists and turns you find in music that really draws the listener in. The third album "Beautiful Ammunition" released in 1994, was Adrian's first real solo album and contains 'Re-United States of Love'. Cinematic" released a year later, was similar in tone, but a shade lighter as a 90's feel began to seep into his work. Also in 1995 he brought out his first cd with White Rose Transmission, his congenial collaboration with Carlo van Putten from The Convent.His following solo record "5:00 A.M." - released in 1997 - was again a link to his most successful time and pours scorn on all those that herald the death of the guitar and of song-crafting. The album contains a plethora of genuinely great songs and sensitive, perceptive moments. Without merely echoing past glories "5:00 A.M." re-establishes the qualities for which the band has become renowned and successfully places them in a contemporary setting, making this an ideal staring point for the uninitiated. His last finished work is the second White Rose Transmission album "700 Miles Of Desert", which was recorded in Bremen between November 1998 and February 1999.His following solo record "5:00 A.M." - released in 1997 - was again a link to his most successful time and pours scorn on all those that herald the death of the guitar and of song-crafting. The album contains a plethora of genuinely great songs and sensitive, perceptive moments. Without merely echoing past glories "5:00 A.M." re-establishes the qualities for which the band has become renowned and successfully places them in a contemporary setting, making this an ideal staring point for the uninitiated. His last finished work is the second White Rose Transmission album "700 Miles Of Desert", which was recorded in Bremen between November 1998 and February 1999.Adrian was also active as a producer for bands such as Felt, Dole, Into Paradise, Red Harvest, Steve Lake, Cassell Webb and The Prudes. Sadly, Adrian often fell into deep depression, lyrics from his last compositions hint at his gloomy state of mind before he took his own life on April 26 1999."Adrian's albums showcased the unflinching honesty and sensitivity that was his forte. In the end it was maybe that self-same sensitivity that made life just too painful for Adrian.This book tells the Life and Times of Adrian
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 30, 2024
Having listened to The Sound for the last several years, there's no way I could pass this up. Adrian Borland is one of the few musicians for whom I think you can genuinely feel their passion and sincerity in their music, and it doesn't help that a lot of his struggles and thoughts reflect mine in ways. It has been long overdue for his music to be examined and appreciated, and this book goes a lot deeper than the Walking in the Opposite Direction documentary does.
Even with the many hardships bestowed on Adrian he kept enduring life, but unfortunately, it never got easier or more manageable. Heavisides hits the fine balance of showing all sides of Adrian without coming across as a 'he can do no wrong' fan, and does so in a way that makes this a very easy read (even if the subject isn't), which I couldn't be more grateful for. I have not had the best luck with music books for several reasons, and I'm always worried about biographies not written by the person themselves, but the smooth, almost conversational tone that the author utilizes is why I gave this book 5 stars! If you are even slightly interested in the life and work of Adrian, don't even think twice when contemplating picking this up.
Music-wise, Heavisides does a great job of taking us through every single musical phase of Adrian's in chronological order, and has opened my eyes to quite a few very underground side projects that I had no idea about previously! I also didn't know Adrian was friends and even collaborated with Mark Burgess (of The Chameleons, another band I love). The parts with very brief descriptions of each song might leave you wanting more, but as sometimes mentioned by the author, none of us can really know what Adrian had in mind while creating them. Though as someone who does not have a good musical ear (hurts my soul considering how much I love music), I think having just a bit more time to atleast explain some more instrumental elements that might not be so obvious would've been welcome.
Getting closer to the end of this book was one of the most heartbreaking things ever, but I'm so glad to have gotten the chance to read more about a man who really did deserve so much more. RIP to one of the finest musicians to have ever graced this earth.
Even with the many hardships bestowed on Adrian he kept enduring life, but unfortunately, it never got easier or more manageable. Heavisides hits the fine balance of showing all sides of Adrian without coming across as a 'he can do no wrong' fan, and does so in a way that makes this a very easy read (even if the subject isn't), which I couldn't be more grateful for. I have not had the best luck with music books for several reasons, and I'm always worried about biographies not written by the person themselves, but the smooth, almost conversational tone that the author utilizes is why I gave this book 5 stars! If you are even slightly interested in the life and work of Adrian, don't even think twice when contemplating picking this up.
Music-wise, Heavisides does a great job of taking us through every single musical phase of Adrian's in chronological order, and has opened my eyes to quite a few very underground side projects that I had no idea about previously! I also didn't know Adrian was friends and even collaborated with Mark Burgess (of The Chameleons, another band I love). The parts with very brief descriptions of each song might leave you wanting more, but as sometimes mentioned by the author, none of us can really know what Adrian had in mind while creating them. Though as someone who does not have a good musical ear (hurts my soul considering how much I love music), I think having just a bit more time to atleast explain some more instrumental elements that might not be so obvious would've been welcome.
Getting closer to the end of this book was one of the most heartbreaking things ever, but I'm so glad to have gotten the chance to read more about a man who really did deserve so much more. RIP to one of the finest musicians to have ever graced this earth.
October 20, 2024
I have finally finished this book. It has taken me absolutely ages, partly because it is extremely long but also because I knew how it was going to end and didn't want to reach that point. Anybody who has ever known and loved The Sound and Adrian Borland will be well aware before embarking on the book that it ends with his suicide. This is something that's acknowledged pretty much from page one, so there is no cliffhanger element, although when I reached the final pages I became aware that I hadn't known the exact details of how it all came about.
I never met Adrian but I always felt close to him because of my love of his music and particularly his stage performances. One morning I will never forget was the day when my friend and colleague at the school I taught at, who by coincidence was also called Adrian, didn't turn up on time. I was quite annoyed because we were doing oral exams and his absence caused some disruption, yet when he explained that all the trains had been cancelled because of an ‘incident at Wimbledon’, I had this extraordinary sense that Adrian must be involved. I can't explain why but maybe it was simply that he was the only person I knew of who came from Wimbledon. That he had severe mental health issues was something that I was aware of, mainly on account of his staggeringly emotional stage performances which I had been privileged to witness both at the Marquee and on one incredible occasion at Kingston Polytechnic. On that evening, driving back from the show in a state of quite high anxiety, I experienced one of my worst ever panic attacks whilst driving down the dark roads around Alton.
I would love to meet the author of this book. I almost gave up reading after the first chapter or so because of some of the quirks of the writing style, in particular a quite extraordinary use of commas that I had never seen before. However, despite my grammar fixations, I rapidly became used to it, because the content of the book was even more gripping than I expected it to be. The author’s style is not like that of the traditional rock biography, because he is far more emotionally invested than most professional authors and is prone, in a way that I came to really love, to insert his own personality, opinions, beliefs and judgments into the text so that you feel you know him almost as well as you get to know Adrian.
I thought I knew a lot about The Sound but there is much in here which I wasn't aware of, things such as his friendships with Mark Chadwick of The Chameleons and Tim Smith of The Cardiacs, and the extraordinary lengths to which his parents and in particular his father went to support him, as he spent almost all his life living at home with them. The early signed years were spent recording in the house in Wimbledon in the home studio that the father built specifically for the band. I had also forgotten that some of the producers they worked with were the recently lamented Pat Collier and someone I was very much aware of, Wally Brill, who for a time was married to one of my favourite singers, Annabel Lamb. Adrian was actually working with Wally in the days leading up to his suicide, which must have left an awfully traumatic effect on the producer, especially as it's clear that they rowed during those days.
To my astonishment, it is revealed that Adrian spent the last night of his life in the Cavern pub in Raynes Park, a music venue that I have been known to frequent and indeed once experienced an extremely good Sound tribute band there. The author has access to all the other extant members of the band and massive depths of documentation in the form of interviews with Adrian himself and many others who surrounded him. He succeeds in being non-judgmental about this extremely complex character but it is far from a fawning and uncritical fanpiece. As I know from my own writing, the subject matter is so specialized that sales are unlikely to be very high. After all, the band famously failed to sell many records, despite now being recognized as easily on a par with any of their contemporaries such as U2, Comsat Angels and Echo and the Bunnymen. I was aware of the traditional music business shenanigans that the band went through. It was obvious that they'd been dropped by both the Korova label and the very patient and supportive Statik Records but I do remember one occasion when I was in a French seaside resort and when walking past a café, heard music that was quite plainly The Sound, although I didn't recognize the songs. Diving into the café and quizzing the barman, I was made that aware that they had secured yet another record deal, this time with the independent label Play It Again Sam, and was happy to discover that the local record shop had a copy.
Why would you read the biography of an obscure musician you don't know? I'm going out on a limb here to say that even if you had never heard of Adrian Borland, this book could still hold fascination for you as it gives such deep insight into personalities, characters, families and the ins and outs of the traditional music business.
I never met Adrian but I always felt close to him because of my love of his music and particularly his stage performances. One morning I will never forget was the day when my friend and colleague at the school I taught at, who by coincidence was also called Adrian, didn't turn up on time. I was quite annoyed because we were doing oral exams and his absence caused some disruption, yet when he explained that all the trains had been cancelled because of an ‘incident at Wimbledon’, I had this extraordinary sense that Adrian must be involved. I can't explain why but maybe it was simply that he was the only person I knew of who came from Wimbledon. That he had severe mental health issues was something that I was aware of, mainly on account of his staggeringly emotional stage performances which I had been privileged to witness both at the Marquee and on one incredible occasion at Kingston Polytechnic. On that evening, driving back from the show in a state of quite high anxiety, I experienced one of my worst ever panic attacks whilst driving down the dark roads around Alton.
I would love to meet the author of this book. I almost gave up reading after the first chapter or so because of some of the quirks of the writing style, in particular a quite extraordinary use of commas that I had never seen before. However, despite my grammar fixations, I rapidly became used to it, because the content of the book was even more gripping than I expected it to be. The author’s style is not like that of the traditional rock biography, because he is far more emotionally invested than most professional authors and is prone, in a way that I came to really love, to insert his own personality, opinions, beliefs and judgments into the text so that you feel you know him almost as well as you get to know Adrian.
I thought I knew a lot about The Sound but there is much in here which I wasn't aware of, things such as his friendships with Mark Chadwick of The Chameleons and Tim Smith of The Cardiacs, and the extraordinary lengths to which his parents and in particular his father went to support him, as he spent almost all his life living at home with them. The early signed years were spent recording in the house in Wimbledon in the home studio that the father built specifically for the band. I had also forgotten that some of the producers they worked with were the recently lamented Pat Collier and someone I was very much aware of, Wally Brill, who for a time was married to one of my favourite singers, Annabel Lamb. Adrian was actually working with Wally in the days leading up to his suicide, which must have left an awfully traumatic effect on the producer, especially as it's clear that they rowed during those days.
To my astonishment, it is revealed that Adrian spent the last night of his life in the Cavern pub in Raynes Park, a music venue that I have been known to frequent and indeed once experienced an extremely good Sound tribute band there. The author has access to all the other extant members of the band and massive depths of documentation in the form of interviews with Adrian himself and many others who surrounded him. He succeeds in being non-judgmental about this extremely complex character but it is far from a fawning and uncritical fanpiece. As I know from my own writing, the subject matter is so specialized that sales are unlikely to be very high. After all, the band famously failed to sell many records, despite now being recognized as easily on a par with any of their contemporaries such as U2, Comsat Angels and Echo and the Bunnymen. I was aware of the traditional music business shenanigans that the band went through. It was obvious that they'd been dropped by both the Korova label and the very patient and supportive Statik Records but I do remember one occasion when I was in a French seaside resort and when walking past a café, heard music that was quite plainly The Sound, although I didn't recognize the songs. Diving into the café and quizzing the barman, I was made that aware that they had secured yet another record deal, this time with the independent label Play It Again Sam, and was happy to discover that the local record shop had a copy.
Why would you read the biography of an obscure musician you don't know? I'm going out on a limb here to say that even if you had never heard of Adrian Borland, this book could still hold fascination for you as it gives such deep insight into personalities, characters, families and the ins and outs of the traditional music business.
June 15, 2024
Ripe for Rediscovery
The Sound were one of those bands I recall from music shows on TV in the early 80s. I remember “Sense of Purpose” particularly.
I also recall hearing the sad news about Adrian Borland in 1999.
Their first two albums are rereleased on vinyl in September. This book drives me to rediscover this band.
A great book - a compelling story.
The Sound were one of those bands I recall from music shows on TV in the early 80s. I remember “Sense of Purpose” particularly.
I also recall hearing the sad news about Adrian Borland in 1999.
Their first two albums are rereleased on vinyl in September. This book drives me to rediscover this band.
A great book - a compelling story.
August 1, 2024
I was a massive fan of The Sound in the early 1980s and have never figured out why they never received as much adulation as their peers such as Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division, U2, Teardrop Explodes, etc. To me The Sound were far superior post-punk fare. It seems I am not alone, and when I saw this book, about the life and times of their tragic leader Adrian Borland, I had to buy it.
It is written with obvious love by Heavisides but it isn't just fawning adulation. He concentrates on Borland's more difficult side too, and there is plenty of input from band members, friends, family and lovers. It's not an easy read by any means. Especially if you know where and how the journey ends.
I'm not sure how interesting this would be to a non-fan, but I'm grateful it was done.
It falls short of 5 stars for three reasons.
1. The authors love for 'inverted commas'. He uses them 'a lot', and often when they're 'not' needed. I found the 'proliferation' of them 'irritating' and 'distracting'.
2. The weird format of the book itself. There are no paragraphs as such. Just comments and remarks that are 'paragraphs' of one or two lines. I'm not sure if that is to pad the book out. It's annoying when sometimes a 'paragraph' will end mid-sentence and continue to the next. There are also many printing errors.
3. The author's tendency to colour Borland's feelings about things with his own hatred of the tories and Thatcher. Believe me, I share those feelings but were they actually Borland's own views?
Despite these flaws, it is a must for anyone who has heard of The Sound or Adrian Borland and wants an insight into the man and his music.
If you haven't heard of them... what are you waiting for!?
It is written with obvious love by Heavisides but it isn't just fawning adulation. He concentrates on Borland's more difficult side too, and there is plenty of input from band members, friends, family and lovers. It's not an easy read by any means. Especially if you know where and how the journey ends.
I'm not sure how interesting this would be to a non-fan, but I'm grateful it was done.
It falls short of 5 stars for three reasons.
1. The authors love for 'inverted commas'. He uses them 'a lot', and often when they're 'not' needed. I found the 'proliferation' of them 'irritating' and 'distracting'.
2. The weird format of the book itself. There are no paragraphs as such. Just comments and remarks that are 'paragraphs' of one or two lines. I'm not sure if that is to pad the book out. It's annoying when sometimes a 'paragraph' will end mid-sentence and continue to the next. There are also many printing errors.
3. The author's tendency to colour Borland's feelings about things with his own hatred of the tories and Thatcher. Believe me, I share those feelings but were they actually Borland's own views?
Despite these flaws, it is a must for anyone who has heard of The Sound or Adrian Borland and wants an insight into the man and his music.
If you haven't heard of them... what are you waiting for!?
May 26, 2024
For any fans of Adrian Borland or The Sound this book is a must. It contains an open, honest and detailed account of not only his musical career but also his personal life, revealing the extent of the emotional and mental troubles that plagued him.
The book is full of personal accounts from friends, colleagues and family - not all of them totally complementary, and some conflicting - but which combine to give an accurate picture of his Borland's life, and, indeed, the events leading up to his death.
The author writes with an engaging tone which is easy to read and, whilst he is clearly a fan, his writing never becomes clouded in sentimentality.
The are a few formatting issues contained within the book, but, those aside, this is a fascinating, informative and full biography which is well worth reading.
The book is full of personal accounts from friends, colleagues and family - not all of them totally complementary, and some conflicting - but which combine to give an accurate picture of his Borland's life, and, indeed, the events leading up to his death.
The author writes with an engaging tone which is easy to read and, whilst he is clearly a fan, his writing never becomes clouded in sentimentality.
The are a few formatting issues contained within the book, but, those aside, this is a fascinating, informative and full biography which is well worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews