Roland Orzabal
Welcome to Your Life: Love, Death and Tears for Fears
(Dey Street)
As creative half of Eighties synth pop juggernaut Tears for Fears alongside Curt Smith, Roland Orzabal made major indelible hits like "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," "Head Over Heels," and "Sowing the Seeds of Love." Here, the British singer/songwriter/guitarist adds a unique spin on the average music memoir by writing about astrology's influence on his life after worldwide fame in 1985. Welcome to Your Life is an engaging read, where Orzabal leaves most star chart talk to each chapter's conclusion. Fans should find the details surrounding his colorful upbringing, broken home (which led to forming bands alongside sympathetic high school acquaintance Smith), TFF albums and tours, delving into Arthur Janov's Primal Therapy, a managerial thief, splitting from Smith and solo years, dealing with his first wife's illness and death, overcoming a harrowing Ambien addiction, the TFF reunion and finding a happy life with a new wife and baby quite interesting. Hardcover, 287 pages. Purchase: amazon.com
Sean Egan
Eagles and 'Hotel California' - 50 Years
(Motorbooks)
This December will mark fifty years since the Eagles' classic fifth studio release came out. Egan's sleek coffee table book - available Sept. 8 - dutifully examines the genesis of America's third best-selling album of all time. The author covers all pertinent career bases: notably the Linda Ronstadt connection, the band's early country-rock albums failing to set the charts afire (though a few singles did well), music critics and the British public's initial indifference to the sound and lyrics, personnel changes (Joe Walsh seemed an odd choice at first), '70s debauchery, how the Hotel California recording transpired, eventual breakup, Don Henley and Glenn Frey's solo career successes, the Eagles' reunion and final album. There are ample archival photos, plus sidebars on collaborators, rivals, studios, execs, and more. Hardcover, with slipcase, 176 glossy pages. Preorder: amazon.com
Alexander Larman
Lazarus: The Second Coming of David Bowie
(Pegasus)
Larman does an impressive job examining the less celebrated second half of David Bowie's career, when the rock legend continued to take compelling musical routes (a hard-edged Tin Machine, the Brian Eno reunion on eerie song cycle Outside, an industrial/jungle-based Earthling), increased acting work and visual art, marriage and fatherhood for a second time. The biography boasts more authenticity than most, thanks to feedback from key Bowie collaborators like Tony Visconti, Mike Garson, Reeves Gabrels, Mark Plati, Gerry Leonard, Gail Ann Dorsey (coincidentally a member of Tears for Fears' touring band for a '90s spell), and others. The book also contains a discography, filmography, bibliography, and notes section. Hardcover, 367 pages. Purchase: amazon.com
George Paul
