“A life in music revisited” without frontiers - The life of Peter Gabriel by Daryl Easlea. Reviewd by Alan Hewitt.

Daryl Easlea’s name will be familiar to most music fans through his contributions to Record Collector Magazine where he has been a regular contributor for many years. He is also a widely respected biographer with several works to his name, including the previous edition of this tome.

Trying to piece together the life story of a man whose work has covered so many different fields not just in music bit in humanitarian endeavours and the technological arena, is no easy task, especially when the person in question is not overly fond of interviews! However, Daryl has managed to draw from the disparate sources at his disposal including many of the people associated with Peter and his admirers to produce what is, without doubt, a sensitive, informed and indeed amusing portrait of this most enigmatic of human beings.

The book spans Peter’s entire life and career to date from his childhood and time spent incarcerated in the notorious Public School system, to his time in Genesis and onwards to the beginnings of his still burgeoning career. He deals in depth with Peter’s passion for human rights and his fascination with technology and how its uses can be applied to benefit mankind. There are fresh insights from friends and collaborators and a highly amusing Postface by Richard Macphail all of which add yet more detail to the picture.

An informed text takes the story past the now infamous “Together & Apart” documentary and up to Peter’s most recent foray on the concert stage with Sting bringing the story pretty much up to date. Daryl has managed, despite no direct input from Peter himself to produce a book which, like its predecessor, will rightly be regarded as one of the most valuable reference works on the enigma that is Peter Gabriel and as such, any music fan will find this an interesting read and any fan of Peter Gabriel and Genesis will find it totally indispensable - a thoroughly enjoyable, and above all, informative work.

Daryl Easlea : Without Frontiers - The Life And Music Of Peter Gabriel. Omnibus Press (Paperback) ISBN: 978-1-78558-850-1