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Title: Turned On - A Biography Of Henry RollinsWriter: James Parker Year: 2001 Publisher: Phoenix Reviewer: Brinepacer Having always been intrigued by Henry Rollins, I was looking forward to the insight biographies usually provide. However, this does not deliver. Being an unauthorised biography, the writer had no access to Rollins himself, or anyone he has been involved with in the past ten odd years. Thus the book centres mostly on Rollins's Black Flag years, with scant mention paid to Rollins's later work. However, as a biography of Black Flag, it does surprisingly well. Based on press and personal interviews with ex-members and associates of Black Flag, Turned On... documents Flag and the surrounding musical climate surprisingly well, and for this reason alone is a worthy purchase. Parker's own obvious enthusiasm never intrudes, but instead encourages enthusiasm in the reader for Flags work and, to a lesser extent, that of Minor Threat, The Minutemen, Husker Du, and a whole other host of Flag's contemporaries. Well worth reading if you wish to find out more about Black Flag, but if its Henry Rollins you're after, stick to Rollins's own "Get In The Van". |