bbbradk's Full Review: Michael Ruffino - Gentlemanly Repose: Confessions ...
I am a big fan of biographies, and rock and roll biographies in particular, it was that which lead me to this book.
I'll be honest that I had no idea who Michael Ruffino was, and although I am quite a big music fan, I had never heard of the band who he played with, The Unband. (he was the bass player).
It was the dust jacket that caught my attention, on it the reader is teased with the line "eye opening experiences with Ronnie James Dio, Anthrax, Sebastian Bach, and Lemmy from Motorhead".
These names, to a hard rock fan such as myself are very eye catching, and I had steeled myself for tale of debauchery, in the end I was left disapointed.
The Story
Turns out Ruffino was in a band that opened for all of the above bands, and even one of my favorite Canadian bands The Headstones, but the book never really delivers anything eye opening, other than for the most part, opening bands are not treated very well.
There are a few good tales of a party or a meal with one of these other bands, but for the large part of the book it deals exclusively with The Unband.
After a brief search on Yahoo Music I did find a music video for their big single "Everybody Wants You" and I do remember hearing the song, but had always assumed it was played by Billy Squire. (of Stroke Me fame)
The video was actually good, and the song sounded good, perhaps if this band had focused a little more on recording rather than the non stop party that this book details, they would still be around.
The book traces the Unband's New England start, and rather than leading up to touring with Ronnie James Dio, and giving some details on how they made it out of the local music scene, they go from forming the band to opening for big names.
I think there are all kinds of missing details, I mean once the band leaves the Ronnie James Dio tour the book details no downtime, just opening for one band, then another, then another until the band splits up due to internal strife.
What I Thought
I thought a behind the scenes look at a band that toured as heavily as The Unband did would be rife with great stories, however rather than writing about specific events, most of the book seems like drunken diary scribblings (not at all surprising considering the insane amounts of drugs and alcohol Ruffino details imbibing, I'm almost surprised he remembers anything that happened during his tenure with the band).
I think the book certainly would have benefited from a co-writer, or ghost writer, because as it is the book is rather hard to follow, it's just a string of events ending when the band go their separate ways. A co-writer I'm sure could have helped Ruffino craft a beginning, middle, and proper end to the book.
I may be alone in my dislike for the book however, since at the very end of the book it is mentioned that the story is being made into a movie.
To end I will again be honest and say that I picked up this book on sale for $1.00 so I don't feel that bad about it
Paperback: 224 pages Publisher: Citadel (November 1, 2004) Language: English ISBN-10: 0806526262 ISBN-13: 978-0806526263 Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.