Boston - Don't Look Back

There are a few "HOLY SHIT" albums from my youth that still deliver the goods. Their debut is something to behold make no mistake, but in 1978 it was Boston's second album that was my first real introduction to the band. The title track was pure sonic magic and I couldn't get enough of it. I remember trying to dial in the rock stations on my stereo at night because sometimes the signal would be strong enough to reach Vancouver from the small town I grew up in. Every so often I'd be rewarded and I'd hear the song. It probably only happened once, maybe twice but it was enough to be indelible.

Heck, me and my buddy Andrew who was a hell of a guitar player when we were in our teens (far better than me) decided we'd learn how to play "Don't Look Back" and as Andrew had figured out how to play the cool rhythm parts I'd have to learn the lead fiddly bits. To our credit we did a passable job without a bass player, singer or a drummer ... although we did end up having a friend who played drums and we killed it as a trio. Thankfully no audio evidence exists so in my mind we were ripping it up.

Don't Look Back was an album that seemed to take forever to come out. The debut dropped in 1976, and then there were crickets. Bands didn't take a year off, they released an album a year, those were the rules. What was going on? When Don't Look Back came out in 1978 people were like, "Finally!" Heck even Tom commented in the liner notes thanking everyone at Epic Records for their patience. I think that was more to placate the brass than anything as this would be the last album to be released on Epic.

It would then be almost a decade before their next album, as the band fought it out in the courts with their former label and eventually won their suit and signed with MCA.

When I was a kid I found Don't Look Back at a second hand store, and I brought it home and sat on my bed with the gatefold open and the lyric sheet and played it over and over. I played that first side so often I started to think of it as a four song album, well three, but I'm counting the instrumental. The second side was okay, in fact it was better than okay, but it wasn't as engaging and I generally didn't feel like getting up after the first side finished. Over time I'd come to the conclusion that the second side really was inferior.

I wasn't alone in having this opinion either, I had a friend who was the acknowledged chief cook and bottle washer of musical knowledge and he had said that the reason the second side wasn't as good was the band had run out of time and was pressured to release the record. The result was the other four songs while good, seemed half baked. I believed that for years and years. Until it occurred to me that records were not recorded sequentially and that song order and stuff was often carefully planned. I suspect the reason was Tom just didn't have as many great songs and with only eight to work with he really may have run out of time and put the best ones on the first side.

Then as I sat thinking about it, I realized this was the case with the debut too. I mean seriously the first side of Boston was so good. Absolutely no filler or weak spots ... none. Side two was spotty for me then, and still is. I know the story behind the closing track "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" which was written by Brad Delp and recorded separately from the rest of the album with John Boylan taking on the role of producer. It was like the old Sesame Street grid ... (another boomer ellipses) One of these things is not like the other (extra points if you sang that in your end. Points can be redeemed for IDGAS vouchers). Still a better than average song, but when compared to what came before it was ... pfffft.

So back to Don't Look Back.

I've just finished listening the first side again, and am halfway through side two and "Party" is blaring through the speakers, and I've always thought this song was like a kissing cousin to "Smokin'" which isn't a bad thing. "Smokin'" over the years has grown on me from filler to killer.

"Used to Bad News" is Brad Delp's redemption song, mainly because I just took shots at "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" and this time the song feels like Boston.

Maybe the second side wasn't as inferior as I remembered. Oh it's nowhere near the four-punch combination that side one delivered. Goodness gracious "Don't Look Back" and the transition piece "The Journey" that launches "It's Easy" and closes out with the absolutely stunning "A Man I'll Never Be" (which is as good as Delp ever sounded) are all excellent songs. Hmm, it's really just three songs and a segue. Still, ALL KILLER.

Is it as good as the band's debut?

No it isn't, at least that's my opinion; but, oh my stars and garters this is one hell of an album. Don't Look Back saw the band charting their own path through the musical landscape at the time. There was nothing like them out there.

It's too bad things went south after this, who knows what the band's legacy would have been if they'd have been able to keep making records. Instead the band would be out of the public eye for nearly a decade. That's a long time between albums and a lot changed while they were away. I know we're not supposed to, but we need to look back otherwise we won't be able to appreciate Don't Look Back for what it is ... and what it is, is awesome.