Boston's DON'T LOOK BACK is an excellent, underrated album

It doesn't really hold up at all, in my opinion. There are a couple of nice moments, mostly surrounding Delp's vocals. On the album's big ballad (I forget the name offhand) he sounds like a dead ringer for Paul McCartney ca. the White Album. Such an amazing singer, I felt bad he was wasting his time on second rate material.

That said, when I heard it for the first time I was under the impression that it was the "unreleased third Boston album". Maybe if I spin it again knowing that it's actually Barry's solo album and not the holy grail Boston release, I can be more forgiving.

I forgot to mention "Dreams", though... That's actually a good 'un. Did you know there's a great live performance of it captured on YouTube?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7L5BTRGtyU

 

Good to know! I'm from Chicago originally, but never heard them play it on WCKG or The Loop (WLUP) back in the day.

If I was a radio programmer back then, I could easily see adding 6-7 of the tracks on Don't Look Back to the rotation.

 

Great album, but Side 2 is pretty weak. It's only 14 minutes for pete's sake!! Shortness aside, Side 2 still pales next to Side 1.

 

That track was probably Amanda. I had that on tape years before third stage came out. Not sure of the back story of how it got out, but a friend taped it off the radio.

Agree that Don't Look Back is a great album. Side 1, Side 2, doesn't matter.

 

Can't say I agree! I think "Feeling Satisfied" and "Used to Bad News" are first rate all the way, while "Party" and "Don't Be Afraid" are solid boogie numbers that are close to being on par with "Smokin'" and "Rock and Roll Band" from the first album.

It's interesting that neither of the first two albums have ever been re-issued with bonus tracks. I'd do terrible things to hear that fabled "ninth track" from Don't Look Back, even in incomplete form.

 

Interesting! Do you recall how similar it was to the released version on Third Stage?

 

Identical. I was actually bummed that my little, lost gem wasn't at least an alternate or unfinished version. It was obviously finished years before.

 

According to this site, it was leaked two years earlier in 1984 and actually was an alternate version. I guess at the time I didn't notice a difference.

http://www.thirdstage.ca/boston/aud...e-versions/112-other-demos-alternate-versions

So that possibly disqualifies it from being the song left off the second album.

 

One of my eternal faves. Have a wallpaper!

 

Nothing they did could ever hope to compare with their debut, which remains one of the all-time greatest debuts and one of the biggest selling rock records in history.

But DLB was eagerly embraced by my friends and I when it came out (we were 15-16 and starting to party) and we saw that tour. If anything, the biggest drag was how long you had to wait between albums - albums that didn't really sound that different from each other.

Unfortunately, the behind-the-scenes aspects of the Boston story are disturbing and tragic, as noted in this article in today's Boston Globe about Brad Delp's final days.

 

The 35 8P-7 mastering of Don't Look Back is expensive because it is very rare. There is the Japanese CD issue with catalog number 35 8P-7 and the Japanese CBS/Sony pressing for the U.S. market with "35 8P-7" in the matrix code. Both are rare, but I would say the Japan-for-U.S. pressing is the rarer of the two. Just beware that there is a later Japanese Denon pressing for the U.S. market that has a different mastering. If you pursue the original mastering, make sure the disc has "35 8P-7" in the matrix code.

There is no MFSL gold CD of Don't Look Back, but there is a Sony MasterSound gold CD from the '90s. I have it and don't particularly care for it. The 35 8P-7 mastering sounds better to me.

The '06 remaster is lousy. It's too loud.

 

+1, the title track is the only track that would make the original album cut. The rest is filler material IMO.

 

Wow. That story deserves its own thread. Very sad.

 

I think it started strong, I don't know how the first side could possibly be better. Side two is just is not as polished as the first, but it's still good (from memory I like the opening riff on "Party" and the slinky leads on "Don't Be Afraid".

What I don't like is that "rushed feeling" was the beginning of the perfectionism that would make for some awfully long waits between albums.
• It would be eight years before getting Third Stage.
• Another eight years for Walk On.
• Another eight years for Corporate America (I know 1997's Greatest Hits has a few new tracks, but I don't count it)

..and now it's reached the 10 year mark. This isn't meant to bash Tom Scholz (I like the guy, his playing and I have plenty of Rockman equipment), but I'm no longer impressed with reading accounts of how it took 88 takes in the studio to get one part right. In terms of released content, this is one of the worst bands to follow.

I think Third Stage is the better album, it would have aged better if there weren't drum triggers all over it.

 

A bit of a disappointment when originally released, I think that it has aged well. In some ways, I enjoy it more than the debut.

 

Side one is at least as good as the first album--I'd say it's the best album side Boston ever did. Side two is a wasteland with the exception of Used to Bad News.

This fits with what Scholz has said: That he was pretty much done with side one (and happy with it), but that side two was unfinished when the album was more-or-less wrestled from his hands by the very impatient record company.

 

I'll agree that there was a little disappointment when it was first released - but just a little. Honestly, now I play it far more often the debut.

 

Another DLB lover here. Based on the strength of the title track, it was the first Boston album I bought, and maybe that accounts for my feeling that it's the equal of the debut. My favorite songs are the title track (naturally), "Used To Bad News", "A Man I'll Never Be" and "Party". But I don't think there are any sub-par songs here.

BTW, my copy is the Japan-for-US with the 35 8P-7 matrix. It's just what happened to be in the longbox I picked up in the store. Sheer dumb luck. Of course, that was when it was first released, so maybe it's not so surprising. Meant nothing until I started learning about these things right at this forum! It sounds great to me, but I've never compared it to any other pressings.

Now, Third Stage? Different story, AFAIC. I thought "Amanda" was a great track, and there might have been one or two others I thought were OK, but I can't check because I got rid of it long ago. Someone mentioned the electronic drum sounds, and yes, that's part of what I remember as a sterile production sound which I disliked. But I also recall that most of the songs were just not memorable. Hopefully, OP will like it more than I did, but IMO, Third Stage is where Boston lost it.

 

I had this one on 8 track. Anything would have paled in comparison to the first. I just wonder what would have happened if this would have been the first Boston. Would opinions be different? A very enjoyable album.

 

Considering how the threads we had back in 07 got emotional then closed, I cannot see this subject faring any better.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=107938&highlight=brad+delp

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=211809&highlight=brad+delp

 

Underrated maybe, undersold...not so much. (Billboard 9-78)

 

I like all of the first album, about 3/4 of Don't Look Back, and half of Third Stage. I only have these three.

But Don't Look Back is very good, it just had to come after the monster debut.

 

Me too. The debut gathers dust on my shelf while I have this in regular play in the car and the house.

Does anyone else turn it up even more around the 3 minute mark of the title track? Love those drums and the way the whole song catches fire at that point.

 

Totally agree. I've played this dozens more than the debut. Don't know why, just like it a lot better. If I hear Long Time one more time on classic rock radio, I think my head will explode.

 

Ugh. All of these private emails are being released because of Tom's lawsuit against the Boston Herald. Tom is trying to show that he didn't cause Brad's suicide (as implied by the Herald), but all he's doing is revealing a bunch of private information that just makes EVERYONE look bad.