Boston
Don't Look Back

And finally glory be to the band of Tom Scholz....

I was a bit disappointed to see the treatment, in my opinion superficial, reserved on Debaser to their first album, and, although this is not a "compensatory" review, I intend to highlight and emphasize that, especially in this album, Boston produced music of the highest level, at least in their genre.

Often compared to other A.O.R. supergroups like Journey and Foreigner, Boston, while having undeniable points of contact with their style, differentiated themselves with their more hard rock'n'roll approach, following that all-American line that started from the Allman Brothers, passing through groups like ZZ Top, Black Oak Arkansas, and the like. Not that Boston ever played "southern hard rock," but simply, in the first two albums, and partly in the third "Third Stage," they synthesized these two major trends of American rock, achieving phenomenal results from a musical standpoint, besides the sales success in their homeland (the first two albums sold a total of 23 million copies).

The leader of the band was (and still is) Tom Scholz, an electronic technician with a penchant for music, inventor of the guitar effect "Rockman" that gave Boston's sound a unique imprint, managing to combine the hardness of distortion with sound clarity, a feat rarely achieved elsewhere. The extraordinary Brad Delp on vocals, endowed with such a timbre and vocal range as to induce awe, while the other musicians were good side players, still suited to the chosen musical style.

"Don't Look Back" is for me their "Opus magnum", not only a worthy successor to the spectacular debut, but musically superior to it, due to the continuous, and perfect amalgam between the two components I previously mentioned: AOR-derived melodic hard rock and more "rustic" and direct hard rock'n'roll. The choirs are fantastic, the guitar duels thrilling (always aimed to create a recognizable melody rather than virtuosity for its own sake), the power expressed by the sound impact is incredible, provided for you, the term "power" doesn't just suggest volume-distortion-and-that's-it, because then we'd be talking about something else.... and, typical characteristic of Boston, beautiful alternation between melodic arpeggios and full chords, present in many of their songs.

The perfect summary of this recipe is just "Don't Look Back," the opening song, equipped with one of the most beautiful riffs I've ever heard, which should be taught in electric guitar schools for its beauty, and which, in my imagination as an amateur guitarist, I put on the same level as those of "Whole Lotta Love" and "Celebration" (then everyone can put their favorites); "Don't Look Back" really has something majestic about it, and the refrain gives an incredible charge, and then how beautiful that moment when only the drums and the riff remain in the background before the final rush with the adrenaline rising to the grand finale..... guys, what a track..... Boston provides a short and suggestive pause with the instrumental "The Journey," with strictly no-synthesizer effects, and then comes the deadly electro-acoustic attack of "It's Easy" and at this point you can easily lose your mind. The euphoria hasn't settled when another Lady Song arrives, namely the wonderful "A Man I'll Never Be," which I dare to define without problems as the AOR's "Stairway to Heaven", both for the arrangement partly melodic and partly aggressive, and for the emotions it manages to arouse... and those organ chords at the end... a stroke of genius, a big cherry on an already perfect cake!

We come back to earth but remain in the stratosphere of quality with "Feeling Satisfied," with full-bodied and driving riffs, and the usual catchy choruses that "force" you to follow them and let yourself be carried away, then if that wasn't enough, "Party," introduced by a delicate arpeggio, bursts into a riff that is the quintessence of hard'n'roll, worthy counterpart to "Smokin'" from the first album; another great moment of melodic hard in "Used to Bad News," with a nice organ solo by Scholz, and finally the fireworks of "Don't Be Afraid," with the slide guitar prominently featured.

You might find in this review the typical fan's enthusiasm, and some might find my enthusiasm exaggerated, but let me express what this album makes me feel; it's etched in my DNA like very few other records, and I imagine each of you has a record that triggers a similar reaction.

Forgive me..... but if we write here on Debaser, it's precisely because we are, more or less, all passionate fans.

"Don't look back
A new day is breakin'
It's been too long since I felt this way
I don't mind where I get taken
The road is callin'
Today is the day

I can see
It took so long to realize
I'm much too strong
Not to comprimise
Now I see what I am is holding me down
I'll turn it around

I finally see the dawn arrivin'
I see beyond the road I'm drivin'
Far away and left behind

It's a new horizon and I'm awakin' now

Tracklist Lyrics and Samples