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''Don't Look Back'' is the second studio album by American
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, released in 1978 by Epic Records. It was produced by
Tom Scholz Donald Thomas Scholz (born March 10, 1947) is an American musician. He is the founder, main songwriter, primary guitarist and only remaining original member of the rock band Boston. He has appeared on every Boston album. Scholz is an MIT-traine ...
.
The album reached No. 1 in both the US and Canada, and No. 9 in the UK. The
title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...
helped with the album's success, reaching No. 4 in 1978 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and remains one of the band's biggest hits. The album sold over one million copies in the ten days following its release and was certified 7× platinum by the RIAA in the US on April 11, 1996. This album also marked the beginning of the band's legal fight with its record label, Epic. Guitarist, producer and primary songwriter
Tom Scholz Donald Thomas Scholz (born March 10, 1947) is an American musician. He is the founder, main songwriter, primary guitarist and only remaining original member of the rock band Boston. He has appeared on every Boston album. Scholz is an MIT-traine ...
claimed that Epic executives pushed him and the band into releasing the album before they felt it was ready. He also said that the album "was ridiculously short. It needed another song.” Their next album, ''
Third Stage ''Third Stage'' is the third studio album by the American rock band Boston, released on September 26, 1986, on MCA Records. It was recorded at Boston co-founder Tom Scholz's Hideaway Studio over a long, strained, six-year period "between floods ...
'', was not released for another eight years, by which time the band and record label had parted ways and were fighting a courtroom battle that Boston ultimately won. ''Don't Look Backs two-year gap from the band's debut album marks the shortest between two Boston albums to date.


Recording

''Don't Look Back'' was recorded during 1977 and 1978 at Scholz's Hideaway Studio, except for the piano on " A Man I'll Never Be", which was recorded by engineer Dave Butler at Northern Studio in
Maynard, Massachusetts Maynard is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is located 22 miles west of Boston, in the MetroWest and Greater Boston region of Massachusetts and borders Acton, Concord, Stow and Sudbury. The town's population ...
.


Original release

''Don't Look Back'' was originally to be titled ''Arrival'', but Boston members discovered that Swedish pop group
ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...
released an album by that name two years prior, so ''Don't Look Back'' was chosen. The album was listed erroneously as ''Arrival'' in the cassette inserts of some other CBS releases at the time promoting albums available from the record company and its associated labels. '' Billboard'' described the album as "an equally superior effort s their debut albumthat further refines this group's ability to play hard rock underlined by a sweet, melodic base". Ken Emerson of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' said that the album consolidated the sound of the band's debut album but was less pretentious than Bruce Springsteen's 1978 album ''
Darkness on the Edge of Town ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'' is the fourth studio album by American rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 2, 1978, by Columbia Records. The album marked the end of a three-year gap between albums brought on by contractu ...
''. Emerson noted a theme of Scholz expressing his anxieties, particularly with making this album, as evidenced by lines about being unsure about measuring up as man in "A Man I'll Never Be", and the line "I've been used/But I'm taking it like a man" in "Used to Bad News"(a song written by Brad Delp). Emerson also pointed out contradictions between the lyrics of certain songs, such as the line that "I'm much too strong not to compromise" in " Don't Look Back" versus the line in "A Man I'll Never Be" that "I can't get any stronger", or the line "Emotions can't be satisfied" in "A Man I'll Never Be" versus the title itself of " Feelin' Satisfied". Brad Chadderton of ''
The Ottawa Journal The ''Ottawa Journal'' was a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, from 1885 to 1980. It was founded in 1885 by A. Woodburn as the ''Ottawa Evening Journal''. Its first editor was John Wesley Dafoe who came from the ...
'' praised the album for its heavy, innovative and melodic guitar lines; for
Brad Delp Bradley Edward Delp (June 12, 1951 – March 9, 2007) was an American musician who was the original lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Boston. He joined Boston in 1970 and performed on the band's first three albums. Early life ...
's vocals; and for lyrics that contain philosophical meaning, calling ''Don't Look Back'' an improvement over the debut album.


Songs

"Don't Look Back", "A Man I'll Never Be" and "Feelin' Satisfied" were all released as singles, reaching No. 4, 31 and 46 respectively on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "The Journey" is a short instrumental track that links the opening title track and the third track, "It's Easy". In 1987, Scholz cited it as his favorite song on any of Boston's first three albums, but wished that it were longer. He described it as, "I'm floating through space, cruising in an airplane over the clouds". ''Billboard'' writer Paul Grein cited "The Journey" as an example of
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
-like music on ''Don't Look Back'' that is consistent with the guitar-spaceship cover art of the album (and single). Grein referred to it as having an "almost religious" tone, anticipating that some listeners would find it "pretentious" but stating that he found it an effective interlude between the harder rocking songs "Don't Look Back" and "It's Easy". Emerson said that the organ sounds church-like and that the guitars sound "ghostly", making the track sound "eerie and alienated". He compared "The Journey" to
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
's work during the late 1970s. According to Scholz, the song had been lying around for years before he found "the right theme to match the music". It took him just three days to record. The song was the only one on the album without a drum track, and so it was the only song on which drummer
Sib Hashian John Thomas "Sib" Hashian (August 17, 1949 – March 22, 2017) was an American musician, best known as a drummer for the rock band Boston. Career Boston Hashian was chosen by Boston founder and band leader Tom Scholz in 1975 to replace origin ...
did not appear. Barry Goudreau, who played rhythm guitar, was the only musician on the track besides Scholz. "The Journey" was released as the B-side of the "Don't Look Back" single. Grein described the transition from "The Journey" to "It's Easy" as "appropriately jarring" due to the latter song's fast
boogie Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mus ...
guitar introduction. "It's Easy" contains the line "I believe what we achieve will soon be left behind", which Emerson points out appears to be sung to a girl with whom the singer is having a one-night stand, but may also be a self-reference to Boston's own music, similar to the band's approach on their earlier hit " More Than a Feeling". Emerson also noted a similar theme of nostalgia between "More Than a Feeling" and "It's Easy". Writer Derek Oliver included the song as one of several on the album that retained Boston's "signature sound" of "pristine production, humongous orchestral guitars and stupendous vocals" from the debut album.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
critic Tim Sendra found this song "more reflective" than any of the material on Boston's debut. "Party" was co-written by Delp and Scholz. It begins with a short, slow introduction before a surprising change of pace to the fast, harder sound that persists throughout the rest of the song, in much the same way as "Something About You" from the debut. The dual themes of "Party" are loud parties and teenage sex. Grein compared the "raucous bar band climax" ending of the song to Aerosmith. Sendra found the song to be a "storming rocker" in the mold of " Smokin'" from the debut. "Party" is another song cited by Oliver as retaining the band's signature sound. ''Billboard'' rated "Party" to be one of the best songs on the album. It is one of four songs from the album that were included on Boston's ''
Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
'' album, along with the three singles. "Used to Bad News" was written by Delp, making it the only song on the album on which Scholz did not receive a writing credit. Emerson described "Used to Bad News" as "a charming, rather Beatles-like song".
Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biography Marcus wa ...
rated it as one of the three "masterpieces" on the album, along with the title track and "A Man I'll Never Be". As with "It's Easy", Sendra considered the song to be more reflective than anything on the debut. "Used to Bad News" is the only song on the album on which Goudreau is the sole lead guitarist. Scholz played all the other instruments except drums. It was released as the B-side of the "Feelin' Satisfied" single. "Don't Be Afraid" closes the album. The song had an earlier genesis than other songs on the album, as it was originally one of the demos Scholz worked on before getting a record contract. Grein stated that it "comes to a crashing, concert-like
crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependin ...
", specifically citing Hashian's drumming. It was also released as the B-side of the "A Man I'll Never Be" single.


Compact disc releases

''Don't Look Back'' was among the first commercially produced
compact discs The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in October ...
when the format was introduced in 1983, but because of ongoing legal issues between Scholz and
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...
, the title was pulled after a small production run and did not reappear on CD until three years later. Inserts for the original CD pressings contained the "spaceship blueprints" from the original album dust jacket; those illustrations were not included in the 1986 reissue. This album and the group's first album were remastered and re-released on June 13, 2006. The reissues were digitally remastered personally by Scholz after he heard indirectly that the remastering project was to be handled by Sony's team, which he felt was unacceptable. He took it on himself after negotiations with Legacy Recordings, saying, "I've always wanted to make those albums sound good on CD, and the chance arrived". A small number of the Sony-remastered versions briefly went on sale in Canada on April 4, 2006, before being removed from sale. Those discs also included a live version of "Shattered Images" (mistitled "Help Me" on the packaging), an unreleased Boston original recorded at a 1976 concert in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
.


Track listing


Personnel


Boston

*
Brad Delp Bradley Edward Delp (June 12, 1951 – March 9, 2007) was an American musician who was the original lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Boston. He joined Boston in 1970 and performed on the band's first three albums. Early life ...
– lead and harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, tambourine *
Tom Scholz Donald Thomas Scholz (born March 10, 1947) is an American musician. He is the founder, main songwriter, primary guitarist and only remaining original member of the rock band Boston. He has appeared on every Boston album. Scholz is an MIT-traine ...
– pianos, organs, lead guitar, electric rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, guitar special effects, bass guitar, hands and cans * Barry Goudreauslide guitar, lead guitar (1, 2, 7, 8), percussion *
Fran Sheehan Fran Sheehan (born March 26, 1949) is an American rock musician best known for being the bass player in the early incarnation of the rock band Boston. Sheehan was perhaps the most experienced musician in the original lineup of Boston. Life an ...
– bass guitar, percussion (1) *
Sib Hashian John Thomas "Sib" Hashian (August 17, 1949 – March 22, 2017) was an American musician, best known as a drummer for the rock band Boston. Career Boston Hashian was chosen by Boston founder and band leader Tom Scholz in 1975 to replace origin ...
– drums, percussion


Additional personnel

* Rob Rosati – hands and cans * Cindy Scholz – hands and cans * Gloria – hands and cans


Production

* Tom Scholz – producer, arrangements, engineer, cover concept, digital remastering * Eric Carr – assistant engineer * Dennis Coscia – assistant engineer * Rob Rosati – assistant engineer * David "db" Butler – piano recording (4) * Wally Traugott – original mastering at Capitol Mastering (Hollywood, California) * Tony Lane – art direction * Gary Norman – cover artist * Ron Pownall – album photography


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References

{{Authority control Boston (band) albums 1978 albums Albums produced by Tom Scholz Epic Records albums Legacy Recordings albums