The follow up to their amazingly successful debut album, "Don't Look Back" picks up where the last album left off. With the glossy arena rock sound and radio friendly tracks, "Don't Look Back" was sure to be a great follow up as well as another classic 70's album. Although the guitarship would crash down after this album and the band would break apart and nothing would ever be the same, they still had ideas and it shows the most on this album. You can already see a more creative track list on this one compared to the debut album with songs being more stretched together for example, "Don't Look Back" with the song "The Journey" being an instrumental bridge to "It's Easy". This also explains the reason why Tom Scholz was angry when he had to release the album before he wanted to. The record company didn't give him the time he wanted to finish the project and that's why it seems like there's no reason why "The Journey" was put there when the album contains only eight songs just like the previous but the previous being a group of singles. But now that i've covered the main difference between this album and the first time to get into song details.
The song to start the album may be the most successful songs on the album, "Don't Look Back" is a highly energized song filled with great licks and riffs. It also has some really motivational lyrics to go along with the music and in the end is one of Boston's greatest songs. The second track "The Journey" is a minor instrumental filled with keyboards and guitars. "It's Easy" follows that up and is another catchy song which is something Boston had already accomplished in their songs. "A Man I'll Never Be" is the bands biggest ballad of the 70's with layers of some of the bands most emotional guitar playing along with Brad Delp's soft yet strong vocals. This song has a lot of tempo changes and almost ends on a loud note but really ends up with a nice paino piece. The next song "Feelin' Satisfied", carries a lot of sound from the previous album with its straight forward rock and roll sound. The chorus really rocks in this song and is sure to hook you at first listen. After this rock and roller comes another one with "Party". Like the previous song it's a pretty straight forward song about livin' a rock and roll lifestyle. "Used to Bad News" is a really good song with a nice touch of great lyrics. You might enjoy the vocals the most on this one but the guitar riff is just as great. The final song to end the album "Don't Be Afraid", is another rocker with a hook for a chorus. The singing is energetic, backup vocals and all.
This album would mark the last time the original five members would make an album together. The band would break up and carry on with only Brad Delp and Tom Scholz into the 80's, 90's and even now. "Don't Look Back" is just another great rock and roll album to enjoy just like their debut album. From the rock and roll of "Don't Look Back" to the ballad "A Man I'll Never Be", Boston once again put out another great album and that any rock fan should enjoy.
Pros:
+ More great rock and roll
+ A great ballad (A Man I'll Never Be)
+ Lyrics
Cons:
+ Unfinished album flow (The Journey, ect.)
+ Can get old
Finally, I must say that this is an album that if you like Boston you should not pass up!
