Released: 1978
Tracks: Don’t Look Back; The Journey; It’s Easy; A Man I’ll Never Be; Feelin’ Satisfied; Party; Used to Bad News; Don’t Be Afraid
Best track: Don’t Look Back
Track to skip: none are really that awful, most just don’t move me that much
It’s been a long time since I listened to this. I guess my opinion has changed for it over time. It’s not holding up as well as I previously thought. These songs really aren’t all that bad, but they’re not outstanding. The “Boston Formula” was well established on the first album, so it’s easy for this one to follow it. I’m kinda torn on this thing. On one hand, I’m absolutely not moved at all by this album right now, but then on the other I really used to like this a lot. I guess I’ll take a look at the songs themselves. The title track and It’s Easy are clearly the best things on here. Those are the two big radio tracks, along with Feelin’ Satisfied. Satisfied is OK, but the handclaps come in and make it instantly drown it its own cheesy-ness. Party sounds like a bad 1975 era Rush and/or Kiss reject. The Journey is a harmless little instrumental, but it really doesn’t do much other than connect Don’t Look Back and It’s Easy. Man I’ll Never Be has lost a lot of its luster, if it really had that much in the first place. Face it, it’s a cheesy piano ballad and nothing more. The last two tracks aren’t awful or anything, but they’re forgettable. Honestly, Don’t Be Afraid just ended 1 minute ago and I couldn’t sing back a single phrase from it.
So, that leaves us with 2 good songs, 1 decent one, and the rest are forgettable. Hmm, not a good score. I do have to admit that Feelin’ Satisfied and Man I’ll Never Be were both very good live, but the studio versions are lacking a bit. So, I guess I’m not swayed by my nostalgia for this. I’m not too impressed this time and it just sunk in why I don’t pull it out too often. It goes with the year.
Rating: 78
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