Don't Look Back (Boston album)

Don't Look Back
Studio album by Boston
Released	August 1978 (1978-08)[1]
Recorded	1977–1978 at Tom Scholz's Hideaway Studio, except for the piano on "A Man I'll Never Be" at Northern Studio, Maynard, Massachusetts[2]
Genre	Rock, hard rock
Length	33:47[1]
Label	Epic
Producer	Tom Scholz[2]
Boston chronology
Boston (July 1976) Don't Look Back (August 1978) Third Stage (September 1986)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Don't Look Back is the second studio album by American rock band Boston, released in 1978 (see 1978 in music). The title track is one of the band's biggest hits, reaching #4 in 1978 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album sold over 4 million copies in the first month of its release, and has been certified 7x Platinum by the RIAA in the U.S.^[3]

This album also marked the beginning of the band's legal fight with its record label Epic Records. Tom Scholz has been on record stating that executives at Epic pushed him and the band into releasing the album before they felt it was ready. He said of Don't Look Back that "it was ridiculously short. It needed another song." Their next album, Third Stage, 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.

This album and the group's first (Boston) were remastered and re-released on June 13, 2006. The re-releases were digitally remastered personally by Scholz after he heard (not directly) 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. "I've always wanted to make those albums sound good on CD, and the chance arrived."^[4]

A small number of the Sony-remastered versions briefly went on sale in Canada on April 4, 2006 before being yanked from the shelves. Those discs also included a live version of "Shattered Images" (mistitled "Help Me" on the packaging), an unreleased Boston original, from a 1976 concert in Philadelphia.^[5]

Don't Look Back was among the first commercially produced compact discs when the format was introduced in 1983, but because of ongoing legal issues between Tom Scholz and CBS Records, the title was pulled after a small production run and did not re-appear 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 re-release.

It has been posited that the cover art for this album inspired the box art on the Atari 2600 release of the video game Space Invaders.^[6]

Also, the original title for this album was supposed to be Arrival, but Boston members discovered that ABBA already had an album by that name out,^[7] so Don't Look Back was chosen instead.

Tom Scholz has claimed in many interviews that he listens to the song "The Journey" before he goes to bed each night.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Tom Scholz, except where noted. 

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Don't Look Back"	5:57
2.	"The Journey"	1:46
3.	"It's Easy"	4:26
4.	"A Man I'll Never Be"	6:37

Side two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Feelin' Satisfied"	4:11
2.	"Party" (Scholz, Brad Delp)	4:07
3.	"Used to Bad News" (Delp)	2:56
4.	"Don't Be Afraid"	3:48

Personnel

Per liner notes^[2]

• Brad Delp – lead and harmony vocals
• Barry Goudreau – lead guitar, slide guitar, rhythm guitar on "Don't Look Back," "The Journey," "Used to Be Bad News" and "Don't Be Afraid"
• Sib Hashian – drums, percussion
• Tom Scholz – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, organs, piano, percussion, producer, engineer, arranger, digital remastering, cover concept
• Fran Sheehan – bass guitar, percussion on "Don't Look Back"

Charts

Chart (1978)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[8]	1
Canada RPM 100 Albums[9]	1
UK (The Official Charts Company)[10]	9
Norway (VG-lista)[11]	9
Sweden (Hung Medien)[12]	8
France (InfoDisc)[13]	13
New Zealand (Top 50 Albums)[14]	17

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – United States	Gold	August 25, 1978
	Platinum	August 25, 1978
	4x Platinum	October 30, 1986
	5X Platinum	January 29, 1990
	6x Platinum	December 07, 1992
	7x Platinum	April 11, 1996
RIAA – UK	Silver	1978
CRIA – Canada	Gold	Dec 01, 1978
	Platinum	Aug 01, 1978
	2x Platinum	Dec 01, 1978
	3X Platinum	Dec 01, 1978
	4x Platinum	Jul 01, 1979

Preceded by Grease (soundtrack) by Various artists

Billboard 200 number-one album September 16–22, 1978 October 7–13, 1978

Succeeded by Living in the USA by Linda Ronstadt

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Sendra, Tim. "Boston" Don't Look Back > Review" at Allmusic. Retrieved November 2, 2010.
2. ^ ^{a b c} (1978, 2006) Album notes for Don't Look Back by Boston, p. 11 [CD liner]. Epic Records/Legacy Recordings (82876 82241 2).
3. ^ "American album certifications – Boston – Don't Look Back". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Don%27t+Look+Back%22. Retrieved January 10, 2010.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
4. ^ Sholz, Tom (March 2006). "What the Deuce IS UP With Boston?". A letter from Tom Scholz regarding the newly remastered Debut album and Don't Look Back!. Boston.org. http://www.boston.org/officialreissueletter.html. Retrieved October 10, 2011. 
5. ^ "Don't Look Back". thirdstage.ca. http://www.thirdstage.ca/boston/content/view/401/40/. Retrieved October 10, 2011. 
6. ^ Moss, Steve (July 2001). "Don't Look Yet". Steve Moss' Cheap Homepage. memlo.net. http://www.memlo.net/pages/dontlook.htm. Retrieved October 10, 2011. 
7. ^ ABBA - Arrival at Discogs (list of releases)
8. ^ "Boston > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" at Allmusic. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
9. ^ "RPM 100 Albums". RPM (archived at Library and Archives Canada) (Volume 30, No. 3). October 14, 1978. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.0013a&type=2. Retrieved October 10, 2011. 
10. ^ "Don't Look Back". ChartStats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php?id=4426. Retrieved October 10, 2011. 
11. ^ "Boston - Don't Look Back". norwegiancharts.com. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Boston&titel=Don%27t+Look+Back&cat=a. Retrieved October 10, 2011. 
12. ^ "Boston - Don't Look Back". swedishcharts.com. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Boston&titel=Don%27t+Look+Back&cat=a. Retrieved October 10, 2011. 
13. ^ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste [Album Details for Artist]" (in French). infodisc.fr. http://www.infodisc.fr/Album_B.php. Retrieved October 10, 2011.  Select BOSTON then click OK.
14. ^ "Boston - Don't Look Back". charts.org.nz. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Boston&titel=Don%27t+Look+Back&cat=a. Retrieved October 10, 2011.