Customer Reviews

Back to Front

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I remember first listening to this album on vinyl (!) back in 1978 or '79. It still has an effect on me I can't explain. The quirkiness of each track actually helps when listening.

There is 12 zippy fun songs over 55 minutes included, and it shows not only the plain inventiveness but fun songwriter/singers had in the 1970's when popular music was just finding itself. Jim Croce, Carole King, Elton John and Issac Hayes were just getting their footing with real serious works at this time, and the music was wonderful, but this quiet Irish singer does it with a playfulness all his own is reflected here in this wonderful album:

1) "Intro/I Hope You'll Stay" - From the opening piano notes, Gilbert creates a fun world he wants you to enjoy with him - it has you hooked. This album's music is like a collection of stories on a bookshelf, and the beginning and ending songs themselves bookends. The beginning track segues into another, and it's a ballad, but a pop ballad.

2) "In My Hole" - Love can really grate on the nerves, but Gilbert tells it with an upbeat tempo, and he makes it easier to listen to.

3) "Clair" - Sure, this is the song that everyone knows him by, and a lot of people might just know that one song, but it works as part of the collective here. Yes, you night think it's about two people in love, but it's a love song for a child, maybe from a father to his daughter, or maybe from an uncle to a niece. It's nice that he includes the child's laughter, as if to say "Ah, got you again!"

4) "That's Love" - never has someone felt a kind of love the way Gilbert tried to express it here from 1972, or at least it's way it sounds to me. He reminisces, he hopes, he follows his heart, and that's the way love goes.

5) "Can I Go With You" - Gilbert is so glad you came along, and he's sorry he tried to hurt you, but hey! can he walk a little while with you? I'll bet the girl he was talking to said yes...

6) "But I'm Not/Outro" - He can get jealous, he can be hurt, he's tried to show you, and you'll be sorry you gave up on him... and then as the song fades the quick piano work is back, and as this was originally a vinyl release, this is the end of side one, and Gilbert wants you to stick around, 'cause as he would say, "I'm not quite finished yet..."

7) "I'm In Love With You" - I could really see Eric Clapton listening to this and wondering if he could remake this bluesy song - it's a slow hot love song with lots of sliding guitars and tambourines.

8) "Who Was It" - Gilbert is the lovesick puppy dog here, and although he may be your buddy, he just wants you to know that he does want you, and this is why!

9) "What Could Be Nicer (Mum the Kettle's Boiling)" - Going back to his childhood, his memories and his love for his family, he remembers the crowded house, the closeness of a house full of family, and wondering what would happen when he got out there on his own.


10) "Out Of The Question" - Don't mess with Gilbert's heart, he'll write about you're messing with him and still do it with an uptempo melody!

11) "Golden Rule" - This is my favorite track on the album, and it's this one song, which is sing-song and sing-along, all full of nonsense and some childhood history, and I guarantee you even though it makes very sense at all, it makes you want to listen to it over and over. This track was FUN to create, and Gilbert uses the old timey radio voice to emphasize the distance he wants to keep from it, yet at the same time embrace it.

12) "I'm Leaving/Outro" - This is the most 1972-sounding, complete with top-notch writing, sliding guitar, great drum work and a great way to tell the world I'm on my way. The quick solo piano slides in at the end of the song, and Gilbert lets you know that he may be done with the album, and he's got more to say, but... later.

These 12 songs represent some of the more inventive upbeat tunes on one album since another wonderful tongue-in-cheek album from the 1960's, the Turtles' "Battle Of The Bands." Please do yourself a favor and pick that gem up, you'll thank me for it.

This album also reminds me of what John Lennon could have done if he had stayed focused more on his music instead of dropping out in the early 1970's. The whole album has that great Nilsson-sounding "hey, here's another song for you that I just wrote over coffee," an odd songwriting style that doesn't seem geared to the mainstream audience, but was true enough for Gilbert.

This is a great classic album written by a fantastic songwriter and performer, and he is totally underrated as a influence to 70's music. He needs to get a real world tribute going somewhere, not just from wonderful imports like this one from Japan (which I also own). Germany also seems to be one of the only two places he seems to be still popular enough to have his albums re-mastered and re-released.

The sound is crystal clear here, his voice is perfectly mixed in the center, and overall the cover art, information and the packaging are superb as well. I definitely give it five stars.

I say get a hold of a copy and check it out for yourself! This is Gilbert at his peak, and I'm glad I was able to tell the world - and you - about it!

(Thanks for reading, hope it helps, and check out my other odd reviews of other albums and things here on Amazon.)

I got this CD when I was fourtheen and felt in love with it. I am now twenty five and I am still sleeping with it !

I've followed O'Sullivan's career for a long time now. The first time I bought this record was way back in 1978, and it was already rare, so I bought a used one . What had originally attracted me was one of the songs, but I was surprised to find that the whole work was very good. What I usually say about this singer is that he doesn't need flashy arrangements to make his creativity and talent shine. If you listen to him and his piano alone, it can amaze you. I bought this CD (which is import and therefore expensive) because I find it truly worth it, and I am very happy. If you don't know him, this is, in my opinion, a good way to start.

Mr. O'S does it again, altho' he's changed his look this time, his second album is even stronger than his first. There are a couple of big hits on this one--"Clair" and "Who Was It?"--and a clunker--the slow steamless train wreck blues "I'm in Love With You", but Back to Front hangs together perfectly as an album, not just a collection of random songs put together to capitalize on a single.

This is not just because of the various intros and outros to each side, but because the music is catchy and has a feeling of at-home warmth about it throughout. Light humor, occasionally clever lyrics, occasionally uninspired ones, but you really don't mind those because you're spending time with your pal Gilbert O'Sullivan, and what could be nicer?

I cannot find any MP3 downloads for Gilbert from any of his original releases remastered wtf?!?! all I can find are a few tunes from other 70s collections
why