Customer Reviews

Back It Up

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

BACK IT UP MARKS THE END FOR VOCALIST/BASSIST JAMES DEWAR.THIS RECORDING WITH OUT A DOUBT IS ONE OF ROBIN TROWERS FINEST PIECES OF WORK.IVE BEEN A TROWER FAN FOR YEARS AND THIS RECORDING REALLY COOKS.ITS A MUST FOR ALL TROWER FANS.ITS A HARD ONE TO FIND SO JUMP WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE.ITS WELL WORTH IT

Great recording. Fantastic guitar playing, especially on BENNY DANCER. This album is very much overlooked in Trower circles, and I am not sure why. Last record with the great Jimmy Dewar, and definately the end of an era. Trower would a few years later reinvent himself, recruiting Davey Pattison on vocals, and resurge his career in the late 1980's.

Back It Up is a good tune, but I think River speaks volumes about the record. Benny Dancer has some awesome riffs & Time Is Short shows some great chemistry between Trower & Dewar. Islands is a sweet, slow groove tune which is ALL Trower with a hint of his Hendrix influence. Captain Midnight & Settling the Score are great complimentary pieces that round out the album nicely. Sounds like a record that might have come out in the mid to late 70's. Definitely overlooked & underrated.

First off..I'm a BIG Trower fan since 1979 the first time I heard Bridge of Sighs I was Amazed and Hooked on Trowers music. Well 1983 when this came out and The first time I heard Benny Dancer I was simply blown away at this Amazing guitarist even more. I have seen Trower on almost every tour and he never disappoints.

This was the last time James Dewar played on a Trower record and that's another reason why it's a "Special" album. The standout tracks are "Benny Dancer" which is almost 9 minutes of Guitar solo bliss, "Time is Short", the instrumental "Islands" and "River" which has a nice calm feel to it.

Trower is one of the most under rated guitar players out there...well if you listen to Benny Dancer that should change your opinion a bit.

Here is a link to my tribute to Trower with the song Benny Dancer.


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A lifetime Robin Trower fan, somehow I never heard this album until recently. Lots of reviews claim it is second-rate, but I don't agree. Robin's great guitar shines through right throughout. If you're a Trower fan, this is for you !

This disc is well overdue! Robin Trower is one of the best guitarists in the past 30 years. But the real un-sung hero on most of his recordings is vocalist and sometimes bassist James Dewar. His final album with Trower is another gem. He ranks with some of the more well known vocalists such as Paul Rodgers, Ian Gillan and Jack Bruce. He's surely missed in the music world to this day.

This album, like all his others is really fine. Robin's guitar playing is always enjoyable, and I don't think the guy ever made a bad album, this one included. The only trouble with Robin Trower is he doesn't make ENOUGH albums, because his fans can never get enough of his work.

I've been a looooonnggg time fan of Robin Trower, since 1973, gettin' old I guess. How did I miss this? Absolutely a MUST for Trower fans. No, it is not Bridge of Sighs, but a FANTASTIC release, with Robin Trower at his best, and the last Trower/Dewar offering, but the magic is there. Robin Trower's greatest, and most successful accomplishment seems to be also his curse, Bridge of Sighs. Instead of looking at his work on it's own merit many make the comparison and, for some reason berate everything else. This is some of the best Trower you will find, hands down!. It truly deserves to be right there along side Bridge of Sighs and Caravan to Midnight. Yes, in a few brief spots it might sound a little dated, but that is because it's original release was 1983. The guitar is there in ample supply. No disappointment IMO.

The first five tracks, Back It Up, River (my personal favorite), and Black to Red, Benny Dancer (awesome), and Time is Short, are top shelf in my book. And the last track Settling the Score is a great immersion into the Blues! My least favorite, though still a good track, is Captain Midnight, my least only because of the somewhat corny background vocals. If you are a Trower fan you deserve this in your collection!

Bottom Line >>>> GET THIS WHILE YOU CAN!!!!

This album is fantastic--better than anything he had released in at least 5 or 6 years (not that any of it was BAD, mind you). The title cut, Benny Dancer, Islands, and most specifically the last three songs (which flow together wonderfully) are really great. Especially check out "None But The Brave," possibly my favorite Trower song. This album is a bit on the pricey side, but believe me, IT'S WORTH IT!!!!!!!

Robin Trower is one of rock's greatest guitarists. From the Parliaments (U.K. group), Procul Harum & his solo career, he has proven this time & again. Whether it's fair or not he has often been compared to Jimi Hendrix, there are times when he reminds me of that great guitarist though I find Trower to be generally mellower.

Back It Up is not one of Trower's best but it's a consistent album; there isn't a single track that;s weak. Yet there aren't a lot of great songs either. "Benny Dancer" is the standout song on this disc. It clocks in at over eight minutes & is a perfect example of why Trower has been compared to Hendrix. "Benny Dancer" is a bluesy rocker & is extremely reminiscent of Hendrix. Trower stretches out on this song proving why he is in the elite rock guitarists.

This was, unfortunately, the last album Trower would record for Chrysalis. The album barely scraped the bottom of the Billboard charts at 191. Back It Up has been reissued by BGO which is the source of this disc. James Dewar is brought back into Trower's group. The previous two Trower albums had Jack Bruce (Cream) playing bass & on lead vocals. Dewar only plays bass on two songs though, Davey Bronze plays bass on the remaining songs. Dewar was a great soulful singer, I've always thought he was the best vocalist for Trower & fit in well with his vocal delivery. The only real complaint that I have about this cd is the inclusion of the song "None But the Brave". This song was originally on Victims of the Fury. According to the booklet I'm led to believe that this particular song is a new recording though it doesn't specifically say that. But I do find it unusual that both versions clock in at 2:37. I haven't listened to them back to back but I suspect that a mickey has been slipped to us. Otherwise this is a very enjoyable Trower sojourn.