Monday 1 August 2022

Back To Front - GILBERT O'SULLIVAN****

Intro/I'll Hope You'll Stay/In My Hole/Clair/That's Love/Can I Go With You/But I'm Not/Outro/I'm In Love With You/Who Was It/What Could Be Nicer/Out Of The Question/The Golden Rule/I'm Leaving/Outro

By the time of the release of his second album Back To Front Irish singer songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan was enjoying immense popularity in the UK with a string of hit singles including the No. 1 Clair. (US:48 UK:1)

“Gilbert was essentially a singles artist who knocked off some of the best songs ever written. He made the major mistake of surrounding himself with hackneyed middle of the road arrangements and production. He has a nice true-life conversational style of lyric and vocal delivery but his albums hold no great lasting interest.”

“Probably Gilbert's best album. He may not be fashionable, but he wrote terrific songs, often reminding me of Paul McCartney at his most whimsical. Clair is such a lovely song; great melody, great lyrics. More mainstream than the last album.”

“The album has an irresistible charm that the years have done nothing to diminish which may just have something to do with the quality of the songs and the sturdy, yet unfussy, production.”

“There are twelve zippy fun songs included here, and it shows not only the plain inventiveness but fun that songwriter/singers had in the 1970s when popular music was just finding itself. They were just getting their footing with real serious works at this time, and the music was wonderful. This quiet Irish singer does it with a playfulness all his own that is reflected in this wonderful album.”

“Gilbert O'Sullivan wrote unique songs that were catchy and sometimes complex. He evoked the kind of feeling you get when trying to be happy, sad or just wanting to seriously reflect on some milestone event that happened in life.”

“The music is catchy and has a feeling of at home warmth about it throughout. Light humour, 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?”

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