THERE & BACK

After the one / two punch of "Blow By Blow" and "Wired" which exhilarated fusion lovers in the mid-1970s, fans would have to wait four more years for the followup THERE AND BACK which didn't emerge until the summer of 1980. Apparently JEFF BECK spent the next few years after "Wired" rehearsing with members of Return To Forever for a festival that never came to be as well as touring sporadically on his own. Perhaps the stress of fame had taken its toll as was the fact he was having tax issues in his native UK.

Another album, another lineup and this time not even Max Middleton was part of the new cast of members. Given Middleton's key role in forging the by then classic BECK sound, it proved impossible to replace him so Jan Hammer who only appeared on one track on "Wired" was asked to join in as was newbie Tony Hymas as second keyboardist. Also new to the music scene was drummer Simon Phillips and session musician bassist Mo Foster. Despite the long gap between albums and a complete shift in musical tastes of the public at large, THERE AND BACK still managed to peak at #10 on the Billboard chart as well as crack the top 40 in the UK.

Noticeably less original or inspired than either of the previous works, THERE AND BACK is basically business as usual for the now established fusion path that catapulted JEFF BECK to the status of guitar god. The duties of songwriting had been relinquished with Jan Hammer and Tony Hymas writing seven of the eight tracks. Hammer dominates side one while Hymas takes over for side two. This lopsided approach offered two completely differently experiences resulting in an album that felt disjointed. BECK himself only contributed as co-writer for the closing "The Final Peace." The result of this new blood taking the resign resulted in a watered down push towards accessibility that ushered BECK into the synth-rich danceable 80s.

The album opens with a noticeable Jan Hammer contribution with an 80s synthesizer riff that reminds me of the theme to the TV series Miami Vice which Hammer would score a #1 hit with in 1984. This 80s friendly approach provides the underpinning of THERE AND BACK with BECK simply soloing over some of these synth-rich musical motifs. Likewise the drumming had been de-jazzified and tamed down into danceable musical chunks. The two sides differ substantially with the Hymas penned side reaching smooth jazz territory with some occasional upbeat moments of danceable rhythms. The second side is really a bizarre hodgepodge of ideas that don't really gel together cohesively. There are moments of psychedelia, boogie-woogie piano and even hard rock albeit in a Eddie Van Halen gone nuts on the drums kinda way.

All in all despite best efforts THERE AND BACK was a huge step down for BECK. Clearly there was no second "Blow By Blow" in him. His rise to the top was fleeting and it was all down here from this point out made all the more clear with his universally panned 1985 followup "Flash" which found him flailing around in the new wave 80s like a fish out of water. Despite the disjointed nature of THERE AND BACK there are plenty of excellent musical moments on this one. Sure it may not be up to the standards of the cream of the crop that came before but THERE AND BACK is by no means a horrible album to experience. It's just not that great either. Every aspect of what JEFF BECK poured into "Blow By Blow" and "Wired" had been dumbed down to fit into an era where jazz-fusion guitarists just didn't jive.