Album: Welcome Back
Artist: John Sebastian
Release Date: April 19, 1976
Genre: Pop/Rock/Country
Length: 0:32:55
Label: Reprise Records
Producer: Steve Barri/John Sebastian
What better way to come back from a hiatus than being welcomed by Welcome Back...
With an album peaking at #79 on The Billboard 200 chart and a #1 Hot 100 single, Welcome Back was Sebastian's final record on his contract through Reprise. After creating a #1 single for the TV show Welcome Back, Kotter, Reprise requested a full length album from Sebastian and this record is the product.
Bringing forth a country style combined with pop/rock roots, Sebastian combines a niche way of singing into mellow blues-rock. The first track "Hideaway" uses the classic rock/pop influences but quickly changes strengths in the genres as the album plays on into southern rock and even country at points.
The second track "She's Funny" applies the southern-rock style to the instrumental parts while Sebastian is singing a ballad. The heavy use of piano, background vocals providing a choir-like feel behind him at parts and the strength of the drum/bass guitar duo keeps this ballad far from just a love song.
In addition to "She's Funny", the album includes other rock ballads such as "Didn't Wanna Have to Do It" and "I Needed Her Most When I Told Her to Go". "She's Funny" is easily the most impressive rendition of the ballad however, leaving the other tracks in the dust.
Sebastian travels deep into his country roots on "You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine". These contrasting sounds throughout the album keep the listener intrigued by not knowing what Sebastian will do next from song to song. The classic country sounds implemented in this track creates a nice touch, including the rag-time piano solo, the bouncing simple feel of the bass and the twang Sebastian decided to dig out from deep within his soul is impressive.
The instrumentation throughout the album is also impressive. Everything from the harmonica, piano solos, heavy use of the bass guitar and the impressive syncopated drumming to the different styles of background vocals used across the entire record. The most fun use of background vocalists is in the groovy track "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back". This track also features a lot of sounds throughout and extremely complex instrument playing which is rare for a rather unknown artist and song.
The most famous song on the record "Welcome Back" explodes with piano chords, catchy lyrics and simple instrumentation. The simplistic aspect of the track was probably why it became a theme song for the TV show Welcome Back, Kotter. The style of singing Sebastian adopts on this track gives off a Randy Newman (the singer of various songs from Toy Story) sound, which is perfect for visual media. While this song is the most popular and catchy on the album, it is far from being the most impressive musically.
Even though the instrumental sounds across the album are impressive, this album is heavily average. The interesting part in the beginning where all the songs sound different quickly loses its appeal when you get songs that aren't nearly as strong towards the latter half of the record. "I Needed Her Most When I Told Her to Go", "A Song a Day in Nashville", and "Warm Baby" aren't very different from anything the album had presented to the listener previously and for that I can only recommend the songs I put in my favorites. This will keep you from getting bored with the record in whole and will allow you to get a good feel for what Sebastian is all about. If you love those songs so much, then by all means go for it and binge his entire discography because there is talent here, it just gets repetitive.
Favorite Songs: "Hideaway", "She's Funny", "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back", "Welcome Back"
Least Favorite Songs: "Didn't Wanna Have to Do It", "I Needed Her Most When I Told Her to Go", "A Song a Day in Nashville"
Production Quality:
Mix = 8/10 (Easy to hear all the moving parts throughout the entire record)
Innovation = 5/10 (Some new sounds for the time, such as the combination of pop/rock/country all on one record)
Songwriting Quality:
Arrangement = 7.5/10
Lyricism = 6.5/10
Instrumentation Quality:
Vocal Timbre = 5.5/10 (Some songs he sounds great, others he sounds average at best)
Instrumental Timbre = 9/10 (Amazing instrument sounds)
Group Chemistry = 8.5/10
Overall Likability:
My Personal Rating = 5/10 (Very average album, nothing to write home about)
Overall Rating: 6.8/10
Any confusion on how the rating is weighted/calculated, please look at my "About" page.
Remember this is all my opinion! Let me know if you agree, disagree or have any comments!