Customer Reviews:
 barry is back...just! June 18, 2008
I've been an avid follower of Adamson since his 1996 album "Oedipus Schmoedipus", in my opinion his grand masterpiece. And although subsequent efforts have been patchy and even in the case of "Stranger On The Sofa" even underwhelming, "Back To The Cat" sees a return to form...of sorts.
On listening, you're happy to hear Adamson's trademarks - his John Barry-like influence, the jazzy riffs and in the case of the first track "The Beaten Side of Town", a hark back to early songs such as his cover version of "The Man With The Golden Arm". But this is also the album's weakness. Whereas with "Oedipus Schmoedipus" and his excellent follow-up album "As Above So Below", Adamson managed the superb trick of sounding both retro and modern, the bulk of BTTC only manages to sound like pastiche. From "Oedipus" to the occasionally-great 2001 album "King of Nothing Hill", his vocals (always a moot point) were layered over imaginitive musicianship but BTTC only emphasises his lack of range, even more so than on "Stranger On The Sofa" and it's sad that he's forsaken the rich baritones of his spoken voice, so thick that it made him the new Barry White.
It would be mean to say that the album doesn't have its moments. My favourites - "Shadow of Death Hotel", "Flight" and "Psycho Sexual" hint at Adamson's mischevious, sinister side but these come in between tracks you feel you've heard before on previous albums and done better.
If you're an Adamson completist - like me - it's worth buying this album. But for others, then I couldn't recommend "Oedipus" and "As Above So Below" highly enough - brilliantly eclectic, inventive and distinctive albums by a man at his absolute creative peak, music that thrills you, scares you while making you smile and laugh in wonder.
 BA goes Pop. And wins. April 22, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
My head was span aroudn by this release. So much so that I've been thinking about how to review it for 2 weeks now. I feel this man says it better than I ever could. Courtesy of Thomas Jurek at the All Music Guide:
"The brooding synth and drum kit, the slow, West Side Story-esque finger pops, and the snaky little oboe-like phrase that commence "The Beaten Side of Town" also introduce its narrator: some back alley cross between the young hipster Scott Walker doing his best Jacques Brel doing his best Frank Sinatra singing a tune written by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, arranged by Nelson Riddle. It's a scene set in a smoky, back alley blind pig written by Colin MacInnes if he were really Hubert Selby, Jr. Uh huh. Now we're rolling. What's so utterly beguiling about this cut is that despite Adamson's obvious attempt to deliver that kind of swinger's cool in the heart of darkness as a vocalist, there isn't a thing that reeks of artificiality or artifice. It's got a wallop both musically and lyrically, especially when the reverbed guitars and the horns erupt in the bridge, or when a trumpet and some vibes are laid in the cut with only a snare, hi hat, and walking upright bass to accompany them. His last words, after a completely raucous jazzed up blues that celebrates the all the perceived lowlifes in an urban locale are: "The beaten side of town/And I'm goin down." It's a low thrum, almost a growl, as the keeper of the netherworld opens the gates to the real nightlife for the journey ahead. Adamson's protagonist is going ahead whether you accompany him or not. He knows the way, after all, even if he can't predict the outcome. But after this entrance, how can you help it?"
and then:
"The acid-drenched Serge Gainsbourg-esque trippy jazz of "Psycho_Sexual" brings the horror of a breaking, bleary, gray day after the end of a night of singular excess right to the narrator's doorstep. It also signals the end of our orgiastic musical journey with Adamson through his aural cinema of obsessive archetypes ranging from guttersnipe hustlers, spies, junkies, willfully brutal and needy sexual predators and their victims to musical heroes too numerous to mention. It is presented with wry and delightfully steamy nastiness to be sure. But make no mistake, this is a truly mind-blowing work of musical sophistication. And Adamson is a startlingly gifted composer who is also a brilliant storyteller in sound, word, texture, and mythology both arcane and contemporary. He is at the absolute height of his powers on Back to the Cat. It is among the best records of 2008 and is singular in its achievement."
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