Birth Control - Backdoor Possibilities (1976/2002)

AllMusic Review by Mike DeGagne
Backdoor Possibilities emerges as a rather fragmented and patchy concept album about a businessman who becomes trapped in an elevator with death himself, who, in turn, tries to convince the man that life is more important than schedules and the blandness of everyday ordinance. With 14 tracks that mostly fall under the five-minute range, Birth Control's main story line loses its grasp quickly, but the music itself almost instantly takes over and blurs the band's allegorical idea, replacing it with detours of jazz- and rock-styled excursions. The album arises as an art rock piece with progressive rock penchants surrounding the perimeter, using a multitude of peculiar instruments like finger cymbals, congas, sand blocks, and sonor drums to instill the abstractness of the intentioned concept. Both of the six-minute tracks, "Behind Grey Walls" and "No Time to Die," are the best at keeping the anecdote intact while dishing out the album's heartiest example of Birth Control's progressive flair. Zeus B. Held's entourage of synthesizers, as well as his sporadic use of the alto saxophone, grant the majority of the songs their ornamental appeal. Some of the shorter pieces, like "Subterranean Escape" and "Legal Labyrinth," have the band trying so hard to catapult the philosophies of their esoteric yarn to the forefront that some of their instrumental resolution is thrown to the wayside. Although a few of the songs are a minor diversity, Backdoor Possibilities still ingrains the root of Birth Control's progressive sound, and the relevance of the album's concept really isn't missed. Brain's 1997 reissue includes two additional bonus tracks that are noticeable additions.