Review Tall Paul is a lot like the athlete who survives more on his own sheer will and determination than natural ability. Though the Briton's managed to reach the loftier levels of DJ super-stardom, he's come to be regarded (at least in his homeland) as fairly dependable. He's a safe bet, putting together steady sets of middle-ground territory, axing out lofty highs and occasionally deplorable lows these gifted and somewhat unpredictable god-like DJs seem to frolic in. On Back & Forth (Paul's first artist album), his dependable slipmat seems to have been ripped from beneath him. The 13 tracks compiled here form a disjointed effort, low on originality and cohesion.A number of these tracks have already proven themselves on the dance floor: "Everybody's a Rockstar" introduced hillbilly trance, the Ibizan clubs and townie discos were awash last year in the cheese-ball techno of "Let Me Show You," and the straightforward hard house of "Be There" made a few waves. But with all the genre-hopping, Back & Forth ends up lacking the sort of fluidity an artist album should have. Certainly there are plenty of artists who genre-hop (BT, Timo Maas and Moby, to name a few), but generally they find some sort of thematic strain to hold their efforts together as a whole, the crucial piece lacking here. The album is somewhat redeemed by "Precious Heart" built from a sample of INXS' "Never Tear Us Apart," but ultimately the overall effort is unconvincing.Jolie Lash -- From URB Magazine
