diff --git a/src/lager_common_test_backend.erl b/src/lager_common_test_backend.erl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..156eef3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lager_common_test_backend.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+-module(lager_common_test_backend).
+
+-behavior(gen_event).
+
+%% gen_event callbacks
+-export([init/1,
+         handle_call/2,
+         handle_event/2,
+         handle_info/2,
+         terminate/2,
+         code_change/3]).
+-export([get_logs/0,
+        bounce/0,
+        bounce/1]).
+
+%% holds the log messages for retreival on terminate
+-record(state, {level :: {mask, integer()},
+                verbose :: boolean(),
+                log = [] :: list()}).
+
+-include_lib("lager/include/lager.hrl").
+
+-spec get_logs() -> [iolist()] | {error, term()}.
+get_logs() ->
+    gen_event:call(lager_event, ?MODULE, get_logs, infinity).
+
+bounce() ->
+    bounce(error).
+
+bounce(Level) ->
+    application:stop(lager),
+    lager:start(),
+    gen_event:add_handler(lager_event, lager_common_test_backend, [error, false]),
+    lager:set_loglevel(lager_common_test_backend, Level),
+    ok.
+
+-spec(init(integer()|atom()|[term()]) -> {ok, #state{}} | {error, atom()}).
+%% @private
+%% @doc Initializes the event handler
+init(Level) when is_atom(Level) ->
+    case lists:member(Level, ?LEVELS) of
+        true ->
+            {ok, #state{level=lager_util:level_to_num(Level), verbose=false}};
+        _ ->
+            {error, bad_log_level}
+    end;
+init([Level, Verbose]) ->
+    case lists:member(Level, ?LEVELS) of
+        true ->
+            {ok, #state{level=lager_util:level_to_num(Level), verbose=Verbose}};
+        _ ->
+            {error, bad_log_level}
+    end.
+
+-spec(handle_event(tuple(), #state{}) -> {ok, #state{}}).
+%% @private
+%% @doc handles the event, adding the log message to the gen_event's state.
+%%      this function attempts to handle logging events in both the simple tuple
+%%      and new record (introduced after lager 1.2.1) formats.
+handle_event({log, Dest, Level, {Date, Time}, [LevelStr, Location, Message]}, %% lager 1.2.1
+    #state{level=L, verbose=Verbose, log = Logs} = State) when Level > L ->
+    case lists:member(lager_common_test_backend, Dest) of
+        true ->
+            Log = case Verbose of
+                true ->
+                    [Date, " ", Time, " ", LevelStr, Location, Message];
+                _ ->
+                    [Time, " ", LevelStr, Message]
+            end,
+            ct:pal(Log),
+            {ok, State#state{log=[Log|Logs]}};
+        false ->
+            {ok, State}
+    end;
+handle_event({log, Level, {Date, Time}, [LevelStr, Location, Message]}, %% lager 1.2.1
+  #state{level=LogLevel, verbose=Verbose, log = Logs} = State) when Level =< LogLevel ->
+    Log = case Verbose of
+        true ->
+            [Date, " ", Time, " ", LevelStr, Location, Message];
+        _ ->
+            [Time, " ", LevelStr, Message]
+        end,
+    ct:pal(Log),
+    {ok, State#state{log=[Log|Logs]}};
+handle_event({log, {lager_msg, Dest, _Meta, Level, DateTime, _Timestamp, Message}},
+             State) -> %% lager 2.0.0
+    case lager_util:level_to_num(Level) of
+        L when L =< State#state.level ->
+            handle_event({log, L, DateTime,
+                          [["[",atom_to_list(Level),"] "], " ", Message]},
+                         State);
+        L ->
+            handle_event({log, Dest, L, DateTime,
+                          [["[",atom_to_list(Level),"] "], " ", Message]},
+                         State)
+    end;
+handle_event(Event, State) ->
+    ct:pal(Event),
+    {ok, State#state{log = [Event|State#state.log]}}.
+
+-spec(handle_call(any(), #state{}) -> {ok, any(), #state{}}).
+%% @private
+%% @doc gets and sets loglevel. This is part of the lager backend api.
+handle_call(get_loglevel, #state{level=Level} = State) ->
+    {ok, Level, State};
+handle_call({set_loglevel, Level}, State) ->
+    case lists:member(Level, ?LEVELS) of
+        true ->
+            {ok, ok, State#state{level=lager_util:level_to_num(Level)}};
+        _ ->
+            {ok, {error, bad_log_level}, State}
+    end;
+handle_call(get_logs, #state{log = Logs} = State) ->
+    {ok, lists:reverse(Logs), State};
+handle_call(_, State) ->
+    {ok, ok, State}.
+
+-spec(handle_info(any(), #state{}) -> {ok, #state{}}).
+%% @private
+%% @doc gen_event callback, does nothing.
+handle_info(_, State) ->
+    {ok, State}.
+
+-spec(code_change(any(), #state{}, any()) -> {ok, #state{}}).
+%% @private
+%% @doc gen_event callback, does nothing.
+code_change(_OldVsn, State, _Extra) ->
+    {ok, State}.
+
+-spec(terminate(any(), #state{}) -> {ok, list()}).
+%% @doc gen_event callback, does nothing.
+terminate(_Reason, #state{log=Logs}) ->
+    {ok, lists:reverse(Logs)}.