Customer Reviews

Boston [Vinyl]

5 star:		(192)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Classic 70's albums bring into mind Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Led Zeppelin's fourth album, and Blondie's Parallel Lines, to name a few. Add to that Boston's debut album, which sold 16 million copies in the US and was in the album charts for two years. Much of the success was due to the intelligent songwriting of Tom Scholz and rock vocals of Brad Delp, who by the time of their third album Third Stage, were the only two from the original lineup left.

The remembrances of summers past and a girl named Marianne is embodied in their first single "More Than A Feeling," one of the best known rock singles of the 70's. Reaching #5 in 1976, it featured all the components that made Boston a force to be reckoned with. Delp's soaring vocals, accompaniment from other members, and Tom Scholz's distinctive squealing and revved guitars, particularly during the chorus.

"Peace Of Mind," the third single, which barely showed its face in the Top 40 (#38), is more a rocker throughout. It's a song showing the wisdom of not getting caught up with the fierce competition in the music world: /Can'tcha you see there'll come a day when it won't matter/Come a day when you'll be gone/ I sometimes find myself liking this song more than "More Than A Feeling." Why didn't this get into the Top 5 as well?

The second single, "Long Time," has as an accompanying prelude "Foreplay," with its rambling organ solo and snarling guitars. After 2 mins 23 seconds, "Long Time" begins with a squealing guitar and Brad singing. This #22 song has the long-term dream or vision, much like "Peace of Mind" and the need to move on from one place to another to find it. The "got to move on" dynamic is also explored in "Hitch A Ride," only on a more cosmic level, where hitching a ride to the other side and leaving for the last time is the final departure.

"Rock N Roll Band" is an autobiographic song of how the band made it from local gigs till their discovery. Just as engaging if not more than "Peace of Mind." There are some nods to old-fashion R&R in the verses of the jamming "Smokin'." Jamming, or should I say smoking?

All the songs are singleworthy, due to a consistent strong guitar, heavy bass, drums, in other words, the forerunner of what would later be termed arena rock. Corporate rock is another term that comes to mind, although later, Boston's most recent album would be named Corporate America in denunciation of the type of music his band had been a part of.

Not many artists have a best-selling pop debut album like Boston, although two that come to mind are Whitney Houston and Hootie & The Blowfish. An enduring classic that still hasn't lost its touch all these years.

In the 1970's, their where many hard rock/heavy metal albums that defined the genre during that decade. This was one of the best. This album's quality is the only real reason Boston is remembered so well today, as they have had a spotty career.

The band put together clean, fresh melodies and created some of the best sounding hard rock in history. Most bands had one or two hits per album, and then a few album track gems. Boston's entire debut was exciting and fresh. It was the best hard rock album of 1976, and there was some stiff competition. Aeromsmith released "Rocks" that year, often seen as their best album. Kiss put out "Destroyer", which has also been hailed as their greatest piece of work. Boston however, beat them all out this year. Every song on this record was a radio hit, and is still on classic rock radio today.

If you love hard rock and heavy metal from the 1970's, you will worship this album. It is not overrated in the least. This is a fine album, and Boston, while they would have a decent following album, would never reach this status again.

It's fitting that this album was on the epic label! It truly is epic in every sense of the word. To me the magic is in the contrasts: clean, pure vocals and massively overdriven guitars. Soaring, almost violin-like lead lines and power cords. Beautiful melodies with polished, evocative lyrics--lyrics that don't call too much attention to themselves, but allow the voice to act as basically an additional guitar! An "angry" distortion sound, but tamed: the rockman sounds like a wall of marshalls pumped through a transistor radio. Harmonically rich, like blue steel with little sparkles breaking on the surface.

And Brad Delp's voice! The man can sing. Nobody wails like that anymore. It feels like he wraps the lyrics in layers of silk. There is a certain "fabric" to his vocals--that's the only way I can describe it. He seems like a working man who happens to open his mouth, and out comes an angel's voice. I played "Long Time" for a dear friend from Africa once, just to see what he thought about American music. A very sensitive, poetic soul in his own right. He heard Brad Delp's "Ahhhhhhhhhh-aiiii!" in the break, shook his head, and knowingly said, "The cry of freedom." That's what it is. It's so American. Anyone in the world would recognize it. It's like Whitman's barbaric yawp! It says, "Listen to us! We're alive and we f'in' rock!" One of your reviewers says that Boston reminds him of the bicentennial year, and makes him feel patriotic. How fitting that it came out when it did - 1976. How fitting that the revolution began in Boston; the music neatly summarizes and caps a revolution, in a sense. It is a product of the times, times that probably can't be recaptured. The music reminds of a happier, carefree era, when American music was still the envy of the world.

The album for me has two bookends. The first is the opening riff of More Than A Feeling. It repeatedly rises and tumbles back down, finally resolving itself as Brad Delp's voice soars up and takes flight as a singing guitar. "I turned on my music to start my day/and lost myself in a familiar song/I closed my eyes and I slippped away." And "So many people have come and gone/Their faces fade as the years go by."

The other "bookend" for me is in the staggering solo in "Hitch a Ride." Right after "Carry me away for the last time." Words fail me in describing it. And just at its highpoint, its fever pitch and frenzy, listen real close, and you will hear a scream. The magnetic guitar pickup actually caught someone screaming "yeah!" in a kind of ectasy. It's there--listen real close. A happy mistake, but telling. Carry me away for the last time.

What can we really say about BOSTON (1976) that has not already been said before--That it's a great rock 'n' roll album; in fact, one of the greatest of all time? That it transformed the music forever by totally revolutionizing electric guitar technology? That both sides of the vinyl version ARE 'perfect album sides'? That it sounds even greater on CD? That it all sounds even more incredible on the 24k Gold Remastered Edition? That, at 15 million units sold & counting, it is still the biggest-selling debut rock release of all time? That Boston, as a band, could never live up to it afterwards, despite some quality recordings over the years? It is all this, and much, much more. :)

Boston the band, and BOSTON the album, was Tom Scholz's brainchild. The story is all told in the CD liner notes (just as it was on the vinyl album backcover), so there's nothing more to add to this, except that his real genius was forming his hard rock/heavy metal band with such talented members: Lead singer Brad Delp, whose six-octave vocal range has rarely been matched since, even by himself and fellow lead & rhythm guitarist Barry Goudreau, whose style worked so well in tandem with Scholz. Also, bassist Fran Sheehan (any relation to Billy Sheehan of Talas & Mr. Big?) and drummer Sib Hashian provided one tight rhythm section. This band was never better than on this one, glorious album.

Yes, I'm still kind of sick of "More Than A Feeling" which was a great tune that became way overplayed in the years that followed--but there's no denying that it is still a great song. "Peace Of Mind" is also such a 1976 classic, but it is the album's centerpiece, "Foreplay/Long Time" that remains the single most compelling track on the entire album. From the heavy bassed-up 'Foreplay' intro to the smooth, high-pitched Brad Delp vocals that follow (not to mention the incredible Scholz/Goudreau guitar solos), this song still gets my blood pumping and is still one of my 100 favorites of all time. Rock & Roll Band still rocks, while very nicely summarizing Bostons rise to stardom. Smokin does just that; one of the greatest driving songs of all time, it features the most killer opening riff, and the best Hammond organ solo this side of Deep Purple. Hitch A Ride is another classic; starting out with soft, acoustic guitars, it suddenly whips itself up into a magnetic frenzy of swirling electric guitars and keyboards at about the minute-and-a-half point, and then only gradually calms itself down to end with a masterful guitar solo. Something About You is that Gotta have ya, have ya song that we all remember as one of the FM staples after More Than A Feeling had worn itself out of airplay. And, of course, the unforgettable album closer Let Me Take You Home Tonight which, sadly, still does not do itself justice to this day; the sped-up final minute and a half always sounded out of place to me in contrast to the songs first three minutes. But the first three minutes are a magical acoustic/electric mix that shows off Boston's soft side.

This entire album is still one of the best 37 musical minutes you're likely to spend. BOSTON is simply one of the greatest rock'n'roll albums ever; it's one of those coveted 'desert island discs'. Buy it on CD--and just remember to turn it *up*!!!! MOST RECOMMENDED

I still have not heard anyone reach deep into their back pocket and hit the notes up in the stratosphere like Brad Delp can. Foreplay/Long Time is one of my favorites from this album (yes I did own a vinyl copy of this at one time).

Favorite tracks from this album include: More Than a Feelin'; Foreplay/Long Time (love that organ solo); Smokin'; Peace of Mind.

To me, Boston does not typify the arena rock groups that followed soon after - they stand apart from that genre, head and shoulders above any other group that came along after them. Although they've been criticized (mostly Scholz) for creating album after album of songs that sound formulaic and staid, their sound is unique and refreshing every time you hear it. Scholz may have been an obsessive perfectionist, but his work pays off with each album.

Whenever I play this CD, I recall the good vibes and times when I first heard it. Summer would never seem the same without it, much like Van Halen's 1984 album.

Peace Out.

There are those who hate AOR on principle (these are the oft-bashed prog snobs--being a huge fan of progressive rock, I can say this because very few of us really act this way). There are those who hate 1970s rock in general. And there are those who just hate Boston with a passion derived from some other motivation. (And, I'm not even considering the adolescent generation, most of whom are hopeless.)

Thankfully, assembled these people make up an extreme minority of the population. Most of us understand just what good music really is. And we know that 'Boston' (1976) is good music.

The brainchild of MIT graduate and former Polaroid employee Tom Scholz, Boston is a remarkable collection of musicians named Tom Scholz, Brad Delp, Tom Scholz, Tom Scholz, and Tom Scholz. What? That's right; most of the album was written and performed by the instrumental wizard Scholz. To be fair, the drums were laid down by Sib Hashian, and some of the guitars were played by Barry Goudreau. In addition, some of the bass was played by Fran Sheehan. Brad Delp's copious range and incredible energy are used to monumental effect in the vocals department--Brad sang both lead and harmony on all the songs. Other than that, the organ and clavinet, most of the guitar, some of the bass guitar, and all the engineering were handled exclusively by Tom Scholz.

Though this information is readily available now, at the time the album was released it was virtually unknown. In order to record the album, this had to be kept secret even from CBS, who disapproved of the one-man show and his basement tapes. Incidentally, Scholz simply re-recorded all the tracks at home with miniscule differences, sent the remainder of the band to a recording studio to work on the lone Delp-penned song ("Let Me Take You Home Tonight"), and met up with them when he was done recording the background music. Delp recorded the remaining vocals, and Scholz added the organ part to "Let Me..." And CBS was well and duly fooled, the result being a record in sales for a debut album (it has since been broken, but it stood for years).

Boston's music is a synergy of several different styles, from the hard rock of Led Zeppelin to the melodic grace of the Beatles. There are also some similarities to Queen, especially in the operatic, layered vocals. Lyric-wise, it's more intelligent and varied than typical 70s rock, and on the whole the lyrical content is positive. The songs all more or less follow a standard format, though some are more progressive in structure. And, something Tom Scholz finds very important to mention, Boston does not use synthesizers or computers on any of its albums (well, actually this only holds true for the first three). The instrumentation is pure, vintage equipment, put together in a very unique arrangement. There is a certain Boston sound that pervades every aspect of the instrumentation, something that is so apparent that it has never been imitated anywhere--the source would be so obvious that it would be counterproductive to copy this Boston sound.

The album consists of eight tracks, all of which are in regular rotation on classic rock radio stations all over the United States. For me, the mark of a good radio station is that it plays Boston. This album carries some pretty potent memories for me, concerning whom I was with when I first bought it in the summer of 2003 (there was a girl...). The memories are bittersweet, and my love for Boston has, I can finally say, outlasted my foolish love for the girl.

A track listing, along with my comments for each song:


1. "More Than A Feeling" - Everybody and his ugly cousin has heard this song, unless he has been living under a rock, keeping his ugly cousin company. It's everywhere, all the time. And yet, it's still an elating piece of music. The soaring melodies, lyrical guitar, and the fantastic voice of Brad Delp make this a legendary statement in the annals of classic rock. I don't need to describe it--you all know it already. It is considered the band's most famous song, even though "Amanda" from 'Third Stage' (1986) was the band's only number one hit.

2. "Peace Of Mind" - Surprisingly, this one didn't chart near as well as the first track, even though "Peace" is of the same stock. It gets a fair amount of airplay, though not as much as the first track. "Peace" has the same swooping guitars, the same awesome layered vocals, and a really awesome instrumental ending. The pervasive rapid striking of the tambourine sets this song apart from the previous track: "Peace" is a more upbeat and driving song.

3. "Foreplay/Long Time" - If I had to pick my favorite song from this album (please don't make me do this), this one would have to be it. An electric opening sequence ("Foreplay") shows Tom Scholz and co. (yes, they play a few notes here and there) in full form, with ripping organ riffs, blazing guitar, searing clavinet, nimble bass, and thunderous drums. When the sequence slows down somewhat, Scholz uses his guitar to create some cosmic sound effects, along with some high, quiet chords on the organ. Just as the instruments strike a resolution, a thumping bassline makes itself heard, growing ever in intensity, until the next section of the song begins, explosively.

The "Long Time" section of this song is more conventional in form, yet it also shows Delp's outrageous vocal range. He hits a high F (the first F above tuning A-440 Hz) not once but twice in this song. The chorus of this song, much like the remainder of it, is catchy and interesting. This song, like all Boston, seems to cause people to air guitar and belt at the top of their lungs with no apparent self-consciousness.

4. "Rock & Roll Band" - This is one of my least favorite songs from the album, which is saying something because I still like it fairly well. It's a straight-up rocker, more in the vein of the next song on the album ("Smokin'") than that of "More Than A Feeling." Ironically, the story the song tells--that of a rock band and its climb to success--has nothing to do with the band Boston. Most people assumed the song chronicles Boston's own collective strife, but as we discussed in the introduction, this is not the case. It's still not a bad song, though.

5. "Smokin'" - For some reason, this is my least favorite track on the album. I guess I just don't much care for those feel-good party songs. I don't think much of "Party" on the next release, 'Don't Look Back' (1978), either. Even so, "Smokin'" is a competent rock song, with a very good organ solo (with the drawbars set to 888888888) and an impossibly high note (A-880 Hz--a full octave above tuning A-440 Hz) hit by Brad Delp. If you like this sort of thing, Boston does it just as well as, say, ZZ Top.

6. "Hitch A Ride" - This is one of the more melodic songs on the album. The call-and-answer structre of the vocal melodies is very nice, and the harmonies are lush and perfectly-executed. This song flows more nicely than any other on the album, even with the break in the middle for a blasting organ solo. The song ends with an intrumental fadeout, with Scholz (or is it Goudreau?) delivering a signature-Boston guitar solo. This is one of my all-time favorite Boston songs.

7. "Something About You" - This song was the least popular from the album. The fact that I have heard it fairly frequently on the radio even now, 30 years after it was originally released, makes a statement about the quality of the songs on this album. This song begins softly, with some very nice neutral syllable vocals from Delp. Once the introduction passes, the song has a driving yet slightly disjointed beat, and is of course replete with heavenly Delp vocals and all the other elements that define classic Boston.

8. "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" - The only Brad Delp-penned work on the album, this song makes it clear that Delp was a good songwriter in his own right. I wish we could have heard more from him, especially since Boston albums are usually relatively short--nothing would have had to have been removed to have fit some of Delp's work onto the albums alongside Scholz's songs. But that is a moot point. In any event, "Let Me..." is an excellent closer to the album. It invokes more acoustic elements than the other songs. This is likely because everybody in the band played his respective instrument in full in this song, unlike in the other songs, where Scholz performed most of the instrumentation and the other band members just performed supplimentary material. This song ends with a frenzied, constantly accelerating jam, tapering into a fadeout.


It is of note that this particular edition of the album is the original 1990 striking. Its sound quality is notoriously poor. There exists now, as of 2006, an edition of this album (along with 'Don't Look Back') that was personally remastered by Tom Scholz. The difference in sound quality, by general consensus (supporting my own opinion as well), is profound. When you find this album in stores, make sure you buy the remastered edition (it comes in a digipak and should have a sticker trumpeting about the album's sales and Tom Scholz's involvement in the project). Amazon also offers the remastered edition, and at the moment it is offered at a very reasonable price.

All in all, this is a treasure of classic rock history. There will always be nay-sayers, but consider the fact that, thirty years later, every single song on this album is still being played nationwide. Boston was way ahead of its time, or any time, for that matter. This work is timeless, ageless, and flawless. If you don't own this album yet, you have no excuse. Get out there and get it! That is my final recommendation.

It's almost exactly 25 years to the day since this CD (or album back then) was originally released and it still holds up as one of the greatest works ever released by any rock and roll band. I remember sitting in a parking lot in September of 1976 in Van Nuys, CA with a friend in his Chevy Blazer when "More Than a Feeling" first came on the radio. We looked at each other much like Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" when they repeatedly said to each other, "Who are those guys?" The songs, the production, the engineering, and the incredible harmonies with the guitars all make this a very, very special CD. To me this CD was (although on a smaller scale) in the 1970s what The Beatles' "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was to rock and roll in the 1960s. Rock and roll fans simply had never heard anything quite like it before. And they kept listening to it over, and over, and over again. You will too.

I've owned this album since high school, a couple of years after it came out, and I never play it. I also have not bought the cd. Why? Because more than a quarter century after this album came out, most of the songs are still in heavy rotation on all the rock stations in my city. I've heard the lovely "More Than A Feeling" and the brawny "Long Time" on the radio at least once a week for my entire adult life. And I'm not tired of them yet!

This album is far greater than anything else the band did subsequently, is greater than the band itself, in fact. (Though it is remarkable that Tom Scholz was able to come up with a gem like "Amanda" years later, after it seemed that the band was finished) Pick an adjective! Soaring, searing guitars, cathedrals of sound production, great hard rock singing, beautiful melodies, meaty rock riffs that never get stale...I guess it was just too much to expect them to top this, or even reproduce it in concert.

Punk and disco both happened around the time this album was released, so if you're fond of classifying things into time periods, you could say that this was the last great album of the classic rock era. The fact that most listeners today would rather spin this than anything from those other two genres is just another sign of its greatness.

Think of all the hard-driving rock bands of the Seventies. Blue Oyster Cult. Bachman Turner Overdrive. The Doobie Brothers. Foghat. Peter Frampton. Uriah Heep. Ledd Zeppelin.

None of them had the impact on the rock culture like Boston...like Boston's triumphant debut album, appropriately entitled BOSTON. As a student at the University of Oklahoma in the fall of 1976, I can still recall this album blaring in every dorm room, the single "More Than A Feeling" being played on all the Top 40 stations, and weak (and I mean very weak) imitations of Boston songs being performed by every garage band in the area. Clean, crisp, innovative, and inspired, Boston had a dynamic sound all its own--a sound super groups like Journey and Foreigner tried to emulate in the Eighties.

BOSTON is in a class by itself simply because EVERY CUT garnered radio air time. Every cut. There is not a clinker on the album. And the album continues to attract new audiences--legions of fans born long after 1976. It's one of the few albums from the Seventies that my kids (all young adults) enthusiastically enjoy, and better yet, it's one of the few rock albums period that this reviewer still "head bangs" to (a sickening sight, admittedly). BOSTON was, and is, the definitive rock album.

It's hard to believe that this album came out in 1976 using most of the original demos. The vocals are soaring and the guitars sing. Almost every song is a classic. As one reviewer said though, Tom had a lot of time to write the songs for this debut making it impossible to ever top it. But Don't Look Back and Third Stage are both worth having too. I think I will pass on the last two albums though. Boston is an album that everyone should own!