Boston
Boston
1976
Album Summary
Boston is the debut studio album by American rock band Boston. Produced by Tom Scholz and John Boylan, it was released on August 25, 1976, by Epic Records. Scholz studied classical piano in his childhood and became involved in the Boston music scene in the late 1960s. He subsequently started to write and record demos in his apartment basement with singer Brad Delp; they had received numerous rejection letters from major record labels in the early 1970s. By 1975, the demo tape had fallen into the hands of CBS-owned Epic Records, who signed them. Epic wanted the band to record in Los Angeles with a record producer, but Scholz was unwilling and wanted to record the album in his basement studio, so he hired Boylan to run interference with the label. In an elaborate ruse, Scholz tricked the label into thinking the band was recording on the West Coast, when in reality, the bulk was being tracked solely by Scholz at his Massachusetts home. The album's contents are a complete recreation of the band's demo tape, and contain songs written and composed many years prior. The album's style, often referred to as the "Boston sound", was developed through Scholz's love of classical music, melodic hooks and guitar-heavy rock groups such as the Kinks and the Yardbirds, as well as a number of analogue electronic effects developed by Scholz in his home studio. Besides Scholz, who played most of the instruments on nearly all of the tracks, and Delp, other musicians appear on the album. Drummer Jim Masdea worked extensively with Scholz during the writing, arranging, and demo process and plays drums on one song on the final album, "Rock & Roll Band". Sib Hashian plays drums on the rest of the tracks. Guitarist Barry Goudreau and bassist Fran Sheehan, who joined the band after most of the tracks had been recorded, contribute some overdubs to "Foreplay/Long Time" and appear in the final track on the album, "Let Me Take You Home Tonight", which was recorded separately from the rest of the album. The album was released by Epic in August 1976 and broke sales records, becoming the best-selling debut LP in the US at the time, and winning the RIAA Century Award as best selling debut album. The album's singles, most notably "More Than a Feeling" and "Long Time", were both AM and FM hits, and nearly the entire album receives constant rotation on classic rock radio. The album has been referred to as a landmark in '70s rock and has been included on many lists of essential albums. It has sold at least 17 million copies in the United States alone and at least 20 million worldwide making it one of the best selling debut albums of all time.
WikipediaI don't "love" Boston. Not for any real reason but mainly just fatigue. That said, this album is pretty much banger after banger and each song elicits a special memory or lack of memory like getting black out drunk at various south bend bars and watching shitty dude-centric movies in the aughts where the director was probably like 'I dont know... lets just play more than a feeling over this scene'
I have been replaced by Cheese. i have babybell balls and a cheesestring penis. my arse is now two full wheels of edam, my toes are wotsits, my face is like a punched brie and my knob cheese is now a refined delicacy this album is so fucking cheesey that it has the midas touch but for cheese instead of gold. the more i listen to this the more i feel like i'm lack toes intolerant. je suis le fromage.
Classic. Road trip wind-blowing-in-your-hair type stuff. Standout tracks: Foreplay / Long Time Rock & Roll Band Smokin' Hitch a Ride
This is not the best selling debut album of all time (well, for a time) for no reason. If you love classic rock this is an essential. But what would I tell someone who hasn't listened to it 1000 times? Equally pounding vs. deft guitar playing, great harmonies, impressive guitar solos. And yes, some cheesy lyrics or hitting of high notes and added studio effects that likely aren't needed but that defined this era (Queen) or foreshadowed the next (Van Halen). The transition from Foreplay to Long Time is a classic music suspense moment. The last minute of Let me Take you Home Tonight is classic rock excess at its best. Essentially every song has an infectious musical intro (Peace of Mind) or verse (More Than a Feeling) or both (Smokin) that you can't help but rock out to. And if you just want to rock out, you'd be hard pressed to find a better, more fun album.
Idk what I can say about this. One of my favorite albums of all time. Incredible guitar work from Tom Scholz, incredible vocals from Brad Delp, incredible drumming, God I love this album so much
Great album, it's like the epitome of Classic rock. B side is a bit weaker but A side is banging
Epic powerhouse record front to back with weaknesses. I put it in my top 100 rock albums of all time! (mic drop...with sleeveless concert tee on, haha)
Radio killed Boston for me and their self-titled album is one of those I don't really ever need to hear again after hearing "More than a feeling" hundreds of times. That being said I won't hold that against the band in this review. Boston is an amazing album. Recorded at a home studio against the recorded companies wishes, it is a solid killer rock album from start to finish. I listened to it today and enjoyed it thoroughly even though I'll be putting the album away again for a while. The album is full of great guitar solos especially the one in "Hitch a Ride", a personal favorite. This is probably one of the few 5 star ratings I'll be giving for an album that I don't play a lot but it says a lot that I groaned when this came up on the list but put it on anyway and still enjoyed every moment of it.
Just 70s shit isn't it? Fine, not awful, not good. What do you want from me? Slam poetry?
There are some albums that, when they pop up on this generator, make ones heart sink. This is one of those albums. More than a bloody feeling indeed! It's got that hideous American "rawk" guitar and vocals sound. Ugh! Horrible.
Instant 5 star album, this is a quintessential classic rock album. One of the fastest selling debut albums of all time, the first three tracks are instantly recognizable to anyone, they are true classic rock classics. The vocals and instruments, notably the guitars, are so FIRE. Tom Scholz is a musical genius, recording a lot of these tracks in his own basement. This album is a special one and if I could rate it higher than 5 stars I would.
how can someone listen to this album and not get a raging boner of epicness?
Total guilty pleasure - slick production, great songwriting, but definitely 70s power pop cheese. Regardless, More Than Feeling and Peace of Mind alone would make this album a 5. Plenty of great moments aside from that. There are better album I would rate a 5, but 5 seems like the right answer for this one.
Cet album m'était absolument inconnu avant de le lancer. Vous pourriez donc vous dire que c'est un miracle qui a eu lieu ici, étant donné ma réputation qui m'interdit de donner le moindre 5/5 a tout artiste n'etant pas Michael Jackson. Mais vous vous trompez, cela ne releve pas du miracle. Ce 5/5 était même très attendu de ma part. En effet, j'entretiens depuis de nombreux mois une relation musicale très forte avec la figure paternelle de la famille robperimètre, avec qui nous échangeons très régulièrement au sujet du générateur. Il a pour sa part déjà terminé le générateur il y a de longues années, et vit desormais en complète autonomie dans une grotte, entouré de vinyles. Lorsque je lui évoquais Boston comme album du jour, il hocha la tête et déclara: "Très très bon tirage, j'ai au moins un de leur vinyle en ma possession." Je savais à cet instant précis que j'allais passer un grand moment de musique.
Kevin Garnett in his speedos climbing up a tree. A crow flies in and steals his throat soothers that he's been saving for a special occasion. Mark Wahlberg looks on pensively. The tree breaks and Kevin falls through the floor into Belgium's capital, Brussels. Jason Orange is there. Naked. A troubled horse jumps out of a house of mirrors and plays the bongos for a few seconds. The onlookers are impressed. Matt Damon appears. He's frowning. A beekeeper eats a pear. Everyone dances to Boston by Boston apart from Eddie the Eagle Edwards. He does a ski jump into the endless corridor of time. Hacksaw Jim Duggan greets him with a warm smile. A small crab falls from the sky. Robert Downey Jr catches it in his mouth and spits it back at the world. Tanny Grey-Thompson stands up and applauds. This causes a radiator to malfunction and jockey Ruby Walsh to burst into song at first, and then into flames. The gatekeeper lets 11 fish and 4 sheep into the dining room. They are presented with medals for good behaviour during their time on The Weakest Link. The orchestra plays the theme tune. The corpse of Meatloaf wrestles a priceless vase. The winner must drink the piss of Princess Diana through the eye of a needle. The referee blow the final whistle and they all go to the bathroom for chips and drinks. Sarah Palin wants crisps.
Like movie franchises that recapitulate their templates until they're the only way their super fans can understand art, Boston engineer prog anthems so perfect they could win a Nobel Prize—except there's not much to them beyond technical wizardry. Just immaculate playing propping up a familiar hopeless romanticism. For the first half, the wispy, lispy, kind of wimpy vocals are so in thrall to the calculated catchiness of the songs that they temper the bombast enough to make it fun. So much so that I was set to give it a 3. But it’s amazing how quickly it got boring once the tunes thinned out just a little bit on the second side. P.S. I actually looked up where they were from!
It was exactly as I expected. Very familiar yet slightly irritating... all the classic rock songs I know will come on the radio and I know I will skip and change the station. It feels like sitting in an auto shop waiting room.
Fantastic album, borderline progressive Rock to RockNRoll. Top of the heap in the late 70s
Perfect classic rock. 10/10 1. Peace of Mind 2. More Than a Feeling 3. Hitch a Ride
Awesome stuff! Hard rock turns power pop. I really enjoyed this. Thought I'd only heard "More Than A Feeling" before, but recognized "Foreplay/Long Time", which I'm naming fave track, from a bunch of TV shows and loved hearing the whole thing!
God, even if you don't like this type of rock, this record does not QUIT. And I love it.
Had the cassette. Perfect for the drive from Ft Worth to Dallas and back. Played air guitar the entire way to the Cotton Bowl.
That was an extraordinarily enjoyable 40 minutes - which I really enjoyed as an album length but I imagine pissed people off back in the day. Half of these are classic rock anthems, but I really liked the others too. The sound is consistent and not too varied but I love it.
Great band and this album is almost a greatest hits. Thinking about this great MIT grad Tom Scholz makes me wonder how Yichao is doing... I hope well
Every song is a hit that stands up today. Didn't understand that this is a near perfect pop rock album as I've heard all of these songs for years on radio.
Lots of classics. I feel like I’ve heard all these songs before even if I didn’t necessarily know who the band was when I heard them.
i’ve loved this album for ages, makes me very nostalgic bc i grew up listening to it with my parents a lot
Practically a greatest hits record, one of the strongest debuts of any band. Every song is an instant classic, and I don't think there's a wasted second on the record. Brad Delp's voice is wonderfully joyous throughout the entire record, backed by some excellent roaring guitars. Favorite tracks: "Foreplay/Long Time", "Rock and Roll Band", "Peace of Mind"
Cracking album. Generally good tracks with some great hits thrown in there. Would pay decent money to buy if I came across it - Great 80s rock and (possibly?) my favourite album of the ones I've rated so far A solid 4.5 from me
A hard rock classic. This album has been on my regular listening cycle for 40+ years.
This is what an excellent classic rock album should be. It's a was a fun to listen to, great guitar work, solid debut album. If you like the genre you'll enjoy it!
Great album - 8 tracks, and all 8 get regular classic rock play. Defined 70's hard rock sound, with classical touches. "Peace of Mind" would make a good punk cover by Bad Religion.
Este disco es el epítome del Dad Rock, y me encanta. Creo que de las ocho canciones que son conocía seis o siete y todas me parecen muy buenas. Encima tiene el mérito adicional de ser un material hecho casi en su totalidad por un solo tipo que además no era músico de profesión sino ingeniero. Y sí, quizá los siguientes discos son más de lo mismo y pierden gracia, pero este, como debut, es una chulada. Obviamente mi parte favorita son las guitarras, en dos o tres capas y llenas de efectos que las hacen sonar masivas (cuando en realidad fueron grabadas en un sótano) pero también las capas de voces son muy buenas y en general la estructura de las canciones que las hace hits de concierto.
Este álbum me sorprendió mucho. Más por el hecho de que la banda me era esencialmente desconocida. Para ser rock de los 70's, me sorprendió mucho que el sonido fuera muy 80's, aunque conservan algunas cosas que revelan su época: la canción "Foreplay / Long Time" tiene ese aire ácido/experimental/progresivo de otras bandas de la época, pero con un sonido mucho más nítido (crisp) y completo (full). El estilo de esta música me recuerda al de Lynyrd Skynyrd, y quizá un poquito a Journey. Un gran, gran álbum.
No sé realmente que esperaba cuando le di play y lo primero que salió fue More Than a Feeling, pero seguro no era lo que encontré. Siete canciones del más puro rock americano. Peace of Mind me voló los sesos y de ahí en adelante el disco mantiene la calidad, siendo la parte más fuerte Peace, Foreplay, Rock & Roll Band y Smokin. Ese combo, columna vertebral del disco, es impresionante. Songs: Peace of Mind, Foreplay / Long Time, Rock and Roll Band, Smokin'
This was a junior high staple in my hometown (and everywhere in the USA). Every song is now in classic rock regular rotation, and deservedly so. Catchy, poppy, rock n roll with easy melodys, memorable choruses and good guitar riffs. Even though it’s not my go to music, I can’t justify less than five stars here. Doesn’t get much more classic 70s pop rock than this. “That album cover is so fricken’ cool” - friend Brad…
I think this is the most successful debut album ever. Legendary, iconic, packed full of timeless hits, epic guitar playing, epic bass and drum playing, incredible singing, prog rock, classic rock, arena rock, it’s difficult to see what you could conceive of to count against this, seems to cover all the bases of rock n roll and more, easy 5 stars.
If someone asked me what classic rock was I'd stick on this record. Doesn't miss a beat from start to finish. The guitars, melodies and harmonies are on point throughout and the songwriting is exceptional. 5/5
Absolutely banging top-notch album. I always forget what a banger this one is, but it is something truly special.
I wouldn’t say I’m a Boston fan but this album rocks from the beginning to the end. Maybe I am a fan?
I knew all the songs on the album, without having listened to it before. That's how good it is!
Probably listened to this one a thousand times. Put on the vinyl for another listen to rate it... WOW, an absolutely flawless album. Pretty much the definition of classic rock, with a unique signature sound. Beautifully produced and just sweet sounding on the ears. Takes me back to hot summer days at the river, smokin and tokin...Add on the awesome album art, just doesn't get any better than this for me.
Aaah, I fucking LOVE Boston. I am a sucker for guitar ANYWAY, but add all of the exciting (at the time) new tech to their sound and it's just on another level. As a band they have a very enjoyable emotive ability. I wouldn't objectively rank them above most of the other five-star albums on this list, but shit, the enjoyability is undeniable. This is full of air-guitar-in-the-car jams. Fave track is a predictable choice: More Than a Feeling. This shit fucking SLAPS. Deeply underrated karaoke song.
Te goed. Prachtig album van een legendarische band. Ik moet dit wel 5 sterren geven
Première fois qu'on tombe sur un album que je connaissais déjà, et quel album !
One of my favorite albums of all time. Every song is amazing, but the first five are just beyond stellar.
I Think From Now On I'll Talk About The Book When I Finish Chapters. And The Album Is 3a4im, I Was Raised To That Intro Without Knowing About The Album Or The Band
Love this album. Perfect example of classic rock. This album could be a greatest hits collection. Creative song writing, amazing musicianship, catchy everything. The only disappointing thing about this album is the lack of accents.