No Boston appreciation thread? What is the world coming to? Screw their last attempts, anyone have an unnatural affection for their first and best record?
Cuz I’m floating…
I saw Boston in concert in support of Third Stage. They are without a doubt the most technically perfect band I have ever seen.
Boston on stage sounds *exactly *the same as Boston on record. Note for note, song after song. They did have the odd extended guitar solo just so that we would know they were actually playing their instruments.
Normally, I prefer bands that mix it up a bit on stage; those that try to duplicate their album sound generally come up short. In this case, they were so eerily perfect that it was quite captivating. Definitely one of my top 10 concerts.
One of my all-time favorite lyrics.
Great band - great city - nothing else needs to be said
Yeah, that Corporate America really bombed, and the only song I found to listen to five times was “I Really Had a Good Time”, which was Boston done by “Cambridge”, you know: the Boston cover band who also likes to write their own Boston-sounding songs.
The first album is just flat a knockout. The second suffers a bit except for Don’t Look Back, and the third sounds like someone hired a drum machine and then put a stack of boxes between the kit and the mics. Plus, the songwriting is even more off. It’s just too bad that Tom only had about 10 great songs in him.
IMHO, the second album is memorable only for the title track and my favorite Boston song, “A Man I’ll Never Be.”
Holy crap, how did I miss this thread?
Boston just finished their new site, which is pretty awesome. (www.bandboston.com).
As a matter of fact, I just shelled out $150 for Second Row seats for a Boston concert in Boston next month. It is a benefit concert for autism and is also giving the Red, White and Blue award to Doug Flutie.
So many great songs…
I learned to play Amanda while learning guitar in high school.
My favorite song would be a toss-up between Peace of Mind and Rock and Roll Band.
Rock on!
Who “doesn’t” like the first album? Air Supply fans? Deaf people? Zombies?
And one of my all-time favourite riffs.
I really love the first album. I used to know a guy who built his own stereo preamp and amplifier out of circuit boards and transformers, and the first thing I heard on it was the first Boston album when it was new, very loud. Boy, that was an experience!
What I like even more than the first album are the demos for the first album, which I have on an album called “We Found It In The Trashcan, Honest!” These are the demos that Tom recorded in his home studio, with him playing everything but drums. Those were handled by Jim Masdea, and Brad Delp sang all the vocals. Unbelivable stuff.
A few of the songs are vastly different from how they ended up, with respect to lyrics. Verses were added and dropped, the subject matter changed… “San Francisco Day” became “Hitch A Ride” and “Life Isn’t Easy” became “Something About You.” In every other respect, these versions are musically nearly identical to the released versions. When the demos got them a contract with CBS, all the songs were re-recorded, and thus bear subtle refinements. There’s a version of “(Don’t Be) Afraid Of Love” that was dropped from the lineup; it was redone as an 8 1/2 minute epic on “Don’t Look Back.” It’s very cool to hear how the songs were first envisioned by the composer.
Oh no. I have been at quite a few parties where there were a fair number of Zombies and they seemed to enjoy the first album a great deal as I recall.
I thought this thread was going to be about Yes and The Band.
Ah, one of my all-time favorite bands 
Nothing much to add to the above, except for an anecdote – one of the only lines by a radio “DJ” that has ever stuck in my head.
I was, what, maybe 13 when “Boston” came out in 1976 (It’s been 30 years? :eek: ) And the greatest hit was, of course, “Peace of Mind.” Now, in Hebrew, “Peace of Mind” translates as something like “A quiet mind” – so the announcer intro-s the song, and – out of the blue – says something like “Well, if these guys think they’re going to achieve *a **Quiet *Mind [empahsis in the original] at this volume level, more power to them…” 
The first album is a classic on par with Dark Side of the Moon and Rumors. Even though most of the songs do sort of sound similar- but that’s OK, because the similar sound is awesome.
I was 5 when it came out, and 7 when I stole my brother’s 8-track copy to play in my futuristic hi-fi system. I’ve had the album on 8-track, vinyl, cassette and CD. Waitaminute, is there a remastered CD I need to buy now?
Lucky you, there are three of them! There’s a 24K gold CD remaster on Mobile Fidelity, and a 1994 Epic / Legacy Mastersound SBM remaster. Both sound wonderful. There was a SACD version issued this year. I haven’t heard it, but there’s no way it couldn’t be incredible.
I see where there is also a remaster overseen by Tom Scholz on Rhino. It comes in a deluxe digipak, with extensive liner notes. No bonus tracks, though. $11.98 at the Rhino website.
Boston is da bomb. It’s what got my kids hooked on rock music, listening to their dad trying to hit the high notes (and succeeding, mostly). I’m envious of your opportunity.
I liked the first album when it first came out, and I still like “Peace of Mind.” All those layered guitar parts were neato. But Brad Delp’s excuse for a voice is just sucky.
The second album was tripe.
Apparently, Tom Scholz wasn’t entirely happy with the second album.
From wikipedia:
As I recall, they ran into some legal problems with the record company because they took so long making the third album. One of the local radio stations had a parody version of “Long Time” with lyrics to the effect of “It’s been such a long time, since we made an album” (yeah, it was about as amusing as it sounds). Scholz is a pretty smart guy with a strong tech background. He attended MIT and holds several patents, some of which were key in the development of the VCR.
Does anyone remember the band “Orion the Hunter,” the spin-off group with Barry Goudreau? They had something of a hit locally with the song “So You Ran.”