Album: Boston
Band: Boston
Year: 1976
Genre: Rock
For my first album review on the Coffee Milk Music blog, I decided to go with a classic album, a debut album and something straight out of my home state of Massachusetts. The answer is clear: Boston's self-titled debut album. One of the greatest rock albums of all-time and undoubtedly one of the best debuts in music history. An album that sounds as futuristic as the cover would suggest. An album that largely sounds nothing like anything else that was around at the time. An album that was both ahead of its time in terms of how it was produced, but also how it was made. Recorded in the Watertown, Massachusetts basement of guitarist, engineer, and founding member Tom Scholz. This, some 40 or so years before a tech nerd in his bedroom dropping an album from his MacBook became the norm.
All songs were written by Tom Scholz except the closer, "Let Me Take You Home Tonight", which was written by singer Brad Delp. Delp also co-wrote the song "Smokin'" which was the b-side to their lead and hit single "More Than A Feeling". Both of which would become classic rock radio staples still in heavy rotation today.
At the time, "Boston" was the best-selling debut album for a band ever. The album peaked at #3. The album has been certified 17x Platinum by the RIAA indicating 17 million copies sold in the US. I should also note, that this most recent certification is from 2003, 17 years prior to this writing. While 17 million is obviously an incredible number, I am curious what that number would be today and I think in 2020, a new decade, this classic in rock history is due for another re-certification.
The songs:
"More Than A Feeling"
The lead track and lead single which according to Tom Scholz, this song took 5 years for him to complete. The album fades in with an acoustic guitar riff in D major. The drums fill in, the band comes in and the distinctive voice of Brad Delp comes over the music in what starts as a soft rock ballad.
"I looked out this morning and the sun was gone / Turned on some music to start my day / I lost myself in a familiar song/ I closed my eyes and I slipped away"
The song is about the power an old song can have on evoking old memories and the feeling you get when it comes on the radio. A simple theme and something we can all relate to. Like the song suggests, we've all heard songs that remind us of an earlier place in life. Maybe your first date, maybe an old friend, maybe a family member who has passed, maybe high school. In many ways, that's what this song is to a lot of people now having been a rock radio staple for 45 years.
The chorus kicks in with electric guitar power chords, now in G major, and a familiar riff that some 15 or so years later would be a bit of inspiration for another rock radio staple "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. The big sound, the group vocal, and the harmonized guitar lead would all be trademarks of radio rock ballads in 1986, but this is 1976 and not recorded in a fancy, state-of-the-art studio in Hollywood, although Delp's "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" would be recorded in Los Angeles. The bulk of the album was done in a basement in Massachusetts.
This song that took 5 years to write and was released as a hit lead single in 1976 would pretty much become the template for ballad rock radio hits throughout the 1980's. The soft verse, the heavy chorus, the big group chorus vocal, the big guitars. Take your pick of any 80's power ballad. They can all be traced back to this song. Its impact on the industry cannot be understated. More Than A Feeling is truly a landmark in rock.
"Peace of Mind"
The third and final single off this album and another staple of classic rock radio. Peace of Mind is more of a hard rocker and my personal favorite song off this album both as a listener and a guitarist. The song was written about Scholz (who earned a master's degree in engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and inspired by his time with the Polaroid Corporation, mostly known for their instant film dispensing cameras. Scholz worked as a design engineer. The lyrics express Scholz's personal disinterest in climbing the corporate ladder and having his life consumed by work just to rise in status and title at the risk of your personal well-being and inner peace. Not exactly a lyrical theme you hear in too many rock songs, or any genre for that matter, but still relatable and its really the song's upbeat and catchy presence as a rock anthem that made it a hit and has sustained a radio spot today.
The song is in the key of C# minor/E major. It is a hard rocker that features heavy electric guitars and acoustic guitars to fill out the rhythm. The guitar solo, while played entirely by Scholz is recorded as a dual-solo with one lick on one side of the speakers then responded with another lick on the other side. The solo is concluded with a melodic harmony lead based on the chorus. The riffs and solos really soar on this song and makes for an enjoying listen and a fun tune to play.
"Foreplay/Long Time"
The hits keep on coming. Long Time was the follow up single to "More Than A Feeling" and peaked at number 22 on the Billboard charts. The song starts as a familiar mid/late 70's progressive rock style instrumental prelude with a Hammond M-3 organ dominating the melody and heavy electric guitar power chords filling in the melody for about 2 and a half minutes. Scholz has said he started writing parts of this song as early as 1969.
"Foreplay" was the first song Tom Scholz ever recorded. That being said, I'm also surprised this song didn't open the album. It is the third song, where you would either expect a ballad or a fast rocker. Instead, this near 8-minute track acts as a bit of a centerpiece for the album. I guess you can't argue with results since this album sold over 25 million copies worldwide just fine with the tracklisting they went with. Maybe they would have sold 26 million copies had they taken my suggestion.
The song displays their hard rock and progressive chops along with the alternating electric/acoustic strums that would become a Boston trademark on this and future releases from the band. Original guitarist and Boston city native Barry Goudreau plays the three guitar solos on this song.
"Rock and Roll Band"
Rock and Roll Band is the fourth track on the album and another recognizable radio anthem. The song is a straight-up rocker with distorted guitars throughout. Upbeat boogie rock riffs, three verses, a catchy chorus and a quick solo. Pretty much your recipe for a rock radio hit in the '70s.
"Well we were just another band out of Boston/ On the road to try to make ends meet/ Playin' all the bars, sleepin' in our cars/ And we practiced right on out in the street."
The song seemingly illustrates a biographical telling of the band's origins, but as songwriter Tom Scholz admits, the song is "pure fantasy". Scholz basically used the fantasy of every young band cutting their teeth on the road and used his own band as the narrators. Accurate to the band's personal history or not, it was probably a better move to go with this fictional and more common bar band tale than to write a song about an MIT grad banging out tunes in his basement between shifts at Polaroid.
Rock and Roll Band is another rock radio standard and this song would also be the band's choice to open their live concerts.
"Smokin'"
Smokin' is a song co-written by Brad Delp along with Tom Scholz and one of the two songs that credits Delp as a writer. Smokin' was also the b-side to the lead single "More Than A Feeling". Smokin' is a Deep Purple-esque upbeat hard-rocker with an organ solo filling the middle out.
This song keeps the album rolling. The fifth track and another radio standard. The song is similar to Rock and Roll Band it being another hard boogie riff rocker, but this time with an organ solo instead of the more traditional guitar solo and being more of a party rock song.
"Hitch A Ride"
The acoustic guitars return to start this song. The album comes back down a bit with a ballad. The song starts soft and then picks up a bit in the middle with distorted guitars, an organ solo and guitar solos. You also hear a clap track which is a bit of a trademark on this album also appearing in the hits More Than a Feeling and Long Time.
"Something About You"
The penultimate Something About You is a great tune oozing with "Boston" character. It starts off with a clean guitar riff, into a harmonized melodic guitar lead, a power chord driven verse with Brad Delp's voice soaring over the music.
This song starts with a soft intro but turns into a hard rocker. This is one of those songs that if you've never heard it, but are familiar with Boston's hit songs, you still know this is Boston the moment you hear it. If I have one complaint, it almost feels too short. The song starts out like it is going to be a long, epic style rocker, but clocks in at just under 4 minutes. Every time I listen to it, I find myself expecting a minute-long guitar solo drenched in reverb and slow melodic bends. I can't complain too much, though. I'll take a song that leaves me wanting more, over a song that wears out its welcome by cramming a bunch of self-indulgent solos in there just to flex their technical chops.
"Let Me Take You Home Tonight"
If this song sounds a little different than the rest of the album, it should. The album's closer and the one song not written by or recorded by Tom Scholz. Let Me Take You Home Tonight is credited to singer Brad Delp and recorded in Los Angeles. This song also features a guitar solo by guitarist Barry Goudreau.
Because Scholz wanted to make sure professional engineers didn't mess with Boston's sound, he had this song written by Delp on the west coast where it would also be recorded. During this time Scholz recorded must of this album in his Watertown basement without CBS knowing. This song features a custom made Taylor acoustic guitar, worth in the thousands of dollars brought in by the record company, while in contrast, the huge hit "More Than A Feeling" was recorded with a $100 Yamaha acoustic guitar in Scholz's basement.
This is a good song and a great closer, but it is also an insight to what the album may have sounded like if the record company put more of their fingerprints on the album. Let Me Take You Home Tonight is a great song, like I said, but it doesn't exactly stand out as a song or stand out sonically like the rest of the album. While the other songs sound uniquely Boston, this song sounds like it could have been written by any number of rock acts in the 1970's.
Closing thoughts...
Boston's debut album is without a doubt one of the finest albums in rock history. A must-have for any collector and a must-listen for any music fan. While some of the arrangements and songwriting techniques may seem a bit cliche today, at the time there was really nothing else like Boston. This one album really set the foundation for what would become the classic rock radio format and songs like "More Than A Feeling" would be the blueprint for a plethora of power ballad hits that would dominate rock radio throughout the 1980s.
Enough can't be said, but I hope you enjoyed this full, track-by-track review of the 1976 album Boston and this first album review on this new blog.
My final rating for this album is a 10/10 You may think there's no such thing as a "perfect" album or the perfect piece of music, but that's not what a 10 rating means to me. A 10 rating doesn't mean I feel the album is flawless from the first note to the last, but it does mean that I think the album is truly great and truly an essential album for any music fan. Something everyone should own. Something that is without a doubt a pillar in rock history. With those guidelines and standards, Boston's debut album is truly a 10 to me and those standards are not easy to reach. Boston is in rarified air here and well-deserved of a 10 rating both for its immediate impact and lasting impact on rock music.
Thanks again for reading, everyone. Leave a comment below with your thoughts and memories on this album. You can also request albums, both past and current to be reviewed. Take care and God bless.
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