Listened To Boston's First Album This Morning...

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Mister Pig, Jun 18, 2018.

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  1. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Think your issue is you're not listening through Boston speakers. ;)
     
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  2. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    You might not think so, but until you hear the Traugott LP you are fooling yourself IMHO. I thought every CD sounded like an over-added echoed mess until I heard this on a Vinyl-drop. It's ok if you don't agree but honestly, you owe it to yourself to check it out how good this LP can really sound.
     
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  3. Bubbamike

    Bubbamike Forum Resident

    Maybe, Sir Pig, but it's still a great song. It breaks my heart every time I listen to it. Soppy and sentimental as it is.
     
  4. BIGGER Dave

    BIGGER Dave Forum Resident

    Tom’s “trademark” electric guitar sound is highly compressed (6-band MXR EQ set to 9 dB boost at 400 Hz and 3.2K Hz and an 18 dB boost at 800 Hz, gain boost, and heavy compression pre a 70’s Marshall amp), however the overall band performance is (to my ears) far from being highly compressed. Perhaps if you focus on the guitar sound, you are indeed hearing heavy compression, but that’s common for distorted rock ‘n roll guitar. Try listening to the band’s performance as a whole and you may get a different impression.
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2018
  5. winders

    winders Music Lover

    Location:
    San Martin, CA
    Is Boston S/T the best album, sonically, ever made? Of course not. I have the original made in Japan for USA first CD pressing and it sounds quite nice on my 2 channel setup. In fact, I would say it sounds great. It's not a garbled mess by any stretch of the imagination. It's not "The Nightfly", either. Regardless, I always get a kick out of it when I listen to it. It was the first album I bought when I was really getting into music in high school.
     
  6. BIGGER Dave

    BIGGER Dave Forum Resident

    In the following 2014 article, Tom states he used a 12 track Scully: Boston Is Back: Tom Scholz Talks Tone
     
  7. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    The Friday Music version cut by KG is great (an exception for this label). It is far from a low-fi mess of a recording. Anything streamed from a computer is going to be a suspect compressed digital source.
     
  8. samthesham

    samthesham Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moorhead MN
    I obviously got my quote confused...

    No I agree as per my earlier post...

    Sorry about that
     
  9. samthesham

    samthesham Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moorhead MN
    Sorry this quote was supposed to go to individual who made the statement the recording is a muddy clustered mess..

    It wasn't meant as a insult but to me the only way the album could come out sounding like what was described was if the listener had a less than minor system for listening to music...

    So in that context it seemed a fair honest question to me anyway
     
  10. marcob1963

    marcob1963 Forum Resident

    I agree with you, I've got it on vinyl, an early Australian. Don't know if its just that pressing, but it sounds ghastly probably the worst sounding record I own. No bottom end, excessive and abrasive top end and just thin & tinny.
     
  11. heyMo

    heyMo Forum Resident

    Location:
    LKN west, NC
    I pulled this album out and gave it a listen. I agree, somewhat, the sound seems centered between the speakers. To me, it sounded as the music was "distributed" equally between the two channels. There was some separation of instruments on occasion, but not throughout. Would I call it a bad recording? No, I enjoyed the heck out of it.
     
  12. maglorine

    maglorine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fairport,NY
    Great point. Re-listened to the Vinyl which is a Black and Blue fade label Epic and I'm probably not giving it enough credit. Guitar sound is definitely what I'd been focused on and what you described plus the fact that it's diffused and all over the mix probably gave me that impression. Spot on. To be perfectly clear this album is among my favorites of all time. Blasting it from the stereo of my 73 Cougar Convertible on a summer day is a memory I'll never forget.
     
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  13. Mister Pig

    Mister Pig I didn't Choose Farm Life It Chose Me Thread Starter

    Location:
    Olympia, WA
    Thanks for posting this, in many ways it tracks what I mentioned in my OP. I would like to reiterate that I never said the music wasnt fun, or that I did not enjoy it. I certainly did as it was an iconic album from my youth. It became an early resident of my vinyl collection when I was young, and like many others I have fond memories of it. Its just when you go back and listen to it intently, the shortcomings of the recording are evident. This does not mean its not a great album to listen to, and that has never been the point. Rather that there are limitations to this album, and its flawed in ways that seem to be overlooked by the consensus of classic rockers.

    Regards
    Mister Pig
     
  14. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    The making of this album would make a terrific episode of Classic Albums.
     
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  15. 12" 45rpm

    12" 45rpm Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    I agree this LP does not sound that great sonically. Something sounds a bit off with the stereo imaging.. And it seems lacking in the bass.
     
  16. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    A lot of what the OP is hearing is a system issue. I saw those speakers and no wonder. I'm not saying his is good or bad, rather, most recordings will sound different from system to system. So claiming its the recording is only a part of the picture. Our systems are part of the mastering chain.....

    Many 1970's hard rock recordings - heavily processed, mixed, compressed etc. as they are by nature - are not sonic wonders. These are not some Vanguard or Impulse artist.
     
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  17. TimB

    TimB Pop, Rock and Blues for me!

    Location:
    Colorado
    That is understanding as well.
     
  18. vinylkid58

    vinylkid58 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Victoria, B.C.
    Oddly, we could say that about much of today's music.;)

    jeff
     
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  19. winders

    winders Music Lover

    Location:
    San Martin, CA
    Not really:

    Boston (album) - Wikipedia
     
  20. Mike from NYC

    Mike from NYC Senior Member

    Location:
    Surprise, AZ
    After reading the OPs message I got out my WLP that I received from Columbia before it was released (I worked there) and was blown away by its sound, mixing and engineering. I had a wall of sound in my home. I only wish other albums of the day sounded as good, especially Physical Graffiti although that may be because Page mixed it.

    If you don't hear anything in the middle you need to adjust your speakers.

    Boston at Nassau Colosseum LI, NY, November 26, 1977

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  21. Mister Pig

    Mister Pig I didn't Choose Farm Life It Chose Me Thread Starter

    Location:
    Olympia, WA
    I have to assume you are referring to the OP post in regards to "If you don't hear anything in the middle you need to adjust your speakers."

    I am afraid you need to look at that original text a bit closer. As I said " Everything is contained in between the speakers, there is no focus to instruments, there is no depth, and tonally its not great either. There are moments of lucidity in the acoustic guitar portion and his emerging vocals right after that, but thats all I hear. "

    Bu if you are used to hearing this album on a wall of sound, then I could see where a precise sound stage is not high on the priority list.

    Regards
    Mister Pig
     
  22. BIGGER Dave

    BIGGER Dave Forum Resident

    Looks like we have people on both sides of the aisle, either you like it or you don’t. Last I knew, it (the first album) sold 20 million copies worldwide so somebody somewhere must like it. But everybody hears things differently, so if you don’t care for it, fine. If you love it, that’s fine too. Here’s a few facts about the S/T album:

    The Boston S/T album was ranked No. 43 on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "Definitive 200" list.

    The Boston S/T album garnered a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist.

    The Boston S/T album is the second best-selling debut album of all time in the United States, after Guns N' Roses's Appetite for Destruction.

    Can’t be that bad! ;)
     
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  23. Mister Pig

    Mister Pig I didn't Choose Farm Life It Chose Me Thread Starter

    Location:
    Olympia, WA
    Oh I dont think many people said the music was no fun....its a great listen.

    But the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....as validation?

    You mean those guys who inducted The Bee Gees, The Jackson 5, Madonna, Run-DMC, and Abba? Those guys are arbiters of what great Rock and Roll is? :biglaugh:

    Regards
    Mister Pig
     
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  24. bruce2

    bruce2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    I don't care about Grammy Awards or sales figures either. That being said I think Boston is a great album, I have the Mastersound gold disc which is way too bright and a Japanese disc that sounds good!
     
  25. Mike from NYC

    Mike from NYC Senior Member

    Location:
    Surprise, AZ
    I probably have better equipment that allows the music to extend outside of the speakers. Furthermore, I don't listen to it "on' a wall of sound, but the music is reproduced 'like' a wall of sound, going from wall to wall and almost reaching the ceiling. I have precise imaging and great depth. I can hear each individual instrument and its precise placement in the mix. I can hear when they move the drums around in the mix of each song and the placement of the individual guitars clearly. The bass is always centered and quite up front, providing your speakers allow you to hear all the bass at a decent level.

    Well recorded and mixed symphonies do likewise and I hear great depth, width and height giving me a wall of sound that leaves the speakers and envelopes the room. Not as good as the MBL speakers I heard, but not too far away either.
     
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