Boston Song By Song Thread

This is the Boston song by song thread. Due to COVID-19 many have had nothing to do. many new SBS/ABA threads have been appearing such as ones for AC/DC and U2. This thread is not going to last long only covering their first 3 albums due to them being the only ones I have interest in. More Than A Feeling, the first song on the first album will go up tomorrow. After which a new song will be uploaded daily until all songs up to the third album are done.

 

With the caveat that I've never heard Corporate America, it might be worth covering the others. The discussion might still be fun, and I know from the current Fairport thread, a combination of fresh ears on my part and seriously insightful posts from others have helped me appreciate some of the music I've previously slated.

 

Why don't you take this as an opportunity, since there's nothing to do, to refresh on the ones you have no interest in or hear them for the first time if you haven't done so. And the same for the readers of your thread. There are definitely a good amount of fans of Walk On, if nothing else. But since it's one song per day it's a 4-5 minute time investment per day.

 

Its time for our first song. Before we go on I will give my reason for not doing the later albums. I have never heard anything after the first 3 because I was already starting to lose interest with Third Stage. I have listened to the s/t the most of any album ever. Don't Look Back is in my top 10 most played ever. Third Stage is probably barely in the top 100. Anyways lets get into a song that needs no introduction. I don't even need to share a link. Everyone has listened to it. All I have to say is that it is named More Than A Feeling.

 

First heard More Than A Feeling on a compilation album called American Heartbeat which came out in 1984. Along with Boston, it introduced me to Kansas, Asia, Blue Oyster Cult, Styx and others, confirming what my barely teenage self was already starting to believe, that American rock music was far more interesting than anything that was going on over this side of the Great Divide.

Even on an album of stone cold classics, More Than A Feeling stood out. From the opening gently picked guitars, to the first verse and Brad's voice sudden going stratospheric, then on to those wonderful lead guitars and chunky riff leading into the chorus ( with handclaps!), it was like nothing I'd ever heard before. It was a jaw dropping first listen!

Is it overplayed? No doubt. Do I still grin like a Cheshire cat and crank out the old air guitar when it comes on the radio. Every time!

 

I bought the first Boston album and one can of Miller Lite to celebrate my 20th birthday, which occured a few months after its release. I didn't have much money, and in those days spending even a few bucks on a record (or beer) was a bit of a gamble for me. Over time, that record, with all its amazing ear worms, just grew and grew on me. It's true, as stated above, that it sounded like nothing else at the time, so I had to get used to it, a bit. Anyway, I lived in the Boston area then, and was very loyal to bands from New England at the time. Still am!! This song started it all for me (though I slightly prefer "Peace of Mind"). But I even like a couple of tracks from the last album in 2013, so - I hope we'll get all the way up to there from here! Thanks for the thread!

 

Great album, terrible beer!

I like the most recent Boston album too and I'd be delighted if the discussion went on to include Orion The Hunter, RTZ and other spin-offs. Pretty sure MTAF, our thread starter, isn't desperately interested though, which is fair enough.

 

I nearly bought a Naragansett, but thought I'd bump things up a notch, given the occasion!

 

OP gave up on this? Good idea for a thread, just needs to gain some traction.

 

I think he wanted to start with "More Than A Feeling" as the first song...

 

Exactly why I posted that vid. Rick gets deep into this track. A great analysis of a great song.

 

I will forever be grateful to Boston. Along with Kansas, they saved me from disco and then held me over when I moved to a rural area with nothing but country.

"More than a Feeling" was an incredible introduction to this great new act. From the acoustic intro through the power chord chorus, the way the song builds is fantastic.

The new sound and Scholz' engineering were borderline revolutionary and the album, starting with this song, really grabbed me hard and fast.

I did eventually suffer from some overexposure burnout, but that's nothing against the song itself. And after I put it aside for a while and came back with fresh ears, it was all good again.

 

That debut Boston album still stands tall as a tour de force of songwriting, musical performances and technical production. As far as I can determine it was the first ever major label release of an album in which the demo tapes quite literally became the masters. A stunning achievement from Tom Scholz.

 

Wife just picked this up at the store today

Boston - S/T
Blue vinyl

Sounds great !

 

Maybe getting ahead here but Hitch a Ride has one of the greatest guitar solos ever. After a few adult bevs, it can heard knocking the dust out of my speakers.

 

Crikey, thought this thread had died a death!!

 

I'm curious how popular this LP is. I gave it a listen this morning on YouTube, and to be honest, it just sounded like rehashed Boston with nothing new to say.

Unfortunately "Corporate America" didn't fair well either.

Those 1st 2 LPs were amazing, and I even liked "Third Stage", but it too is missing the magic... Just came out too late I guess.