Boston (album)

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Boston
Studio album by Boston
Released	August 25, 1976 (U.S.) December 3, 1976 (UK)
Recorded	October 1975-April 1976 at Foxglove Studios, Watertown, Massachusetts Capitol Studios, Hollywood Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, Mixed at Westlake Audio, Los Angeles, CA
Genre	Hard rock
Length	37:41
Label	Epic (U.S.) CBS (UK) Legacy Recordings (2006 Remaster)
Producer	John Boylan and Tom Scholz
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (C) link Rolling Stone (favorable) link
Boston chronology
Boston (1976) Don't Look Back (1978)

Boston is the debut album by American rock band Boston, released in August 1976 on Epic Records, catalogue 32038. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified as selling 17x platinum in 2003.

[edit] Background

Tom Scholz started off jamming in a makeshift band that included drummer Jim Masdea and future Boston members Barry Goudreau and Brad Delp. Unsatisfied with the live sound, the perfectionist Scholz disbanded the act and instead made demos in his home studio with Delp on vocals. The demos eventually attracted the attention of Epic Records.

Scholz was satisfied with the demos to the point that he wanted to use them as a final album, but Epic said no. "The material had to be recorded in a 'professional' studio in exactly the same way!" Scholz later wrote. Scholz insisted on doing the rerecording in his basement. Epic producer John Boylan, who had worked with the Little River Band among many others, made a deal with Scholz. Boylan would have the rest of the makeshift band record some studio arrangements in Los Angeles, to "create a diversion" while Scholz made his multitrack recordings at home.

The lion's share of the instrumentation was performed by Scholz and recorded at his basement studio in Massachusetts, while Delp's vocals were recorded in Los Angeles with producer Boylan. Drummer Sib Hashian plays on all but "Rock N Roll Band," and only two tracks feature the contributions of Goudreau and Fran Sheehan, "Foreplay/Long Time" and "Let Me Take You Home Tonight."^[1] This quintet would perform and tour under the name Boston.

[edit] Reception

The album broke fast, with three singles becoming Top 40 hits. All eight of the songs on the album still receive regular airplay on classic rock radio. Taking a mere two months to earn an RIAA Gold Record Award (500,000 in unit sales) in 1976, and a Platinum Award (1,000,000 in unit sales) after three months, it was the fastest selling debut album for any American group. It has continued to sell very well, accumulating 9 million in sales by the ten-year anniversary in 1986, reaching diamond in 1990, and 17x platinum by 2003.[1]

[edit] Remasters

Legacy Records released a remastered version for compact disc on June 13, 2006. The original master tapes were digitally remastered personally by the band's leader, Tom Scholz, after he heard that the remastering project was to be handled by Sony. This was unacceptable to him, and he took it on himself after negotiations with Legacy. "I've always wanted to make those albums sound good on CD, and the chance arrived," he said.^[2] The re-masters have received very high praise from magazine critics, and especially from the die-hard fan base.

A small number of the Sony-remastered versions briefly went on sale in Canada on April 4, 2006 before being pulled off the shelves. Those discs also included bonus tracks in live versions of "Smokin" and "Foreplay/Long Time" from a 1976 Philadelphia concert. [2]

[edit] Personnel

• Brad Delp – vocals; guitar on "Let Me Take You Home Tonight"
• Tom Scholz – electric guitars, acoustic guitars, clavinet, organ, bass guitar
• Sib Hashian – drums
• Jim Masdea – drums on "Rock N Roll Band"
• Barry Goudreau – electric guitars on "Foreplay/Long Time" and "Let Me Take You Home Tonight"
• Fran Sheehan – bass guitar on "Foreplay" and "Let Me Take You Home Tonight"

[edit] Track listing

All songs written and composed by Tom Scholz, except where noted. 

[edit] Timing discrepancies

On the original vinyl and CD releases, the length of "Rock and Roll Band" is actually listed as the unconventional "2:60" rather than the more suitable "3:00." Some CD releases incorrectly label the length of "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" as 4:13 rather than 4:43.

The recent vinyl re-release of the album is incorrect with most of its listed times. Also, the times on the A-side are the same times listed for the first three songs on the B-side.

[edit] Production personnel

• Producers: John Boylan, Tom Scholz
• Direction: Paul Ahern, Charles McKenzie
• Engineers: Warren Dewey, Tom Scholz
• Assistant engineers: Deni King, Bruce Hensel, Doug Ryder
• Mixing: Westlake Audio, Los Angeles assisted by Steve Hodge
• Remastering: Tom Scholz, Bill Ryan, Toby Mountain at Northeastern Digital, Southborough, Massachusetts, Hideaway Studio II
• Digital transfer: Tom "Curly" Ruff
• Artwork and Design: Kim Hart, Tom Scholz
• Direction: Paul Ahern, Charles McKenzie
• Photography: Jeff Albertson, Ron Pownall
• Photo Editing: Gary Pihl
• Illustrations: Roger Huyssen
• Reissue design: Joel Zimmerman

[edit] Songs featured in other media

• Carl Brutananadilewski, a character in the animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force, considers "More than a Feeling" to be the ultimate song.
• "Peace of Mind" was played on the 2005 Sci-fi show Supernatural at the end of the 7th episode of the first season, titled "Hookman". "Foreplay/Long Time" was also used in Supernatural, as the background music for the recap prior to the 21st episode of the second season, "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 1".
• "Peace of Mind" serves as the background music for a series of Panasonic Toughbook television commercials in 2007.
• A cover of "More than a Feeling" is a playable song in the PlayStation 2 game Guitar Hero.
• "Peace of Mind" is a downloadable track in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.
• "Smokin'" was featured on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas video game soundtrack on K-DST radio station.
• "More Than a Feeling" was played at the end of the Scrubs episode "My Half Acre" (#509).
• "More Than a Feeling" is a song on Karaoke Revolution American Idol Encore that can be unlocked by the user.
• "Foreplay/Long Time" is sampled in the first track, "Once Again," of Girl Talk's album, Night Ripper.
• "Foreplay/Long Time" is a playable track in the music video game Rock Band for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and PlayStation 2 consoles. Subsequently, every other song from this album except "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" were made playable as downloadable tracks for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii.
• "More Than a Feeling" appeared in the animated movie Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa. In the movie, penguins hijack a car, insert the disc into the car's CD player, and the song plays.
• "Rock N Roll Band" is a playable track in the music video game Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades
• "Rock N Roll Band" is also available as a downloadable track for Guitar Hero: World Tour
• "More Than a Feeling" is featured prominently in the 2009 film The Men Who Stare at Goats

[edit] Charts

Album

Singles

[edit] Certifications

[edit] See also

• List of best-selling albums in the United States

[edit] References

1. ^ Boston, Epic Records 69699 86322 2006 reissue, liner notes, pp. 4 & 10.
2. ^ Official release letter, boston.org