Boston Gives Classic Rock a Pop Makeover
In 2002 I started transitioning away from pop divas and modern top 40, which would last a few years until I started letting pop back in. Grunge/90s Alternative was the initial catalyst for my change in taste, but it didn't take long for me to start looking further back to Classic Rock.
Classic Rock as an idea kind of fascinates me. Rock music of the 60s and 70s was about fighting the man, challenging social norms, civil rights, feminism and hoping for a better and more equal future. Yet Classic Rock, and more importantly classic rock radio, is about celebrating how much better things USED to be. Classic Rock radio white washes out all the eclectic artists and the most politically charged songs to focus more narrowly on just white guys with guitars singing about sex and maybe have a token woman every now and then (usually the Wilson sisters of Heart.) Just like Grunge, which I discussed earlier, Classic Rock radio took what was a very progressive and liberal musical movement and repackaged it as white dude music that celebrates the status quo.
Boston is a band that seems to fit this dichotomy best. In the late 70s Boston's Self-Titled debut gave rock music a huge polished upgrade thanks to Tom Scholz's visionary production. It was the sound of the future but it was here now and that production influenced the way all mainstream rock albums sounded for the next 15 years until Grunge showed up. Yet decades later Republican candidate Mick Huckabee, an extremely conservative Republican, used More Than a Feeling when he was trying to grab the Republican party's nomination to run as President. Eventually Tom Scholz put a stop to that, but it's fascinating how over time music that felt so new and cutting edge when it first came out will eventually become nostalgia for the way things used to be.
For myself Boston is a band who's music I know I have heard since I was a young child. I didn't know the names of their songs or even the band behind them, but I remember hearing this really spacey futuristic type music on the radio that sounded really different. After I started getting into music in the late 90s I eventually learned this band's name was Boston and I now knew the name of their biggest hit More Than A Feeling. I also remember as a young kid not being too enamored with classic rock but More Than a Feeling was an exception.
As I started turning my eyes and ears to rock in 2002, Boston was a band that came up quickly for me. I bought 2 compilations for 70s rock called Pure 70s and Millennium Classic Rock Party and both compilations had More Than a Feeling. I also started hearing Boston on 94HJY a Rhode Island radio station which played rock music from the 60s through the present. Eventually I bought their Debut album and Greatest Hits on CD and I became infatuated with Boston.
For my graduation gift from College my Dad ended up framing his Boston vinyl for me, which has hung in 4 different bedrooms at this point. No matter where I go that must hang in my bedroom. My husband also bought me a Boston shirt for Christmas 2010 that I pretty much wear all the time as well. I listen to their music constantly and I would never change the radio dial if they came on (except for Rock n Roll Band, which is their only song off their debut I do not care for.) Unlike some classic rock, which has lost its luster for me over time, Boston always seems to hit the sweet spot for me no matter what mood I am in.
Now Boston is only a band in the loosest sense of the term. Sure there are 5 guys who performed on stage and took photos together, but really there are only 2 members who matter. The first is Tom Scholz an M.I.T. grad with a degree in engineering who used his engineering skills to create a completely new style of production with Boston's self-titled debut. People talk about before and after with Elvis, The Bealtes, Michael Jackson, Nirvana etc, but they don't talk nearly enough about music before and after Boston. Critics usually get too distracted by punk and new wave to notice that the production and sound style of Boston's first album revolutionized the way music sounded and was produced from that point forward.
It was a watershed moment that also had great songs behind it, which leads us to the only other member that matters: vocalist Brad Delp. Tom Scholz pretty much played all the instruments and produced the albums and Brad sings the songs. Yet without Brad Delp Boston never would have made the impact that they did. For my money Brad Delp is one of the greatest and most underrated vocalists in rock history. His vocals are both emotional but smooth, soaring yet controlled. Delp could infuse a song with strong emotions while still keeping his voice as melodic and pretty as possible. Scholz created the futuristic soundscape, but it's Delp who humanizes it and makes it relatable while still being a perfect match for the music.
Scholtz of course is a known perfectionist who doesn't like to be rushed. He pours over every little detail making sure there isn't a single moment that isn't polished to perfection and he stuffs Boston's music (with the help of Delp) with as many hooks and melodies as possible. Sure there's great musicianship and cutting edge production but the songs are made as commercially accessible as possible and that probably explains why they were one of the first classic rock bands I got into. In 2002 I was just coming off pop music and Boston was the perfect band to help me transition into rock because they were rock music produced as if it were pop music. This album is just as glossed up as any album by Britney Spears or Madonna and that made it a very easy transition for me. Their music also had a strong sense of positivity to it that was still shaded with some sadder moments here and there which really drew me in to.
Over the years there have been classic rock bands where my opinion goes back and forth or wavers here and there but not Boston. I still feel drawn to their music years later and I have so many good memories attached to their music. It was a band I was able to bond over with my Dad for starters and I also got my good friend Josh into them as well in college so it brings back college memories too.
Boston's music never gets old for me though their peak years were short lived. The first album is of course an impeachable classic, but they were never able to match it again. That said, the follow up Don't Look Back, which appeared 2 years later and was put out before Scholz felt the record was completed, comes close. The title track is just as great as any of the songs off the debut and it's interesting to learn it was a last minute addition due to the record company pressuring the band for a hit they didn't hear on the rest of the album. The rest of the album doesn't reach the levels of the title track or most of the debut for that matter, but it's still enjoyably melodic classic rock. It's Easy, Feeling Satisfied and Used to Bad News are worthy of classic rock radio play while A Man I'll Never Be is a ballad I used to not care for but I have grown to appreciate it over the years.
Really the drop off in quality occurs on their 1986 album Third Stage. This one took 8 years to complete and it kind of flew in the face of Scholz's argument that he does his best work when left alone for a long time. Don't Look Back was made much quicker and under record company pressure and it's much better than Third Stage. Third Stage is not a bad album just a little generic and not too memorable overall. Most of the songs sound like songs from the first 2 albums but not as good. That said, that didn't stop the album from going #1, selling 4 million copies and giving the band their only U.S. #1 with Amanda. In the mid 80s Boston still had a dedicated following and a lot of commercial cache. By 1986 Boston's sound had been pilfered and adopted by every musician working in mainstream rock at the time such as Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Phil Collins, Def Leppard, Huey Lewis and the News, etc. Still it was around this time that it became obvious that each new Boston album was going to be a series of diminishing returns.
The 1994 album without Brad Delp I have not even heard besides the one song on their greatest hits but based on that song I don't think I want to hear it. The greatest hits which came out in 1997 did have a surprisingly good new song with Delp back in the fold called Higher Power. Higher Power is definitely my favorite post 70s song by the group. After that I didn't hear much though it seemed like Tom was still on his 8 year cycle for releasing albums to an ever decreasing fan base.
In 2007 Brad Delp committed suicide. I found out about this news while studying abroad in London and it really upset me. I thought Brad was a phenomenal vocalist who's voice really inspired me. So to hear that he took his own life really hit me hard. I just wasn't expecting something like that from the lead singer of Boston but again you never really know what other people are going through.
Still the music lives on which is one of the best things about music. People die but music can be forever. Boston's music is at the perfect crossroads of Rock musicianship and Pop production which is why they never go out of style for me. I'm always ready listen to Boston and their music always puts me in a good mood. Plus Boston is the perfect buffer to help bridge extreme Dougystyle Transitions like Britney Spears Opps! I Did It Again to Soundgarden's Mailman. Thanks Boston for helping make my insane music taste hold together a little bit more smoothly.
