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 Rock
Length	37:40
Label	Epic Records (U.S.) CBS Records (UK) Epic/Legacy (2006 Remaster)
Producer(s)	John Boylan and Tom Scholz
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (C) link Rolling Stone (favorable) link
Boston chronology
	Boston (1976)	Don't Look Back (1978)

Boston is the self-titled debut album by American rock band Boston. The album broke fast, with several blockbuster hard rock hits. All eight of the songs on the album still receive regular airplay on classic rock radio. Taking a mere 2 months to earn an RIAA Gold Record Award in 1976 and then a Platinum Award (1,000,000 in unit sales) after 3 months, it was the fastest selling debut album for any American group. In the subsequent 10 years, of it's 1976 release, the recording continued to sell very well reaching 9 million in sales in 1986 and has continued to receive multi-platinum awards through the present. To date, It has the most total sales for a debut album with over 17 million units sold to date. Creem Magazine voted the album cover art one of the Top Ten Album Covers in 1977.

1 Background Story
- 1.1 The Remasters
2 Track listing
3 Personnel
4 Production personnel
5 Miscellanea
6 References
7 Charts
8 Certifications

[edit] Background Story

Tom Scholz started off jamming in a makeshift band that included 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 soon 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 (Produced Little River Band among many others) made a deal with Scholz. Boylan would have the rest of the makeshift band record some studio arragngements in LA, Delp and Sib Hashian, with Barry Goudreau joining toward the end, and create a diversion if you will, while Scholz made his multitrack recordings at home.

Most of the guitar, bass, and keyboards were performed by Scholz and recorded at his basement studio. Most of Delp's vocals were recorded in Los Angeles with Boylan. Only two tracks include all the musicians who ultimately toured under the name of Boston, "Foreplay/Long Time" and "Let Me Take You Home Tonight."

[edit] The Remasters

This album and the group's second (Don't Look Back) were remastered and re-released on June 13, 2006. The re-releases were digitally remastered personally by the band's leader, Tom Scholz, after he heard (not directly) that the remastering project was to be handled by Sony's team. This was unacceptable to him. 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.",^[1] The re-masters have received very high praise from magazine critics, and especially from the die-hard fan base.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Tom Scholz, except where noted.

"More Than a Feeling" – 4:46
"Peace of Mind" – 5:02
"Foreplay/Long Time" – 7:47
"Rock and Roll Band" – 3:00
"Smokin'" (Bradley Delp, Scholz) – 4:20
"Hitch a Ride" – 4:13
"Something About You" – 3:48
"Let Me Take You Home Tonight" (Delp) – 4:43

[edit] Personnel

Bradley Delp (d. March, 2007) – Vocals, Acoustic guitar
Tom Scholz – Guitars, Keyboards, Bass
Barry Goudreau – Guitars
Fran Sheehan – Bass
Sib Hashian – Drums
Jim Masdea – Drums (on "Rock and Roll Band")

[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] Miscellanea

"Peace of Mind" was played on the 2005 Sci-fi Ghostly show Supernatural at the end of the 7th episode of the first season called "Hookman".
On the original vinyl and CD releases, the length of "Rock & Roll Band" is actually listed as the unconventional "2:60" rather than the more suitable "3:00".
In the Adult Swim show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Carl claims "More Than a Feeling" to be the "ultimate song".
"Smokin'" was featured on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas video game soundtrack on K-DST radio station.
A cover of "More Than a Feeling" is a playable song in the Playstation 2 game Guitar Hero.

[edit] References

^ Official release letter, boston.org

[edit] Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1976	Billboard Pop Albums	3
1987	The Billboard 200	101

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1976	"More Than A Feeling"	Billboard Pop Singles	5
1977	"Foreplay/Longtime"	Billboard Pop Singles	22
1977	"Peace Of Mind"	Billboard Pop Singles	38

[edit] Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – U.S.	Gold	October 26, 1976
RIAA – U.S.	Platinum	November 22, 1976
CRIA – Canada	Platinum	January 1, 1977
CRIA – Canada	Gold	November 1, 1978
CRIA – Canada	Double Platinum	December 1, 1978
CRIA – Canada	Triple Platinum	December 1, 1978
BPI – UK	Gold	March 20, 1979
CRIA – Canada	4X Platinum	July 1, 1979
CRIA – Canada	5X Platinum	July 1, 1979
RIAA – U.S.	9X Platinum	October 30, 1986
RIAA – U.S.	10X Platinum	January 29, 1990
RIAA – U.S.	11X Platinum	December 10, 1992
RIAA – U.S.	15X Platinum	November 9, 1994
RIAA – U.S.	16X Platinum	January 10, 1997
CRIA – Canada	6X Platinum	May 13, 1997
CRIA – Canada	7X Platinum	May 13, 1997
CRIA – Canada	8X Platinum	May 13, 1997
CRIA – Canada	9X Platinum	May 13, 1997
CRIA – Canada	Diamond	May 13, 1997
RIAA – U.S.	17X Platinum	November 20, 2003