Boston (album)

Boston is the 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 its 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, reaching diamond in 1990 and eventually going 17x platinum in 2003.[1]

1 Background
- 1.1 The Remasters
2 Track listing
- 2.1 CD
- 2.2 LP
  - 2.2.1 Side one
  - 2.2.2 Side two
3 Personnel
4 Production personnel
5 Songs featured in other media
6 Charts
7 Certifications
8 References
9 See also

[edit] Background

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 eventually attracted the attention of Epic Records.

Scholz began to learn guitar and various instruments at the age of 21 during the recordings of the album. This was noted on a loading screen in the video game, Rock Band.

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 arrangements in Los Angeles, Delp and Sib Hashian (with Barry Goudreau joining toward the end) to "create a diversion" 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, 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.^[1] 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 live versions of "Smokin" and "Foreplay/Long Time" from a 1976 Philadelphia concert. [2]

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Tom Scholz, except where noted.

[edit] CD

"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] LP

[edit] Side one

"More Than a Feeling" – 4:44
"Peace of Mind" – 4:55
"Foreplay/Long Time" – 7:56

[edit] Side two

"Rock and Roll Band" – 2:59
"Smokin'" (Bradley Delp, Scholz) – 4:44
"Hitch a Ride" – 3:18
"Something About You" – 4:19
"Let Me Take You Home Tonight" (Delp) – 4:12

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".

Some CD releases incorrectly label the length of "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" as 4:12 rather than 4:43. Also, some have "Foreplay/Long Time" as 7:48.

[edit] Personnel

Bradley Delp – Lead vocals, guitar
Tom Scholz – Guitar, keyboards, bass guitar
Barry Goudreau – guitar
Fran Sheehan – bass guitar
Sib Hashian – drums, percussion
Jim Masdea – drums, percussion (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] 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).
"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 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 and Playstation 3.

[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/Long Time"	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

[edit] References

^ Official release letter, boston.org

[edit] See also

List of best-selling albums in the United States

v • d • e Boston

Tom Scholz · Michael Sweet · Tommy DeCarlo · Gary Pihl · Kimberley Dahme · Jeff Neal Brad Delp · Barry Goudreau · Sib Hashian · Fran Cosmo · Musicians

Albums	Boston · Don't Look Back · Third Stage · Walk On · Corporate America

Compilations	Greatest Hits

Boston (album)

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