The group first formed in the mind of Tom Scholz, who had long expressed interest in melodic rock and the fine particulars of recording technology. Even as a child, he tinkered with just about anything mechanical or electronic that he could get his hands on. Prior to his musical career, Scholz received both a bachelor's degree, in 1969, and a master's degree, in 1970, in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He then began working for the Polaroid Corporation as a senior product design engineer. Scholz would then reside in Boston.
Creating demos in his own home, inspired by contemporary 70s progressive rock and what came to be known as "album oriented rock" ("aor"), Scholz attracted the interest of Epic Records, who signed Scholz to a recording contract. Vocalist Brad Delp, who was born in Peabody, Massachusetts in 1951 (Scholz is about four years older) to French-Canadian immigrants and was inspired to sing after seeing The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, served as a sort of not-so secret weapon for Scholz's project. Delp's "golden voice" has inspired numerous later rock artists to take up the microphone.
Scholz believed that his demos were good enough to be the released album but Epic told him to rerecord them. Most of the guitar, bass, and keyboards were performed by Scholz, although other players were involved sporadically throughout the recording of the album. Epic did not want the album recorded entirely in Scholz's home as Scholz intended (they suggested using a recording studio), but most of what ended up on the album was ultimately recorded by Scholz in his basement.
'Boston' was first released by Epic Records on August 25, 1976. Few industry insiders thought a guitar-heavy rock record could make much of a dent in the charts as disco ruled the airwaves at the time. The album broke out of Cleveland first, and the following week it had been added at 392 stations. Scholz, then 29, still worked at Polaroid during the first few weeks of the record's success and felt wary, changing his mind when the album quickly sold 200,000 copies. Critical praise also came to the band; for example, Rolling Stone wrote that Boston's "affinity for heavy rock & roll provides a sense of dynamics that coheres magnetically with sophisticated progressive structures."
The album was certified gold just two months after its release, and it sold another 500,000 copies within 30 days, going platinum for the first time in November 1976. With songs that became rock anthems such as the evergreen "More Than a Feeling", 'Boston' is the second best-selling debut album of all time in the United States, falling just short of Guns N' Roses' 'Appetite for Destruction'. Many critics have named it as one of the best American albums of all time. Its popularity was not only huge, but also durable: into the 2000s it was believed to be the only 1970s album that still had every single track in regular rotation on classic rock radio.
With a touring unit coming together around the line-up of Barry Goudreau, Tom Scholz, Sib Hashian, Brad Delp, and Fran Sheehan, the band played to a wide variety of crowds big and small, receiving strong fan support. Feeling an essentially unbearable amount of pressure to come up with another commercial mega-hit, Scholz still desired to experiment with his sound and had a growing sense of perfectionism. 'Don't Look Back' came out on August 2, 1978, viewed by Scholz as a hurried effort but picking up widespread success. It's been certified as multi-platinum, and its title track has become a classic rock staple.
Acrimonious fighting with label Epic Records, which soon became a long, drawn-out legal fight, left the future of the band stalled. Their next work, 'Third Stage' , came out in September 23, 1986, quite a while after their sophomore work. Bad luck and ill-will seemed to trail the group, with floods and power failures halting many studio sessions. Still, the album went to #1 on the Billboard 200, where it stayed for four weeks.
In addition, 'Third Stage' was only the second album to ever be certified triple-platinum in its first month of release, in November of 1986. As stated before, the first was Lionel Richie's 'Dancing On The Ceiling', which did it one month earlier. Nonetheless, Boston seemed to have gotten stuck.
On March 9th, 2007, Brad Delp (vocals) committed suicide at his home in Atkinson, New Hampshire. He was 55. Delp sang all the lead and harmony vocals on Boston's first three albums. Though well known for his "golden" voice with soaring vocals and range, Delp was also a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, harmonica and keyboards. Additionally he wrote or co-wrote several songs for Boston and many other artists.
More than 10 years in the making, Boston came out with a new studio album, "Life, Love & Hope" in 2013. Founding member, Tom Scholz stated, "These are songs from the heart, each of them taking many months of effort to write, arrange, perform and record, always up to the demands of Boston's harshest critic, me. They have all been meticulously recorded to analog tape on the same machines and equipment used for Boston's hits for the past 35 years."
The band, with Scholz and a new lineup, toured extensively in 2016-2017.
Boston's web site is at www.bandboston.com
We
Boston Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Misty water-colored memories of the way we were
Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another for the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then
Or has time rewritten every line
If we had the chance to do it all again
Could we?
Memories may be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So it's the laughter we will remember
Whenever we remember
The way we were
The way we were
The song "The Way We Were" by Boston is a nostalgic song about the memories of the past. The song explores the singer’s memories and how they choose to remember the good rather than the "painful" memories. The first few lines, "Memories light the corners of my mind / Misty water-colored memories of the way we were", creates an image of memories that are hazy and fragile, but still hold a special place in the singer’s mind. The line "Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind" highlights the importance of the memories of love and happiness shared between people.
The singer reflects on how life was simple in the past, but time has rewritten every line. The line "If we had the chance to do it all again, tell me would we? / Could we?" Her reflection on the past is poignant and the questions she poses to the reader ask whether people would take the opportunity to do it all again if given the chance.
The final lines, "Memories may be beautiful and yet / What's too painful to remember / We simply choose to forget / So it's the laughter we will remember / Whenever we remember / The way we were / The way we were", are a powerful reminder that while painful memories can be difficult to confront, people choose to focus on the positive memories and the "laughter" that was shared.
Overall, the song is about the power of memories and how they shape people's lives, character, and relationships. The song encourages people to hold on to memories and cherish them, even if the memories have some painful aspects.
Line by Line Meaning
Memories light the corners of my mind
Recollections come back to me, and they serve as beams of light that shine in the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories of the way we were
I'm reminded of our past experiences in a hazy, romanticized way that only adds to their nostalgic quality
Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind
There are still physical remnants of our happy moments scattered about that remind me of the smiles we shared
Smiles we gave to one another for the way we were
Our smiles were a reflection of the way things were between us back then, and how much we appreciated each other during that time
Can it be that it was all so simple then
Is it possible that things were truly as simple as they seemed back then?
Or has time rewritten every line
Perhaps as we remember the past, time has changed our memories and reshaped our understanding of it
If we had the chance to do it all again
Given the opportunity, would we go through it all again?
Tell me, would we? Could we?
I wonder if we would be able to go back and do it all again if given the chance
Memories may be beautiful and yet
Even though memories can be beautiful and make us feel good, there may be some that still make us feel an ache of pain
What's too painful to remember
There are some painful memories that we choose to forget rather than dwell on
We simply choose to forget
Instead of holding on to the hurt, we choose to let it go and focus on the positive memories instead
So it's the laughter we will remember
When we think back on our past, it's the joy and laughter that we shared that we will always keep in our hearts
Whenever we remember
Any time we recall those memories, they'll always bring back the same feelings of warmth and fondness
The way we were
Those memories are a reflection of the way we were back then, and they will always stay with us
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Marvin Hamlisch
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
theaterdream
I remember just how ridiculously excited I was upon hearing that Boston was FINALLY releasing a new album. I was born in 1971, so I was a bit too young to get caught up in the Boston fever that onset in 1976. But I listened to their eponymous debut and Don’t Look Back religiously, and as soon as Third Stage hit, I bought the cassette, and played it until the tape snapped. Then I bought it again, and played it until CDs became the norm.
Third Stage was one of the best birthday presents ever! It came out on September 23rd, 1986, my 15th birthday. And it was love at first listen.
That cassette stayed in my AIWA portable player for a good three months solid, just auto reversing. I’d fall asleep listening to it, and wake up three hours later, awaking to Brad singing “Cool the Engines”.
Tom Scholz is a musical genius. He created such a wonderful sonic tapestry for Brad’s legendary voice to sing to. Third Stage is, IMO, every bit as good as the debut. The band wasn’t rushed, and all those years of fine tuning, while their legal battle dragged on, showed.
Thank you so much for this upload. The remaster sounds fantastic.
Daniel Keiling
Boston is one of the Worlds greatest rock bands of all time!! Those first three albums are Rock Gold!!
theaterdream
I remember just how ridiculously excited I was upon hearing that Boston was FINALLY releasing a new album. I was born in 1971, so I was a bit too young to get caught up in the Boston fever that onset in 1976. But I listened to their eponymous debut and Don’t Look Back religiously, and as soon as Third Stage hit, I bought the cassette, and played it until the tape snapped. Then I bought it again, and played it until CDs became the norm.
Third Stage was one of the best birthday presents ever! It came out on September 23rd, 1986, my 15th birthday. And it was love at first listen.
That cassette stayed in my AIWA portable player for a good three months solid, just auto reversing. I’d fall asleep listening to it, and wake up three hours later, awaking to Brad singing “Cool the Engines”.
Tom Scholz is a musical genius. He created such a wonderful sonic tapestry for Brad’s legendary voice to sing to. Third Stage is, IMO, every bit as good as the debut. The band wasn’t rushed, and all those years of fine tuning, while their legal battle dragged on, showed.
Thank you so much for this upload. The remaster sounds fantastic.
ABD Contracting Ltd.
What a heavy riff for this band, love it. Dad always cranked Boston growing up. I'm 28 and absolutely love Boston!!
Franklin Honeyestewa
I love these songs of my teen years, Boston has great guitars, vocals, and albums. 🎸💜💚🇺🇸
Clyde Mq
I trained for the 1995 Chicago Marathon with this album playing in my ears. This was my favorite
and always gave me that extra adrenalin surge to keep going.
An Extraordinary Life
A rock masterpiece, deep inside the vault of Classic Rock
Warren John
Could not agree more!
Tim McCreary
SONG KICKS ASS👍
Avalon Justin
Legends will never die. They may be buried, but they are still there.
Primus
Amen, couldn’t have been better stated.