Why does anybody listen to Boston? I periodically forget they ever existed, but then, inevitably, I hear a song from the first Boston album in some public place on somebody’s car stereo as they drive by. And it’s always something off the first album, because every one of those songs has been a classic rock radio staple since the eponymously titled first album came out in 1976. The two subsequent albums have maybe one song apiece that I’m familiar with and anything after the third album registers a complete and merciful blank on my ears. Boston is the prime reason that I can’t listen to classic rock radio anymore, despite the guilty enjoyment of other fare of the genre. But the noodly, overcompressed guitar; the manicured production; and especially the high, screechy vocals are fingernails on my blackboard.
I don’t know what it was about the 70s that required a screeching frontman, but it seems that all classic rock bands of the day had one. I can forgive Robert Plant, because he’s basically the best Janis Joplin impersonator going, but what about Rush and Yes and—let’s not forget—Triumph? I don’t care what you say about Neil Peart’s Randian lyrics or whatever it is that Jon Anderson is singing about (“Mountains come out of the sky/and they stand there”), there is nothing redeeming in those vocal stylings. I mean, have you listened to “Fly by Night” recently? And if so, do you have any unshattered glassware? Thankfully disco and punk showed up with some fresh options and we got a reprieve from that kind of singing. Or we did until Chris Cornell came along.
But back to Boston. One look at any Boston album cover, with their flying saucer imagery, should give you a pretty good idea of the range of their appeal: 13 year old boys. What Boston wanted you to think is that they were the soundtrack of the feather-haired guy in his driveway, soaping down his Camaro, accidentally-on-purpose hitting his girlfriend in the process, and then driving her over to the pizza joint later to buy her a slice to make up for it. Smooth. In reality, Boston was the soundtrack to the lives of guys who wanted to be Camaro guy. Boston listeners were too young to own Camaros, so instead they rode around on their banana-seated bikes, quietly humming “More Than a Feeling” and dreaming of their own Marianne. Meanwhile, Camaro guy was listening to Skynard or maybe Aerosmith, depending on the neighborhood.
Most 13 year olds grow out of the flying saucer phase. Those that don’t grow up to be Tom Scholz. After Scholz worked really hard to get his master’s degree from MIT in five years, he worked really hard building a multi-track recording studio in his basement, then worked really hard to record almost all the parts to all the Boston songs himself. Boy, he sure works hard; there is not a stray note. It’s a shame working that hard doesn’t leave any time to develop good taste. Because if he’d spent a little less time working and more time paying attention to the things other people create, he might have saved us all from having to listen to the crap he keeps creating. At the very least, he might have avoided recording the same album every eight years or so and passing it off as something new.
I’ve now spent even more time thinking about Boston than I would have had I not sat down to write this thing. Curses. I better think of something to make the whole thing worthwhile. Oh wait, here’s a picture of one of the interchangeable Boston drummers. That should do it.
*Because I don’t like in-jokes, dig through the comments of this post to find the meaning of this title, if you don’t know already.
You answered your own question, my man. What was up with screechy vocals in the 70s? Fucking Robert Plant, that’s what. Yeah, I like Led Zeppelin, but it’s kind of like the Beatles and artsy concept-album pop. You can like something and still hate the shitstorm it produced.
I think there should be an entire podcast of middling 70s arena bands like Boston, Poco, Toto and so on – bring the pain.
Oh and by the way Scholtz has one of the worst guitar tones evet his little box (what was it called the rockbox??) was a piece of crap!!!
Don’t get me started. I hate Scholz’s guitar tone. He started his own company to produce devices like the Rockman amp that would let other lucky players duplicate the crappy tone that he got on all the Boston recordings. It was inexplicably popular for a time and as a consequence, he made lots of money. So he’s almost singlehandedly responsible for that kick ass guitar tone featured most prominently in beer commercials.
Dude, Boston rock!! What are you doing, a VH1 special? Let’s create a show and hire a bunch of has been commentators to tell us in a joking puchline how stupid we were for liking music that was once very popular with all of us. I hate this trend! I refuse to put down music that I love, ten, twenty, thirty years from now.
Maybe thats’s why the former lead singer of Boston committed suicide, because he simply couldn’t live with the partial contribution he made to shitty overdone music.
Sorry Boston was never popular with “All” of us. They are a suck that knows to age.
>What are you doing, a VH1 special?
Ever been here before? This is fairly tame for NAP. Take comfort in the fact that Rolling Stone thinks “More Than A Feeling” is better than 99.9% of all music recorded in the 80s and 90s and every single song written in the 21st century besides “Hey Ya.”
This is like Christians who complain about how oppressed they are by secular humanism. Boston won, dude. Accept your victory graciously.
Here’s a missed connection from craigslist from a girl that ran into a Boston fan, could this have been you Anon?
Sidewalk Nap
It was a quarter after two in the morning and I’d just gotten off of work, which is far too late to get off of work when the store closed at nine. I watched you from across the street as you flailed and stumbled erratically while trying to remain standing up. Then gravity and beer prevailed and you fell into some low bushes, rolled onto the side walk and curled up in the fetal position. It took me several minutes to realize that if I left, you’d probably have been molested by the street people or pissed upon by your fratty brethren. You poor dumb son of a bitch. I bet you’re going to be a dentist.
You were wearing a white button down shirt with red stripes. Ralph Lauren if I recall. Or was it red with white stripes? And a navy tie, khaki pants. You fucking tool. But you did have a sweet ass belt with sharks on it. You may remember me subconsciously, I was the bitch with a heart of gold telling you that you had to wake up and that you had a sweet ass belt. You didn’t seem to want to help me help you, and I sure didn’t want to search your pockets to find your razor phone to call your intoxicated friends to drive drunk to pick you up, so I found a cop parked in the lot of Granville Towers. He had gloves with him, so he touched you. You denied being asleep on the sidewalk and professed that you were doing good. Eventually you staggered off into the hideous den of Time Out*. Anyway, I was wondering, did you vomit before or after consuming that vile chicken from hell?
*Time Out is a local chapel hill all-night super greasy spoon known for its $2 bucket bones. thats right, $2 gets you a bucket of chicken bones to suck on.
The girl doesnt say it on her post, but i just know the guy must have been humming “Don’t Look Back”. Or i guess it could’ve been “Back in the High Life”.
Dude, it’s such a hipster cliche to hate on 70s arena rock. For my own part, I think it’s OK in moderation, but when it’s still overplayed 30 years after its creation, it gets pretty tiresome. But they overplay it so that fat 45 year old ex-jock can relive the memory of his glory days of banging drill team girls in the back of his Trans Am every time he hears “More Than A Feeling” – and then he feels happy, and then he buys product.
And Char-O – back off of Plant. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. You know you’d be screeching like the owl on the cover of Fly By Night if you could hit it without twisting your nutsack sideways.
And here’s where I shame you all: YOU KNOW YOU ALL LOVE QUEEN SO DON’T EVEN TRY TO DENY IT. Now them’s some screechy ass vocals. How can you open the door to Queen without letting in Boston, April Wine and Rush? And how exactly did Queen get the magic pass to hipsterdom despite being the most arty-farty, overblown, theatrical arena rock hacks EVER?
(I will say, from a guitar nerd perspective, that May did everything Scholz did except he did it earlier, and better, and he also managed to retain the dynamic range of his instrument as opposed to compressing the living fuck out of it like Scholz; bringing to mind Justin’s much earlier post about overuse of compression)
Dude nobody said there was anything wrong with arena rock [Three words for you Blue Oyster cult!] -Just Boston.
Freddy Mercury was a tenor while Robert Plant was a Countertenor/Alto. Totally different styles.
lastly No I am shutting the door on April Wine and Boston but I’ll wait until the door will hit them in the schnozz.
Lastly Rush in the same category as those two bands? And to think we saw Rush live and you dare compare them to April Wine or Boston? For shame! You are SO out of the 2112 club.
Sparrow, it’s because Queen actually were gay.
Okay so I have had a creepy obsession with the official Boston website ever since Brad Delp, the lead singer, off-ed himself earlier this year by way of barbecue pit.
The site has de-volved from a self-involved monologue by Tom Stupid, to a bunch of online letters from the band, including letters from the drummer of the past six months, to a simple obit. At one point it was a letter to the Rolling Stone which Tom Stupid posted because he didn’t trust that RS would get it right. Of course it was really all about him. It has been weird and seems to me to be only an instrument of Tom Stupid and a sad one at that, using Brad Delp’s death as a means to a soap box about how bad the industry has been to Tom Stupid. I for one wish the industry had been worse to him. It’s certainly been a lot better to him than most of the hundred zillion other musicians out there.
It was interesting to learn that Brad Delp’s real musical passion was playing in a Beatles cover band which he has done for years and years and has played more often and more passionately in this Beatles cover band than he did with Boston.
Oh an Queen isn’t really screechy the way Boston, Triumph et al is. Funny story about Queen…A friend’s dad once came into the room, drunk, where “Crazy little thing called love” was playing and he said “I don’t care what they say, he’s still the King.”
Oh also I had armenian brandy this evening. Armenian Power!
Okay I sleep now.
I was thinking you could use a label for this post that says: Shooting Fish in a Barrel. Hating on Boston, wow, that’s pretty bold. Who’s next? Kajagoogoo?
Dude the Kajagoogoo police will be knocking on your door soon for speaking such blashphemy!!!!
Damn, now I have to abandon the Kajagoogoo post I had planned for next week. It’s true Boston is an easy target (except, apparently, for that anonymous poster), but knowing that doesn’t help me when I have to sit and listen to it while shopping. I guess I could just stick my fingers in my ears and yell out “la la la,” but last time I did that they threw me out of the store. So I take out my frustration here. You’re welcome!
Well for a hating on Boston post it was well done with more insight into the band than most haters would allow. But I am surprised that no mention of Delp’s freaky death this year was made.
I thought about mentioning Delp, but that would just ruin the tone. It’s hard to go on about how much Boston sucks and then mention how their singer killed himself with carbon monoxide from charcoal. It is interesting, though, that his suicide note may have been ripped off from Twin Peaks.
Well then, thanks for the insightful hating-on-Boston post.
When I was a kid, my mother worked in a gift shop that had a t-shirt press for cheesy 80s iron-ons. I wore, and loved, my white Boston shirt with the purple ringers on the neck and sleeves.
Years later, in high school, I decided that I was also too cool for the bloat of Boston.
Eventually I broke down and admitted to myself that I really enjoyed listening to their music. Sure, the complaints that Justin brings up are all not only valid but also germane for my feelings towards Boston, but the difference for me is that in my quest to recapture something of the youthful enthusiasm for music in general, I have come to the realization that I like listening to their music. They’re nowhere near my favorite band, but music like that makes me feel happy and comfortable.
Boston, the chicken fried steak of rock.
I guess we all have our druthers.
Who Thee Fuck buys buckets of bones to suck on?
Hey guys. First time caller, longtime listener.
I need to preface this by saying that I essentially have no knowledge whatsoever of Boston save for “More Than a Feeling” and a vague awareness that they had the silly-looking spaceships on their album covers. Also the lead guy committed suicide this year and I think most of them and beards.
I love “More Than a Feeling.” It’s awesome. It’s capital-A Awesome. Millions and millions of dollars were spent to make every single sound on that song as Awesome as possible. The chunkier than god power chords in the chorus, the ridiculous laser-beam guitarmonies in the prechorus, that crazy little “PZZZOWP!” noise right before that prechorus (that noise alone was probably more expensive than the recording budget of every single Buzzcocks album ever, past or future)… Even the handclaps and stomps were probably really expensive. That is probably indicative of most everything that was going wrong with music back then, but listen to the lyrics: It’s an entire song about sitting around, daydreaming about a girl and being lost in music and things just generally being Awesome. It’s vapid and wishy-washy and I can’t help but believe that the guy means every word of it, and to me it’s beautiful.
This song wasn’t written for the 13-year-olds who rode their bikes around and wished they drove Camaros; it was written for the 13-year-olds who holed up in their rooms with their headphones on and dreamed in sound. I was one of those 13-year-olds (basically still am), and I’m quite certain most of Boston was, too. Whether you’re the Flaming Lips or Olivia Tremor Control or the Dreamies or My Bloody Valentine or the Apples in Stereo or Prince or Radiohead or the Avalanches or Brian Wilson or Sparklehorse or Caribou or Boston, if you’re a nerd / group or nerds obsessed with making every single sound on your albums be as Awesome as possible (whatever your definition of Awesome may be), for whatever reason there’s something in me that makes me respect that.
When I listen to “More Than a Feeling,” I hear a sorta cheesy song by late-70s guitar rock studio geeks with a budget the size of the Astrodome who absolutely love recorded sound and the possibilities of what they can do with it, and the fact that their songs resonated with the Camaro Nation doesn’t matter to me (which is easy for me to say; I didn’t have to go to school with those guys (but I had Limp Bizkit and Creed to put up with, so it more than evens out)). I close my eyes and I slip away.
Okay, not really. But still, it’s Awesome.
Dear Joe,
There was essentially no budget for the first Boston album. Tom Scholz holed up in his basement recording studio for several years getting the thing right. He did everything but sing and play drums. He built that studio. And this was before everybody had a recording studio on their laptop. We’re talking real tape, real wires, and real soldering.
Not to be cynical, but I doubt very much that the lyrics to “More Than a Feeling” were the result of one of Tom Scholz’s more reflective moods. Rather, they were the product of much thought about the kind of lyrics that sell records. You see, Scholz is all about the money and damned if he wasn’t going to get a return on his years of investment. As evidence of this, I point to the number of lawsuits Scholz has been involved with–especially the one where he sued a former member for billing himself as having been a member of Boston, because that devalued the Boston brand. I kid you not.
John,
When I was kid, my best friend and several of his friends went to one of those t-shirt shops and bought yellow shirts with black ringers and put an iron on panther and black fuzzy letters that spelled “Black Panthers.” I had no idea what a “Black Panthers” was and just assumed it was a name they made up for their club. I was pretty disappointed when they told me I couldn’t join.
E-Mummy,
I was thinking the same thing about the chicken bones. The idea that sucking on chicken bones is popular enough to be a menu item and not just some aberration makes me a little queasy.
I personally dont have any huge problem with Boston itself. But I have a problem with #1 how often it is on the radio (the local classic rock station has been dubbed the Boston station), and #2 i have a problem with the many tools and other assorted frat boys who are really into it (this does not include Mr. Mathlete who from what i can tell is neither a tool nor a frat boy).
Extreme Ultra Over exposure and super obnoxious fans can make just about any good music seem unpalatable (this has happened to me before with at various times in the past with Nirvana, Led Zep, Dylan, The Doors, add your own here, the list is really endless). Eventually classic rock (varies by area) will move away from Boston on to whoever, and we might then be able to better judge Boston and possibly even enjoy it as it should be enjoyed, once in a while, as a memory of times past, not as a perenial pest on the dial everytime I move through that part of it with the classic rock station.
Hey Justin – I’m going to see Chris Mantrangas band tonight. Remember him? He was in Sugar Shack for a while. Anyway I just noticed they’re playing with Lynnards Innards. Isn’t that band originally from Houston?
Joe – thanks for the fresh take on Boston. As a 23 year old you have a way different vantage. Well put. The song doesn’t take me away and I never need to hear it again but still. Nicely done.
I might remember him from Sugar Shack. I’d have to see him to jog my memory. Karl, the guitarist from Lynnard’s Innards, went to school in Houston and eventually went back to his hometown, Chicago. If you see him, say hello for me. There are few finer people in the world than Karl.
people suck on chicken bones because they like to eat the marrow. my mother-in-law does it. don’t knock it til you try it…i have never tried it, but I also don’t knock it.
Whoa – Mathlete makes possibly the best defense of Boston ever. And yet, my own experience – maybe because when I first listened to them I knew little or nothing of studio gimcrackery, was simply that they wrote good, catchy songs. I always thought they were a little cheesy, but I liked them anyway and still do.
I had no idea that Scholz was such a turd. I had this notion that he was this kind of naiive guitar nerd who made it big.
Ramon, mea culpa…mea culpa…you are absolutely right, Rush is in their own league. I was wrong to mention them in the same breath as April Wine. In penance I will go buy Caress of Steel and listen to it 10 times. Argh…the fact that I do not OWN Caress of Steel already is a deeper sin, which can only be corrected by buying RUSH and listening to “In The Mood” 20 times while reciting John Rutsey’s name over and over again..
It’s sort of a recursive circle of musical sin. Which is kind of what being a Rush head is all about, really.
I’m not knocking the blood sucking of bones. I’m knocking the weirdos who like it. I haven’t eaten cow testicles either, but I’m pretty sure chewing on balls isn’t for me.
Joe well put. I totally know where you are coming from and can totally respect it. I thought I’d never read such an excellent defense for Boston.
I think my biggest abhorrence of Boston is that song, (is it More than a feeling?) that opens with that organ line and it sounds like it’s gonna be cool then it breaks into the main song…fuck drives me crazy because that introduction always does fool me into thinking that something cool really is coming up then I’m always like “Goddamn it! It’s that shitty Boston song again!!!”
Justin, while I won’t cast doubt on your claim that Schulz is a money-hungry twat, I think your reasoning is a little flawed if it is supported by a story about years spent in a basement refining a rock record. Let’s just say there are easier ways to bilk a gullible public. You know, like hire a staff of “experts” to carefully fabricate your entire career. Schulz sounds more like a geeky perfectionist than anything. Greedy scum take less than twelve years to put out new records.
And Carlos, many of our respective bands shows have been overrun by stupid crowds, that treat isn’t just reserved for chorus-pedal heavy New Englanders.
My mother was fond of marrow sucking and often did so at the most inopportune times, which is another reason why I loved her so much. She learned it from her Indian food cooking teacher.
Damn, I miss her cooking.
Oh, and Ramon, I believe you are thinking of the song Foreplay/Long Time.
Maybe the chicken bone thing is all about the presentation. I’m really just being argumentative while I fuck my neck up more in front of this computer all day.I have put some crazy shit in my mouth since living with the smallest native tribe in the world. Dried seal, caribou tongue, octopus, molusks, seal oil (which smells like baby poop), lard icecream, rancid buried fish heads.. decayed salmon, fish eggs, moose heart, all of this after eating barbacoa and everything else texmex had to offer. More importantly… All of this after being vegan for 7 years. So you see, I am more than capable of changing my mind. One of my best friends here, came over for a barbq a few years ago. I had fatty gristle on my plate that I was saving for the dog. She came over to me, said, “Are you going to eat that?” and before I could answer, she had grabbed it and was sucking on it telling me it was the best part… I guess so if you live off of subsistance hunts and the winters are evil hell on the skinny. Thanks for the fun commentary this week everyone. It helped me with the podcast art.
I was just pointing out that he recorded in his basement, since Joe seemed to think that the recording was expensive. It wasn’t–or it wasn’t beyond the initial investment of a recording studio.
You can see an interview with Scholz here.
Now don’t get me wrong Sparrow… I LOVE 70s arena rock… just not Boston, not Rush, and CERTAINLY not Queen… jeez man, no no no… but Aerosmith, Foghat, Grand Funk Railroad, Nazareth, etc… all great in my book… and that’s what I was saying about Plant… don’t hate the player, hate the game… it’s not his fault he was the genesis of a whole decade of sucky screeching singers… but he was, there’s no doubt about that.
Foghat great? Surely you jest. They almost single-handedly ruined my middle school years. Their cover of I Just Wanna Make Love To You is possibly the worst cover song of all time, barring perhaps Project Grimm doing Bridge of Sighs.
Yeah Foghat? Please. And Grand Funk Railroad. NO. That song about getting closer to their home, you know the one that never gets close to an ending, is the most frustrating pile of violin layered bs ever. Aerosmith too. They have a few good songs and a lot of baloney.
Sigh. The NAP always succombs to the call of the Classic Rock siren. I guess its our collective age. Oh well it’s fun I guess. At least we’re not going on and on about Stereo Lab.
I still agree with Justin. Boston just smells phony. It doesn’t help me at all to know they toiled away in their basement. I’ve known lots of “musicians” who do that kind of thing but have no soul, always thinking about that money maker. Boston has absolutely no soul. Does anyone here believe they were “just another band out of Boston?” I never believed they were a band at all. Anyway the mothership was in the air around that time. Now there’s a ship I could board.
Oh and I’m with Claire on the chicken bones thing. I guess I can understand somebody eating a drumstick and sucking on the bone. I guess. BUT I cannot imagine buying a bucket of bones. What happened to the meat anyway?
Charlie Naked Said
“CERTAINLY not Queen… jeez man, no no no..”
Oh Charlie. Steven Tyler? I’ve never seen him say anything that didn’t make me throw up in my mouth. And I’m tired of his Kevin Bacon-Quicksilver-like WAD exposure. DISQUALIFIED!
Here’s a link to Citysearch regarding Time Out and their box of bones (i remember it looking more like a bucket, but i guess late night memories are not always the clearest). The meat i guess goes to make chicken tenders and other boneless chicken delicacies.
Grand Funk are brilliant. Later on, they sounded more sellout but Kilian, I defy you to listen to their early albums and not at least crack a grin.
Charlie, if you’re lying about hating Queen, which you obviously are, how can I trust your Rush hatred?
I think you’re a closet Rush fan.
Lying about hating Queen? I think not! Wherever did you get such a silly idea!
Foghat, okay, maybe not so great, but they have a few good songs. Grand Funk? Take that song you’re talking about OFF their first album (I agree wholeheartedly with the hatred for that song) and it’s a GREAT 70s rock record. Anyone who tries to say “Sin’s a Good Man’s Brother” isn’t a kickass song has got to fight me. And Aerosmith’s first five albums? AWESOME. Listen to “Rocks” and (again) forget the ubiquitous last song power ballad and it’s just ROCK.
That’s the thing about that sub-genre of music… their albums had a formula. Typically the last song was the power ballad or the acoustic guitar experiment or whatever, and it sucks. Lose that, and you’ve got a great album… Examples?
Aerosmith: Toys in the Attic (last song? “You See Me Crying”)
Aerosmith: Rocks (last song? “Home Tonight”)
Lynyrd Skynyrd: pronounced leh-nerd skeh-nerd (Last song? “Free Bird”)
Grand Funk Railroad: Closer to Home (last song? “I’m Your Captain”)
Again and again… it’s just the formula. Lose that last song, and you’ve got some great rock records. That’s all I’m saying.
I do agree. It’s the ballads that kill me. Actually the formulaic quality of those bands is the problem.
Toys in the Attic doesn’t really have any filler. As a kid, I listened to it over and over again playing along with my guitar, indeed skipping the last song each time. I hate all their ballads. Rocks has some of my favorite AS songs (Last Child being my very favorite) but also fillers.
Grand Funk, filler. Lynrd Skynrd, filler filler. And don’t even turn to the Guess Who.
Lynyrd Skynyrd had a lot of filler, true, but that one album also had “Simple Man” and “Tuesday’s Gone”, both of which I greatly enjoy.
There’s occasionally something to be said for formula. It gives groups a framework within which to work, and that makes the strength of those albums their economy, and allows you to judge the band by what they do within that structure, or with that economy. Those albums are typically (by today’s standards certainly) short, and they follow some basic patterns, so it’s cool to listen to them and then notice where the patterns occur, and what different bands do with them. The ballad last song isn’t the only commonality. Typically the second to last or sometimes third to last track on the album is going to be a jam or something similarly different from the rest of the album. Usually the second track is going to be something a little funkier and less overtly “rock”… I don’t know, it’s just interesting to me. There are certainly far fewer great 70s rock albums than bad ones, but that’s the case with most sub-genres of music, right?
P.S. Okay, I do have to admit, my enjoyment of Grand Funk probably has MOSTLY to do with “Sin’s a Good Man’s Brother”. I can’t discount the band that wrote that song, but I will admit that very few other songs on that album or any other by them have had nearly a comparable impact on me.
Charlie, You should submit more music for the podcast.
I bet these people here on this thread hope I don’t…
Hope in one hand, shit in the other….
I received Is this seat taken, anthracite, massive structures, content specific, and misery and a paycheck in the mail today. You could volunteer up any of that stuff. I can cut exerpts too if you tell me where. Great music. Thanks.
Good selections! I’m partial to Anthracite and Massive Structures myself… how long can these things be, max?
I’ve got some of the 70s rock stuff discussed here ripped and ready to go to you, but I can throw in something less objectionable from my own stash as well if you’d like.
Oh, and thanks for buying stuff too…
Hating classic rock is to me the most pretensious form of snobbery. I understand and appreciate the overexposure element, but for god’s sake, don’t listen to the radio, it works for me. Skynyrd wrote some great songs. As for formula, delta blues anyone? If the formula is effective, who gives a fuck. Submit Tuesday’s Gone, Charlie, and I will love you forever.