It’s almost considered career suicide for any band to wait an
\nextended period of time between album releases. The fickle tastes
\nof the consumer, plus the shifting alliances of the executives in
\nthe music industry, almost demand that groups keep material in
\nfront of people’s faces in order to remain successful.<\/p>\n
Tom Scholz, the brain behind Boston, looked at that rule and
\nsaid, “The hell with it.” He had rushed out Boston’s second album,
\nDon’t Look Back<\/i>, before he was perfectly happy with it, and
\nthe end result was indeed disappointing. So, against the demands of
\nhis label, he took his sweet time on Boston’s third album.<\/p>\n
Eight years – that’s how long it took for
\nThird Stage<\/i> to hit the market. In that time, Scholz and Epic
\nRecords sued each other, with Scholz eventually winning his freedom
\nfrom his recording contract and giving him the ability to sign with
\nMCA Records. The band also saw its ranks shrink; by the time
\nThird Stage<\/i> was done, Boston was essentially only Scholz and
\nvocalist\/guitarist Brad Delp.<\/p>\n
So was the end result worth the wait? Uh… I’ll get back to you
\non that one.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that Scholz still knew how to write a powerful
\nsong. The leadoff single (and first track) “Amanda” is evidence
\nthat a ballad can be pretty and still have some teeth to it. The
\nfollow-up track, “We’re Ready,” is a powerful follow-up that shows
\nthe heart of Boston was still beating strongly. Yes, you could
\nclaim that it was a bit formulatic when compared to other Boston
\nhits – but, then again, that’s exactly what Boston’s sound is, no
\nmatter how you look at it. The banshee wails and crunching guitar
\nare essential to the picture.<\/p>\n
The problem with
\nThird Stage<\/i> is that these two songs – plus “Can’tcha Say \/
\nStill In Love” – are the only real rock-solid efforts on this disc.
\nAnd when a long-awaited album clocks in at just under 37 minutes,
\nyou expect each and every song to be well worth the wait.<\/p>\n
If only that were the case. “The Launch” and “A New World” both
\nseem like they want to continue the instrumental\/rock song pattern
\nthat was laid out on
\nBoston<\/i> with “Foreplay \/ Long Time,” and to be honest, that
\nformula got real old real quick. I also have to wonder what Scholz
\nwas thinking when he combined “The Launch” with “Cool The Engines,”
\na song which has to rank with “Party” as one of the lamest that
\nBoston has ever done. And listen closely to “My Destination” – hear
\nshades of “Amanda” in there? I don’t know if the first side was
\nsupposed to be somewhat conceptual – at times, it does have that
\nfeel – but if it wasn’t, then one has to question why Scholz relied
\non a key melody for two songs.<\/p>\n
The second half of
\nThird Stage<\/i> makes one wonder why, after eight years in the
\nmaking, things sound a little half-baked for Boston. Tracks such as
\n“To Be A Man” and “I Think I Like It” just don’t have any real
\npunch to them like one would expect. Maybe it was just that
\nexpectations for this disc were set so high – even today, over 15
\nyears after its initial release – that even Superman would have had
\ntroubles clearing those hurdles. That all being said, the album’s
\ncloser, “Hollyann,” is a beautiful piece of music which does seem
\nlike it tries to push the envelope when it comes to Boston’s
\ntrademark sound. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there is
\nsomething unique about this song which sets it apart from the
\npack.<\/p>\n
In the end,
\nThird Stage<\/i> really isn’t a bad album, though it doesn’t seem
\nlike it lives up to the hype of having to wait eight years for it.
\nThen again, I wonder if anything would seem like it was worth it if
\nyou had to wait that long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5689],"rating":[5614],"class_list":["post-37512","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-boston","rating-rating-c-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37512"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}