Our story begins with a man named Tom Scholz. He wrote and recorded demos in an apartment basement with singer Brad Delp. They got signed to Epic Records in 1975, but while the label wanted them to record an album professionally in Los Angeles, Scholz and co-producer John Boylan secretly did most of the tracking in Scholz’s Boston home. The band Boston would release their self-titled debut in August 1976. While Boylan and Delp were both important to the album’s creation, it was ultimately Tom Scholz’s baby. He co-produced the record, he wrote most of the songs by himself, and even played most of the instruments by himself. So I can only assume he made a LOT of money from this album.
It was at one point the best-selling debut album in U.S. history. It is still one of the best-selling debut albums of all time, as well as one of the fastest-selling. By October 1976, it was certified Gold in the U.S. Just a month later, it had gone Platinum. It has since been certified seventeen times Platinum in the U.S.
Despite that, it only peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200, but that is by no means a fault of the album or its singles. “More Than A Feeling” was a top 5 hit on the Hot 100 while “Long Time” and “Peace Of Mind” peaked lower in the top 40. All three remain classic rock staples to this day, and by sheer coincidence, they’re all on Side A. But having already heard this whole album before, I can promise that Side B is absolutely not lacking in bangers.
“Rock & Roll Band” and “Smokin’” are both classics that also became rock radio staples. I think I might have also heard the last three songs – “Hitch A Ride,” “Something About You,” and “Let Me Take You Home Tonight” – somewhere, but regardless, they’re really good songs too. That last one was written solely by Brad Delp, by the way.
So yeah, this is a no-skip album. If you somehow haven’t heard it already, go change that.
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