BOSTON

CORPORATE AMERICA 2002 (C)
The name of Bostons latest cd should really be call It's Been Such A Long Time part 5. What is it about an average of 5 years between cds? What was there last cd called? Who is Boston? That should be the rally cry for Boston fans.The Bands cd COPORATE AMERICA is different than any other Boston cds for a few reasons...1) Several vocalist on one cd, 3.2) A woman is in the band, on bass.3) Several songs not written by Scholz.4) The least sounding Boston cd out there.The vocalist is a welcome part for the most part. Fran Cosomo joins Brad on several songs, plus each do there own. The bad part is it takes away from the wonder called Brad Delp. Also, Kim Dahme is the other vocalist, and she is good, but when she is singing it is NOT Boston. Kim also plays bass and does a great job of it.The cd starts out with I Had A Good Time is a great song that fits into any Boston cd. Band seems like they are having fun at it too, need to with a title like that. Cosmo wrote and sings the next song Stare Out Your Window, which could have come off the underrated WALK ON cd. Stare is also a good song, with a little slower pace to it. Cosmo vocals are good.The title track has all the vocalists on the song, singing, screaming, and purring to the voice of Corporate America and it's corruption. But the production isn't quite what I would have hoped for on this song. The vocals are all mixed together, but it may have been intended this way.Turn It Off and Crying are also good songs, for the fact they seem more old style Boston and less the "new" Boston.Rest of the songs are really not that great, but most of the time I end up hitting the skip button. But I do have one burning question for Scholz, why, WHY, is a live version of Livin For You on the cd?!? It an ok song, not the worse or best from WALK ON. So why have it on here, it not any different from the first version. Maybe it is because to write another song would have added a year or two to the cd coming out. But what is a year or two to Boston. The song may have been good!


GREATEST HITS 1997 /2009 (A-/A)
Boston has only four cds at the time of this hits collection, but it has been about 20 years during those four cds. The Hits cd has all the big songs and a few minor ones. Even has three new songs plus a a remix of one of the new ones.All the old songs deserve their place on this record. My grip on that is only one song form the WALK ON cd is on this cd, and that is the mellow Livin For You. The songs Walk On, I Need Your Love, and Surrender To Me are the better of the songs form WALK ON.My other grip, is the new songs. Tell Me is an ok song, sounds like a left over from WALK ON, The Star Spangled Banner is a Scholz showcase (Neal Schon of Journey does it way better). But the main grip is Higher Power, a great new song, but not good enough to be on here twice in two different edits. Come on...Could have put one of the WALK ON songs on here instead.



Well the 2009 version did just that, they put I Need Your Love from WALK ON, as an extra song, and got rid of the extra edit of Higher Power, which was a good song, but it didn't need to be on the cd twice. Then they got rid of the weaker then new song Tell Me, and put a song from CORPORATE AMERICA, I Had A Good Time. This makes for a much better cd.


WALK ON 1994 (B)
Boston Walk On cd was their first cd with out the amazing front man Brad Delp. Instead of Delp they replaced him with Fran Cosmo and Tommy Funderburk. This cd has an overall heavy sound to it, due to the type of music and the heavy handed production.

The cd starts off heavy and hard with I Need Your Love, and although it is apparent Delp is not singing, the song is still pulled off rather good. And The cd keeps rolling with Surrender To Me, another rocker with the two vocalist trading off leads. This works out well.

The cd slows down a bit with Livin' For You, a rather slow temp song, that doesn't bring the cd to a stop, but kinda breaks the tempo that is set for the cd. While the vocals are good, it is on the slower songs were Brad is really missed.

The 4 part title track is one of my all time favorite Boston songs, and a great song to hear in concert. The song as all the elements of a classic song, soaring vocals, wailing guitars, a crunching bass line, and over the top keyboards. AWESOME SONG!!!!

But the cd falls apart after this. The three remaining songs are some of the weakest ever done by Boston. Magdelene is a symphonic disaster, and the vocals are flat. What's Your Name is lame and We Can Make shows promise but never raises above the promise.

A good start for the new line up, and better than the weak 2nd Boston cd DON'T LOOK BACK, but it is a shame it takes two vocalist to fill Delp's shoes.


THIRD STAGE 1986 (A-)
Boston took about 6 years to get get their 3rd cd out. And 3rd stage was well worth the wait. Their DON'T LOOK BACK cd seemed like a ripoff of their 1st cd. But their new cd is a huge steep forward over their last cd. The songs are better, are better written, better played, and better produced.

Amanda starts off the cd, and with its blend of electric and acoustic guitars, it makes for a great song. Brad sings his butt off on this song, the emotion is real and honest.

We're Ready keeps the cd going and slowly builds before fading out into the Launch, which is a prelude to Cool The Engines. Cool...is a good song that really rocks. The drums and bass on this song are great and really add to this hyped up song.

The cd started off great with the above songs, but the next songs, although not bad, are the weakest on the cd. My Destination, A New World/To Be A Man are still better than most songs on the DON'T LOOK BACK cd.

But the cd picks back up with I Think I Like It, but it is Cantcha Say (You Believe In Me) that gets the cd rolling along again. Brad again delivers the goods, and Tom who plays most of the instruments delivers.

The cd closes like it opens, with an electric/acoustic song that rocks. Hollyann has Brad's best vocal on any Boston song. Sad to say, he would never have an all Boston cd to his self again.

DON'T LOOK BACK 1978 (C+)
3rd Stage is well written and well produced and well worth owning.
Don't Look Back is Boston's 2nd cd. At First when you put this cd on, and the title track comes on you know you are about to be treated to another great cd from the band. Don't Look Back is a killer track with an awesome riff. I would put this song up against any on the first cd. But things start falling apart after that. The Journey and It's Easy are nowhere near the quality of the first cd.

A Man I'll Never Be, not the rockin of the previous cd on this cd, shows another side of the band not shown before. With more reflective lyrics and a slower mode to the song. And it comes off good.

Feelin Saistfied is another good song, that will have humming along with it. But almost feels like a rip off of the first cd. Party is cut from the same cloth of Smokin and Rock-n-Roll BAnd. But it does it with a slightly fresh feel to it, and leaving you wondering if they were trying to copy the other two songs.

Used To Bad News and Don't Be Afraid close out the cd and leave you feeling what just happened? The cd starts off great, then wonders in and out of good songs. Plus the production seems muddled. A very poor second effort from the band.

BOSTON 1976 (A+)
Another one of the great all time debut albums of all time. Boston 1st cd, Boston, from 1976 is the Bands best cd. Like most bands that have a very strong debut, they never recapture the magic of the first cd. But Boston unlike most bands come close to the magic on other releases, but do not quite make it. Who would have thought that this little 8 song cd (record at the time) would also be the biggest selling debut by an artist (until Whitney Huston came along), for over a decade.

There is not a inferior song on this cd. Every song has ,magic to it. And a lot of that is owed to Brad Delp. One of the best singers ever, and one of the most under appreciated. This man can hit the notes and make it seem easy. And Tom Scholz has a unique guitar sound all his owe. He is one of theses guys when you hear the first chord of his axe, you know it is him. Maybe that is why Boston's first cd was so big, combine Delp and Scholz, plus some dang good tunes and you have one great cd.

More Than A Feeling starts off so innocent with its acoustic guitar, then turns into a monster of a song, with its crunching guitar, the clapping, and the impossible high notes. You can't but help sing along.

Peace Of Mind will have you pumping your fist in the air to it's rhythm, and humming along.

Rock -N- Roll Band and Smokin are cut from the same cloth. These songs will have you playing air guitar to them, and wishing you were in a rock and roll band, this rock and roll band. These songs just rock, pure and simple. But that is it, there is really nothing pure or simply about Boston's music.

Fore Play is one of my favorite instrumentals of all time. It has one of the best beats ever heard in a song. It is a perfect lead in for Long Time, a song that Delp owns. The man is just awe inspiring on this, as he is with Let Me Take You Home Tonight. This another song in which he shines. And another great sing along song too.

Something About You also shows the depth of Delps voice to. Not only can he hit the high notes, but he sounds good on a lower register.

Boston is more than Delp and Scholz, catch a live show and see what it takes to make there sound. But in the studio it is just the two of them, and they are are magic.

RTZ


FOUND IN AMERICA 2005 (B-)



Found in America ia left over songs from the first cd. The songs are good but the production isn't quite as good as the last two RTZ cds. It is a shame too, because the cd song wise is pretty good. I have seen different covers for this cd, and slightly different naming of the cd. Turn This Love Around is a clear standout on this cd, as is the live recording of Return To Zero.


LOST 1999 (B)
This second cd by the band is another good cd. But it is not near as good as the original. Lost starts off with a one, two, three punch that jsut about kills rest of the cd. These three songs are so powerful that it is hard to overcome you sense of awe over theses songs. After these songs I was stunned about how good they were, that rest of the cd was a disappointment, even on the better songs that followed on the cd.

The first three songs could have easily been on the first RTZ or Boston cd. But the following two songs, Violent Days and Change for Change are the weak songs for the cd. They really seem out of place here with rest of the music.

One In A Million gets better, but the cd kicks it back up with the next three songs, but Don't Lead Me On ends kinda weak. But over all a good cd.

I must say the production on this cd is the best of the RTZ cds, and the band plays good. This is some Brad Delp's best work ever...

RTZ 1991 (A-)
Boston's lead singer Brad Delp and ex Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau form a group between Boston cds, RTZ. Their debut cd RETURN TO ZERO is a very good cd. Barry and Brad have worked together on other projects away from Boston, but RTZ is their best effort. Barry was always over shadowed by guitarist Scholz in Boston, so we get to see what Barry has to offer, which is a lot. And Brad shines even more with this more laid back simple production of the cd.

The cd starts off with Face The Music, a song that slowly builds both musically and vocally and ends up delivery in a big way on the opening track. And it isn't just the opening track that packs a punch, There's Another Side and All You Got both delivery the goods. Leaving no doubt in my mind, that this is a Boston cd that never got released.

Songs even get better with some of Delp's best vocals ever with This Is My Life and Rain Down On Me. And the simple clear production is a blessing to these songs. Having Scholz heavy handed (but good) sound on the songs would only have taken away from them.

And the simple majestic Until You Love Comes Back Around is a Delp performance that begs the listener not to feel his loneliness. This Delp's best vocal ever!! The piano is haunting and as simple as the song is express more emotion than any Boston song since there debut cd.

The title track is a song that could have fit on any Boston cd, and is the closest sounding classic Boston sound.

But as good as this cd is, there are some not so great songs and a dog on here. The dog is Livin For Rock-n-Roll. Sounds like the song was made just to put the word rock and roll into a song. Devil To Pay and Hard Time are pretty weak to.

Overall a very good debut cd from the band

Other side projects


Orion The Hunter


ORION THE HUNTER 1984 (B)
Orion The Hunter is want to be Boston cd. It had Barry Goudreau, one Boston's guitarist, and Fran Cosmo a soon to be Boston vocalist. Plus Brad Delp (Boston vocalist) made a guest appearance on a couple songs, plus co wrote a couple of others.

Having said that Orion is a decent cd, with some good songs. But for the most part the cd sounds dated nowadays. But songs like there hit So You Ran, I Call It Love, and All Those Years hold up pretty good. Dark and Stormy is a good song, but with a title like that, you would want a little more raw emotion in the song.

Rest of the songs are ok, but for the most part it his hard to get past how 80's the cd sounds at times.



Barry Goudreau


BARRY GOUDREAU 1980 (B)


For many years this cd has been tried to be passed off as an unreleased 3rd Boston cd (Mission Aborted). I can see why too, Delp is singing and the song have that classic Boston fill to them. The only thing missing is the heavy handed guitar of Scholz. But that can be over looked, Delp just takes you to another place with his singing. This cd is hard to find, but worth looking for. Nothin To Loose is my favorite song from the cd. Life Is What you MAke It is also a great song. Rest of the songs are good, nothing really bad on this disk.




DELP & GOUDREAU 2003 (A-)



This is a stand out disk, never has Delp sounded any better. The minute you push play, you'll be takin back by his voice. What You Leave Behind is masterful, and after his death gives the song even more meaning. The whole cd is like this. His voice is stellar, and Barry's playing is superior to just about anything he has done. The songs are a slow to middle tempo to them, but pack a punch behind them. A fitting cd to the end of Delp's career.