OT: One of the best debut albums ever from 1976

[RUboston]

47 years ago this month, hard to believe. I still listen to it. Who remembers this? Great time to be a teenager. The songs have aged so well. More Than a Feeling, Peace of Mind, Smokin', Rock & Roll Band, Hitch a Ride, and my favorite from the album:

 

[RULoyal]

My freshman year at Cook. Blasting out of every apartment window.

 

[RUboston]

It was played everywhere.

 

[e5fdny]

Pretty sure I have mentioned before but…

“Rock and Roll Band” was the first song that came on the radio after I kissed her for the first time.

This was well before I met my wife. Different “her” in this case.

 

[MulletCork]

Is Boston yacht rock ?

Great band!

 

[DJ Spanky]

One of the best debut albums ever from 1976

No question.

One of my favorite songs is Foreplay/Long Time.

 

[Knight Shift]

All I want is to have a pizza pie

 

[LOU-RU85]

47 years ago this month, hard to believe. I still listen to it. Who remembers this? Great time to be a teenager. The songs have aged so well. More Than a Feeling, Peace of Mind, Smokin', Rock & Roll Band, Hitch a Ride, and my favorite from the album:

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That was an awesome album. One of the he best for sure.

 

[ruinac]

A guy in the dorm room next to mine went home for the weekend and left his 8 track on playing that album for two days. I still jump to change the radio station whenever anything from it comes on.

Nice guy but I hadn’t heard his name since I left the banks. I just Googled his name and learned that he was caught in a college sports admission bribery case and was sentenced almost exactly a year ago.

 

[RU848789]

...

 

[e5fdny]

A guy in the dorm room next to mine went home for the weekend and left his 8 track on playing that album for two days. I still jump to change the radio station whenever anything from it comes on.

Nice guy but I hadn’t heard his name since I left the banks. I just Googled his name and learned that he was caught in a college sports admission bribery case and was sentenced almost exactly a year ago.

Guy on my floor did that for “Hotel California” on his CD player.

I do the same thing.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I recall hearing Springsteen out every dorm window on move-in days for many years.

Boston was high school stuff for me. For 1976 debut albums I preferred The Ramones or Tom Petty or even Southside Johnny. Boston was HUGE though and More Than a Feeling was the song endlessly played in my mind. Blondie debut in 1976 was something of which I was totally unaware... not until Parallel Lines did they pop on my radar.

 

[Knight Shift]

Guy on my floor did that for “Hotel California” on his CD player.

I do the same thing .

Guy 2 doors down from me in Davidson B would blast Slide It In by White snake every single day. Never got sick of that song.

 

[Steve91562]

I feel old now.

 

[RUGuitarMan]

My freshman year at RU (76-77), that album was played constantly all over the dorms. Very good album and good band. The other album that was played constantly was Springsteen’s “Born to Run” which came out in 75.

 

[zappaa]

Toto, Boston, Kansas, Bad Company, Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, The Dead, Foreigner, Thin Lizzy, Zeppelin, Stones, Hall and Oates, War, Tower Of Power, Isley Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Elvis, EW&F, Commodores, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, The Outlaws, Steely Dan, Eagles, Aerosmith, Frampton, AWB, BeeGees, Orleans, America, Loggins and Messina.
What a shitty time for music

 

[Ronnie_B]

Toto, Boston, Kansas, Bad Company, Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, The Dead, Foreigner, Thin Lizzy, Zeppelin, Stones, Hall and Oates, War, Tower Of Power, Isley Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Elvis, EW&F, Commodores, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, The Outlaws, Steely Dan, Eagles, Aerosmith, Frampton, AWB, BeeGees, Orleans, America, Loggins and Messina.
What a shitty time for music

1976 might be when rock hit it's high, these were the top albums put out that year:

 

[WhiteBus]

This is the one album I loved when it came out but I can't stand it now as it was overplayed so much for a decade.

 

[Knight Owl]

No question.

One of my favorite songs is Foreplay/Long Time.

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This song was a good value on the jukebox while playing “flipper” pinball at 7 songs for 50 cents. We could play for hours on a few quarters by hitting for free games on the machine at my local pizza shop. Plain slice was 35 cents and they were cool enough to oblige with a free small water. I remember when they raised the slice to 40 cents in 1978…would be roughly equivalent to 2 bucks now.

 

[rubaseball78]

They played at the Barn sometime around 1976/77.

 

[Ronnie_B]

No question.

One of my favorite songs is Foreplay/Long Time.

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Back in 1980s me and my buddies won a summer league championship in basketball, beat the team that hadn't lost in three years, while leaving the courts victorious Foreplay/Long Time was playing on the radio. Every time I hear it I get wonderful flashbacks.

 

[Knight Owl]

Tom Scholz was a 70’s version of Les Paul. Approached music as any mad scientist would.
Delp’s (RIP) soaring studio vocals on this album were as precise and sincere of a rock vocal as you’ll ever hear.

 

[Bababooey_Class'80]

I was one of the luckies who saw them play at the Barn. I thought they were great and sounded just like the album. If my memory serves correctly (doubtful) that show was announced with not much advance notice as they wanted a warmup show just prior to their first major show at Madison Square Garden the next night (or shortly thereafter). Great time to be at RU 1977 - 1980.

 

[ashokan]

Boston sounded "noisy" to me.
I grew-up in a mostly R&B town.
Motown, Philly, TSOP - smooth and romantic music - no making a racket (maybe Parliamnet sometimes).
Most singers came out of the black churches and gospel - they had the pipes.
Rock was ok but it seemed like a lot of junkies, where R&B wasn't leaving a swath of destruction in its wake.
My rock friends were honor society guys who drank a case of beer on Sat nights and were banging their heads on cars by midnight lol

 

[toby83]

This song was a good value on the jukebox while playing “flipper” pinball at 7 songs for 50 cents. We could play for hours on a few quarters by hitting for free games on the machine at my local pizza shop. Plain slice was 35 cents and they were cool enough to oblige with a free small water. I remember when they raised the slice to 40 cents in 1978…would be roughly equivalent to 2 bucks now.

You can probably find that same jukebox at the Irish Pub in AC

 

[newwavedave1]

Never was a huge Boston fan.

 

[Kbee3]

Never was a huge Boston fan.

Frankly, I thought they sucked. And I don't know anyone who played their stuff.
Or owned their albums. Never played at any of my tailgates.

 

[zappaa]

Frankly, I thought they sucked. And I don't know anyone who played their stuff.
Or owned their albums. Never played at any of my tailgates.

Understandable, they were a studio band and had a slight bubble gum twinge that older rockers like us didn’t care for.

They were supposedly very solid, technically sound excellent musicians…. If that means anything

 

[Ronnie_B]

I don't know any band that was ever universally loved by all.

 

[Ronnie_B]

Understandable, they were a studio band and had a slight bubble gum twinge that older rockers like us didn’t care for.

They were supposedly very solid, technically sound excellent musicians…. If that means anything

They reminded me some of Steely Dan.

 

[zappaa]

I don't know any band that was ever universally loved by all.

Led Zeppelin 1 is in my top 5 albums ever.
By Houses of the Holy I didn’t like the way they were trending but others loved it.
They were pretty close to being universally loved.
Pete Townsand thought they sucked…lol

 

[RUGuitarMan]

They reminded me some of Steely Dan.

Steely Dan was certainly a studio band in the 70s. Bands that can really play live always were among my favorites and I kind of held that against Steely Dan although I really liked their music. Eventually, I saw Steely Dan live a few times and they were among the best sounding concerts I ever attended.

 

[mdk01]

1976 might be when rock hit it's high, these were the top albums put out that year:

Do a list for '67 and '68 and they might be even better.

 

[RU4Real]

"Boston" was barely a "first album", because that implies there's a second. I mean, I know they recorded it, but... damn, it was awful.

Truly a unique accomplishment in the rock era: produce a debut album where every single track is great and then do nothing after that.

 

[Will Scarlet]

Isn’t Boston the only debut album to ever debut at #1 on Billboard?

 

[RUGuitarMan]

Do a list for '67 and '68 and they might be even better.

1971 , 1970 and 1969 are among the best in my opinion. Quite a few critics think 1971 was the best year for rock albums, I don’t disagree.

 

[RUGuitarMan]

1971:

100 Greatest Albums of 1971

List of 100 greatest rock and pop music albums released in 1971 featuring "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye at number 1.

digitaldreamdoor.com

 

[Bababooey_Class'80]

"Boston" was barely a "first album", because that implies there's a second. I mean, I know they recorded it, but... damn, it was awful.

Truly a unique accomplishment in the rock era: produce a debut album where every single track is great and then do nothing after that.

Wow. Amazing how people have such different musical tastes. Personally, I like their second album better than the first. Don't Look Back, A Man I'll Never Be and Used to Bad News are outstanding songs IMO. The third album is questionable, although I think Amanda is a damn good song. (I guess I could be considered a Boston fan. LOL)

 

[mdk01]

1971 , 1970 and 1969 are among the best in my opinion. Quite a few critics think 1971 was the best year for rock albums, I don’t disagree.

You're probabably right numerically. But most of those artists debuted in '67 and '68?

 

[rucoe89]

47 years ago this month, hard to believe. I still listen to it. Who remembers this? Great time to be a teenager. The songs have aged so well. More Than a Feeling, Peace of Mind, Smokin', Rock & Roll Band, Hitch a Ride, and my favorite from the album:

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Still a classic!