Oh come on… Everybody loved this one. You know you did!!! You can probably still sing every song on the album, word for word!
This was a HUGE album for me. Listen to the drumming on “Long Time’, the whole song is awesome, but the intro and how the drums play along with everything. Yep the organ stands out on that song – but listen to the bass guitar and the work done on the ride cymbal – as a teenager, I used to listen to this, over and over, and try and figure out… was he doing that ride cymbal with one hand??? Is he that fast? There was no YouTube. Music Videos and MTV wasn’t around. There was just you and the Album, in a room, with headphones, going “what is going on here?”
Everyone has probably heard the story about Tom Scholz working and re-working this album until the tape stuck to the heads of the machine. I don’t know if it was true or not. But the result was, in my mind, surgical perfection. Every movement was done purposefully, strategically. I ate it up.
The albums to come carried on the same feel. The same precision. And they got my attention – but they were all overshadowed by this album. Nothing could match it. Well, Ark displaced this for sure. But there is a great feeling when this comes on the playlist, turned up really loud – like when you are blasting down a back country road with the top down… Just good memories.
Again, classified as Progressive now, I can’t remember what people tried to box this up with back in the day. We always need to try and put things in corners with other things – I guess to try and make better sense in our heads. But to me, this one stands out on its own. The layers, the vocals, the players – it all came together on this one. I will be doing a Boston drum cover soon, I am pretty sure!!!
Play with passion, sing with heart
