Third Stage - Boston - 1986 (MCA)
Although by current standards today, eight years between albums is not seen as a particularly long hiatus, people had more or less given up on Boston recording a third album, after their excellent self-titled debut in 1976 gave us the superclassic “More Than a Feeling”, with follow-up and, in my opinion, much weaker album Don't look back hard on its heels in 1978. The wait seemed so long that when
Third Stage was pre-announced in the musical press in 1986 the tagline was “Third Boston album to be released --- this is NOT a sick joke!”
Indeed it was not, but as I said in the beginning, we had all more or less accepted the fact that two albums were all we were ever going to see from this American hard rock band, who would forever be known for THAT song. And no-one was particularly surprised: some bands release one album, some two, and are never heard from again. In fact, quite often the mega-success of a massive hit single like “More Than a Feeling” can have a negative effect on a band, forcing them to pull out every stop to try to equal or surmount that one classic, a feat which often is beyond their power.
But then, in 1986 came the promised third album, and it was called, appropriately enough,
Third Stage. In keeping with previous albums, the cover art featured a spaceship, though this time it's too far away to see if the word BOSTON is emblazoned across it (probably is) and it's either taking off from or landing on some sort of orbiting space station.
After all the fuss, I was expecting to be totally blown away from the start (or that it would be total and utter dog poo!) but instead we're treated to a soft, tender ballad, which really belongs more near the end of such an album. “Amanda” begins on acoustic guitar, then the electric comes in, and the distinctive voice of the late, lamented Brad Delp is heard once again gracing our speakers. It's a lovely song, concerned with a “seize the day before it's too late” theme, as Delp sings
”I don't think I can hide/ What I'm feeling inside/ Another day/ Knowing I love you”. The traditional Boston guitar sound is there too, and suddenly we're (almost) back in 1976, but things get going properly with the next track, “We're Ready”, with the tempo kicking up and Tom Scholz's trademarked Rockman doing its thing. In fact, is there ANYTHING this guy doesn't do in this band? Here, he plays guitar, bass, piano, organ, drums, percussion, and Norwegian nose flute! Yeah, just kidding about that last one: it's a
Danish nose flute... What do you mean, there's no such thing? Would I make something like that up? I see. I had no idea you felt that way. Well then, there's nothing left to say, really, is there...?
Scholz also writes or co-writes almost every track here, and to be fair, there's not a bad one on the album. Even the next one up, an instrumental of sorts, called “The Launch”, being as it is initially made up of the sound of rocket engines firing and a solitary organ played by you-know-who, comes across as a really vital addition to the overall theme of the album, that of arriving somewhere new. Apparently, Boston wanted to call this album
Arrival, but ABBA beat them to it... The guitars crash in for the second part of the instrumental, backed up by marching drums, and the whole thing comes across as very film-soundtrack-y. It leads into “Cool the Engines”, another fast track dealing with the imminent destruction of the planet:
”We keep getting' hotter/ Movin' way too fast/ If we don't slow this fire down/ We're not gonna last!” Scholz's guitar is in heavy evidence again, but it's really Delp's incredible vocal range that carries the most weight on this song, pleading for calm in a world gone mad.
This is followed by a sort of reprise of the opener. “My Destination” is exactly the same melody and lyrical structure as “Amanda”, and a lot slower with a more urgent vocal. Next is another instrumental, “A New World”, which is really nothing more than a short (less than a minute) guitar prelude to the second ballad - if you count “Amanda” and “My Destination” as essentially the same song. Even at that, “To Be a Man” is a powerful song, with snarling guitar and steady drums, and doesn't really stay a ballad for long. There's a really nice piano line that carries the verses, then we're into a real rocker, “I Think I Like it” which recalls the likes of “Rock and Roll Band” and “Long Time” from the debut, showing once and for all that Boston are at heart first and foremost a rock band.
The penultimate track is split into two, the first part titled “Cant'cha Say?” and starting off on an acapella chorus before the guitars get going, its theme balladic but its execution very firnly rocker, and here again Brad Delp shines, showing why he is such a great loss to the music world, and how few if any could ever hope to match his vocal range and power. This guy made Coverdale sound like Stallone! Part 2 is called “Still in Love”, and is basically a very short ballad-type bridge in the song, before it goes back into “Cant'cha Say” for the conclusion, putting the perfect finishing touches on a really great track.
And we end as we began, on a lovely little ballad. This time it's called “Hollyann” and gives Scholz yet another chance to display his prowess on the guitar and the Rockman before the band bid us farewell on a flurry of guitar riffs.
After waiting eight years to see if Boston could come up with a) another album and b) one of the quality of the debut, I was somewhat surprised and delighted to be able to tick off not just a) but b) as well, and quite comfortably too.
Third Stage is, perhaps paradoxically, the album Boston should have made after their self-titled debut. They left it a little late, but in 1986 Boston were able to kick us in the ribs and say “Hey! We're still here you know, and we're more than just THAT song!” How right they were, and it was
definitely worth the wait!
TRACK LISTING
1. Amanda
2. We're Ready
3. The Launch
4. Cool the Engines
5. My Destination
6. A New World
7. To Be a Man
8. I Think I Like it
9. Cant'cha Say/Still in Love
10. Hollyann