Do you feel that Boston is overrated?
 

so you all think Boston is overrated? I'm not saying they are bad, but I'm tired of hearing more than a feeling and piece of mind everywhere. I think that while they are a decent band, they are played way to much on the radio. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thought you were talking about the city. I was getting ready to climb up all into the the internet and kick your ass.

Where do you live? This is 2015 and not the 1980s or are you listening to some classic rock radio station that keeps on playing the same songs over and over?

I live in Tennessee, and yes I hear the song almost every time I tune into my local classic rock station.

Bring it on. (Aims fist at computer screen)

Outside of More Than A Feeling and Amanda, I can't think of any other Boston songs that would have enough airplay or nostalgia factors these days that would put them into the overrated camp.

My local classic rock plays piece mind as much has more than a feeling.

Quick aside. Their debut exploded in the greater Boston area in the winter of 75-76. We got major snow that year and it was "wicked" cold all of the time. I have vivid memories of listening to that album on 8 track early in the morning in the school parking lot while smoking joints before first period in my bud's car. Then walking into school wasted and freezing becasue we were too cool to wear proper winter clothes.

Denim jacket + 5 degrees = Pain

And "Foreplay/Long Time".

I actually love Boston.

I think they are really good, I just feel that they get a bit to much attention.

I can't remember the last time I heard a Boston song without having been the person who decided to play it.

Well. Maybe not listen to that classic rock station so much and you wouldn't think they are overrated??????????

Just saying.

But I think I get it. Why would you want to tune in to some other station anyway? Radio has nothing but sh*t on it. Mostly.

Yeah, Ive not tuned onto the station in a few months.

Boston was great, their music is timeless.

I respect their talent, speaking as someone who was a kid at the time when they were first around. I'll admit that I was not too much into their music, but looking back there was reason why the first two albums hold up. When it came to FM Rock in The US that seriously needed to live up to the growing demand for technically sharp sounding music, they fitted the bill very well. Hooks, songs, musicianship that did not extend itself to side long epics that would have turned off radio programmers, and very direct lyrics.

I'm not into their music, but for what it was and where it was aimed for, Boston and Don't Look Back were right for the time and the audience - and looking back on bands that never made it and getting why they did not when Boston were huge, it's a tough thing to achieve. In serious fairness, "More than a Feeling" is a song perfect for Super Vans!

Never been to Boston, so I couldn't say. Hear it's pretty cold this time of year, though.

yes, 74 till 76 where a bit of a slog in terms of rock n roll, despite some good stuff, so although the first Boston album was a giant seller for its time, I don't think it stands the test of time overall.

I mean they only really had the one album.

If you listen solely to classic rock radio, then there are any number of songs/artists that you will burn out on. Given that corporate rock radio of the classic variety has a limited playlist, you'll hear "safe" songs constantly and almost never deeper cuts. Treat yourself and forget all about regular radio- get Sirius and listen to a different station every day, and you'll be surprised how often you hear something you've forgotten about, or hear something new to you that's 40 years old, lol! Personally, I haven't listened to a radio station in over a decade, unless I'm in someone else's car. I constantly rotate CDs from my collection into the truck and listen to something "new" every day. I rarely burn out on stuff anymore...

Radioplay shouldn't affect the quality of a song. The song can't help it if people decide to play it all the time.

**** off.

Payola and cocaine.

*cough* Stairway to Heaven *cough*

.

The first album is a masterpiece. Ever listen to it with headphones?

It does. It's human nature to tire of sameness. If you ate the same exact meal every day for a week, you might get tired of it. If you watch the same movie over and over, you will get bored with it eventually. No different with music, IMO, in that the more you hear a song, the more likely you will no longer notice what attracted you to it to begin with. The gimmick wears off, so to speak.
I worked as a DJ at a Top-40 radio station in the 80s. I worked 6 hour shifts, and had a playlist that was basically this: play the top 10 songs 3 times a shift, the top 20 twice a shift, the top 40 once a shift, and fill in between with "oldies" or songs that were off the charts. I remember one night in 1984, when Huey Lewis was at his prime, with the album "Sports" and the Back To The Future soundtrack. I played Huey Lewis 9 times in one shift. He had a song in the top 10, he had two songs in the top 20 and 4 overall on the top 40, plus he had 3 songs that were in the oldies rotation. Every hour, I played at least one Huey song, and in a couple, I played multiples. He had a song on the top 40 charts for over a year straight, and i grew to hate Huey with a passion. To this day, I own a copy of Sports that has never been played. The repetition of playing those songs over and over made me hate them. It's one of the bad things about being a DJ- you grow to hate some of the music you HAVE to play.

It's very similar being a musician. I've been in a few cover bands over the years, and to this day I can't stand most of the tunes we covered. From playing them repeatedly at practice, to actually performing those songs on stage, it took a toll on the impact and personal meaning the songs had when I first heard them. Even recording new songs can have the same effect at times from post editing.

Where did you DJ at (if you don't mind me asking)?

But then you could also say it's the human's fault for getting annoyed by it. If the song is the same thing all the time, the quality is too. The recipe doesn't change. It's the human that's letting it annoy him. I personally don't get annoyed by overplay.

It's just like anything else. To me the first potato chip taste the best then it's downhill from there, then become greasy salty junk food after too much, same with repeated listening to a song, or album - I loose my taste for it. I think sayings like "variety is the spice of life," and "familiarity breeds contempt" holds true for music listening.

I'm sorry, but a song stays the same all of the time. No sound of it breaks down like an old piece of furniture. It's the person listening who's breaking it down. In all honesty, not only is it the person's fault for getting annoyed by it, it's other people's fault for playing it too often. The song remains the same.

Actually, I'm just going to say I don't want to discuss this anymore, hoping no one will reply to my statement. Not to say I'm totally right or anything, but arguing about something on a forum makes me tense for personal reasons. So I'm leaving this discussion.

A jack in the box does the same thing over and over again, the same thing happens all the time. I expect the very first time a child sees it he or she will act surprised. And it might be entertaining for a while, but at some point the child will loose interest. So you are going to fault the child and the parent for loosing interest? Rather than saying well that's just human nature. Once a person knows what to expect, and the mystery is gone, it doesn't have the same affect. Or do you expect the same reaction regardless how many times it done?

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BUT YOU'RE THE ONE PLAYING THE JACK IN THE BOX. If you aren't, another HUMAN is. The only thin changing is your interest level in the song. If a song is the same all the time, literally, then it can;t possibly change. A song is a collection of audio that can';t be tainted unless you have bad speakers. You technically already used that same argument, instead this time you just implemented a jack-in-the-box instead of food. We could discuss these kinds of metaphors all day and the conversation wouldn't get anywhere. Unless you have something new to say other than that.

Also, I came back here because I'm kind of bored,

And one more thing, of course I don't expect the same reaction. Why would I? I tend to preserve things and listen to or watch the same thing and wait for a period of time before I watch it. I know it'll never have the same effect, but this way, I don't get tired of it. In fact, I have gotten a little tired of the same microwave burritos I eat. But the recipe for the burritos never changes.

Seems you are placing blame, by saying it is the listener's fault and the dj's fault, which implies responsibility for wrongdoing if they get tired of a song. What I was saying is that there is no wrong doing on part of the listener. It's just part of human nature. What I am taking into account is that people are emotional beings; they don't sustain the same emotion for long periods of time, and often switch from one for different reasons. Just to be clear the potato chip and the jack-in-the-box are not metaphors of a song, but examples of how things change from repetition over time and through experience.

But the only thing changing is the opinion of the person. Perhaps "fault" was a poor choice or wording, as it seems to place blame. But my point is you can't blame something's quality for changing if that thing is always the same. If something's the same all the time, it can't change. You said it yourself: you get tired.

I don't think that anyone is arguing against that point because it's pretty obvious.

That'snot the way it came across, since they were still trying to argue with me over the same point I've been making: that point.

And they're all pretty much making the same point too, if you'd look closely.

... I guess so, Frownland. I'm so used to disagreements on line. Still, it's a common belief and I rarely find anyone who sees it may way on this subject.

Just saying....

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I've always liked Boston. I was burnt out on them for some time though thanks to the local classic rock stations putting them on heavy rotation, then it got to where we only had one classic rock station here in Houston and I just stopped listening to the radio period and I can enjoy a lot of those bands again. Tom Scholz is one hell of a musician and it always blew me away considering how little time he had been playing guitar at the time the first Boston album was recorded.

My take on the band is that Scholz has a unique tone, all his own, and I'll give him props for that, but over all it's about an inch deep to me. A little goes a helluva long way.

I heard Boston for the first time in ages here being played on a classic rock station and guess what it was "More Than a Feeling" I was never a huge fan of that song but I pretty much enjoyed listening to it again.

The very first vinyl I ever purchased for myself was "Don't Look Back". I was 13, and I had been on a steady diet of Led Zeppelin, Bob Seger, and War from what my Dad had been listening to around that time, so that album was more personal to me back then. Now days, not so much, but as far as Tom's playing, the outro solo on "Hitch A Ride" off of their debut is one of the most beautiful pieces of guitar work I've heard from him and it still holds a special place in my heart.