I’ve started to realize lately that there is a lot of great music out there that for myself and many others was quintessential (and impossible to miss) when we were in our formative years, yet might be completely mysterious and unknown to modern generations. For that reason I’ve started to think that doing a lot of these retro reviews might introduce a lot of younger listeners to these classic discs. They could be drawn in for coverage of some recent release and then dig in and find something they didn’t know about.

So, that’s why I’m tackling this, one of the most famous albums of the 1970’s. Boston had an incredible sound and this album was a high point in their career which they never matched (commercially or artistically). Virtually everything on this disc was all over the radio when it came out. That’s a well earned distinction as this music just plain works. It’s some of the best songwriting and performance to come out of the 1970’s. It’s catchy and yet still musically interesting. If you’ve never checked this one out, you really need to. It’s one of the greats of the decade known as the 1970’s.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2009  Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.

One of the band’s biggest hits – OK, pretty much everything here can be reviewed with something that starts off this way – this is a killer piece that still holds up extremely well. The guitar sound is clean and yet crunchy. The chorus is catchy. The song is quintessential 1970’s arena rock – and yet it still feels relevant today. The guitar solo is oh so tasty.

Another with a more pure rock and roll sound, this is perhaps the least like the other music here of anything. That said, it still rocks out extremely well. I can hear Aerosmith on this at times, but also White Witch and Argent. The extended instrumental section does have more of those progressive rock leanings and the keyboards really shine here.

The opening here with its keyboards and spacey vocals makes one think that they are about to launch into a real progressive rock jam. It turns a quick corner into one of the more straight ahead rockers on the disc.