Sometimes an album manages to transcend itself as musical product and become an element of pop culture. During the time of its 1976 release,
Boston's debut album was as much a part of America's high schools as the most popular cheerleader. Boston was one of the bands that reveled in the excess of the late '70s and, fortunately, the result was stellar music. No tune on this album failed to receive airplay and enjoy tremendous popularity; it is no wonder that the album sold eight million copies. Boston, the brain child of M.I.T. graduate Tom Scholz, managed to achieve a totally unique sound, in part due to Scholz's invention of the Rockman, an amplification system for guitars that would forever be known as the Boston sound. This driving, omnipresent guitar sound, combined with Scholz's creative use of organ, Brad Delp's searing, over the top vocals, and an incredibly polished production all make this album an aural treat and an important part of the annals of rock music. The tunes range from enjoyable party rockers like "Smokin' " and poignant pleas of love like "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" to the album's magnum opus "Foreplay/Long Time" --an extended piece which begins with classical-like fury and then builds into a rock anthem. And who could forget "More Than a Feeling", the album's biggest hit ?