Last Updated on 25 February 2026 by Massimo M.
Boston the album
The first of the five albums produced by Boston is probably the dream album of every emerging musician.
Not so much for the musical style of Scholz and co, which one may like or not, but for the extraordinary public and sales success it received upon release, a not very common case for debut albums, and which continued to be enjoyed for many years.
The history and genesis of Boston lies entirely in the iron will of the founder, Tom Sholz, who had organized a recording studio inside his cellar and who, inside, with his first group, Mother’s Milk continued to produce demos for much of the seventies.
These tapes were regularly rejected by the various labels that shared the market at the time. However, in 1975, yet another demo ended up at CBS who, evidently sensing the deal, immediately signed Scholz to a contract with the Epic records label.
Epic wanted the album to be recorded in Los Angeles with a record producer supervising. Scholz instead wished to record the album in his basement studio and so, after hiring John Boylan as a compliant producer, he concocted a complicated, but evidently effective, ploy by which Epic Records executives thought Boston were recording in the studios over there. when, in reality, they were recording in Massachusetts.
All the material recorded for the album was a reworking of Mother’s Milk’s entire repertoire which had developed through Scholz’s love for classical music and melody but also for the heavy guitars of groups such as the Yardbirds and the Kinks.
The album was released in August 1976 and, as I wrote at the beginning, 
imposed itself on the market, shattering many previous sales records, becoming one of the best-selling debut albums of all time. The album was certified gold two months after its release and, after selling another 500,000 copies in the next 30 days, went platinum for the first time in November 1976. In January 1977, that is, five months after its release, Boston had sold two million copies.
The album sold over 17 million copies in the United States alone and was certified gold in the UK and platinum in Canada.
This record was so successful that a Boston style was also born which was imitated by many bands linked, coincidentally, to Epic.
Following all this musical movement, AOR was born which, precisely , is basically melodic rock and had Boston as its standard-bearer along with other groups such as Journey, Foreigner and Styx.
To learn more, read the article on the best AOR recordsreleased in the 80s and 90s.
Three singles were extracted from Boston, the most famous of which, More than feeling, reached fifth position on the Billboard top 100, the top position on the AM Top 40 stations and on the FM AOR stations.
La tracklist di Boston
Side one
More Than a Feeling – 4:44
Peace of Mind – 5:02
Foreplay/Long Time – 7:47
Side two
Rock & Roll Band – 3:00
Smokin’ – 4:22
Hitch a Ride – 4:12
Something About You – 3:48
Let Me Take You Home Tonight – 4:44
Buy Boston on Amazon
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Leave a Reply