Longdogs, your wait is over mate, I said this album was very high up…
No.9: “Third Stage” by Boston (1986)
…And there’s a reason for that. Quite simply it’s (in my view) the greatest FM/AOR/soft-rock, or whatever you call the genre brilliant bloody American guitar album ever made.
It’s very short at 36 minutes, but it says all it needs to say in 10 immaculately-produced songs. The subject matter is a kind of double entendre sharing two meanings – a rocket journey through space and the theme of sexual attraction and unyielding love – don’t ask me to explain!
Tom Scholtz was and is the founder of this troubles band way back in 1975, who with their first album came up with a record that introduced this particular genre (more about that in Post #100).
Second album Don’t Look Back in 1978 was more of the same high octane stadium rock and then things started to go awry. MCA made things very difficult for the band to continue and it wasn’t until eight years later that Third Stage finally appeared in ’86 [their fourth having to wait a further eight years until 1994].
But what an album this is. Beginning with the gorgeous love song ‘Amanda’ – a U.S. No.1 hit – Boston’s Third Stage used a kind of concept-style theme to interlink all the subsequent songs: ‘Cool The Engines’, ‘I Think I Like It’ and the side one closer reprise ‘My Destination’, and so on until we reach the final two masterpieces which make this album unbeatable for me…the song ‘Can’t’cha Say (You Believe In Me)’ with its five guitars playing in unison to build up to a glorious, wondrous sound and the closer ‘Hollyann’ which for me is equal to any big ballad ever made. Those soaring vocals of the late Brad Delp (who sadly took his own life some years ago; there is an interview recorded 2 days before his death below along with a documentary) are an easy match for Steve Perry’s. The song is heartbreakingly good, it’s what it means to be at a live outdoor concert and it’s a perfect closer to this perfect summer album.
No.8: “Asia” by Asia (1982)
And on to another American-styled album of AOR power…except this is wholly British. “Supergroup” is a term which can sometimes be very loosely applied to bands whereby they have members of other groups. Not all of them are even that well-known, but in Asia’s case there was an exception.
Asia consisted of lead vocalist/bassist John Wetton (King Crimson), guitarist Steve Howe (Yes, Tomorrow), Carl Palmer on drums (ELP) and Geoffrey Downes on keyboards (ex-Buggles). The album was produced by Mike Stone (who also produced Journey’s “Escape” a year beforehand.
This classic album spent 11 weeks at No.1 in the U.S. and was a strong seller elsewhere. The critics absolutely hated it saying it was overblown and all that nonsense but the songs speak for themselves. From the majestic serpent on Roger Dean’s amazing sleeve to nine wonderful pieces of FM rock beginning with the two singles ‘Heat Of The Moment’ and ‘Only Time Will Tell’, the record is awesome in my book.
I saw this band on the second date of their first two concerts – Oct 28, 1982, Wembley Arena.
I was listening to this album again this morning through headphones whilst posting on the forum. I absolutely love this album and did notice the double entendres, although I thought that was just my dirty mind.
Interesting that the third track, The Launch, is so similar The Journey from Don’t Look Back. I love the sound effects though and as you say, the guitar sounds on this are just mesmerising.
In some ways, it reminds me of War of the Worlds with it’s space theme and it’s easy to lose yourself when listening through headphones. I have heard some of these tracks because I once had a best of Boston CD but no idea what happened to it.
Amanda, also a great track and as you mention Can’t cha say is just superb.
I am surprised that Boston were not more well known over here to be honest and I used to think that I was the only person here that had heard of them).
So glad to see this at number 9 (personally for me it would have been a little bit higher up but we are yet to see the rest so I might be surprised.
It’s so hard to place albums higher, there’s always something better, but I think No.9 is a pretty commendable position.
Yeah, it’s a superb, feelgood record isn’t it…and your theory about it being a little like War Of The Worlds is a good comparison with the space them etc.
Play Asia next
Parallel Lines - No.17 mate. Loads of vids etc on that one.
I’m trying to get No.7 ready before the end of this afternoon, but my wife keeps barging around constantly wittering in my earhole and I lose track of where I get up to with the bloody text! Nearly done
No.7: “The Final Cut” by Pink Floyd (1983)
I’ve spoken at length already about how this album was conceived when reviewing other 1980’s work by Pink Floyd, so I’ll keep the band’s personal squabbles history to a minimum here.
The Final Cut was virtually a Roger Waters solo album with a few odd bits of interest from David Gilmour but Nick Mason’s input was scant and Richard Wright had already left (or rather sacked by Roger) after The Wall tour in 1980.
So to this album’s music content, and it’s always been one of those Floyd albums that is overlooked, perhaps due to its stark aloofness to the band’s respected progressive-symphonic sound. It’s certainly symphonic though, with Roger employing a beautifully-played suite from some top class musicians, perhaps taking the place of Rick and keyboards which are virtually absent from the record.
The Final Cut is themed around war. It’s partly a semi-autobiographical account of Waters’ own experiences of never having a father to grow up with (killed in Anzio in 1944), which he has never really been able to lay to rest properly. It also deals with the big news at the time which was The Falklands war of 1983-83 and the album is heavily based around that. But the music itself is fabulous, if harrowing in places – the videos below show this too. The songs are verging on the despondent side, but they need to be that way as this is a reflective album of the horrors of that war and the resulting political scenario at the time.
Your usual Pink Floyd fan wouldn’t even go near this album, but for me I think it’s one of their very best pieces of work.
Personnel: Pink Floyd
• Roger Waters – lead vocals, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, synthesizers, tape effects
• David Gilmour – lead and rhythm guitars, co-lead vocals on “Not Now John”, additional backing vocals
• Nick Mason – drums, tape effects Additional musicians
• Michael Kamen – piano, harmonium
• Andy Bown – Hammond organ
• Ray Cooper – percussion
• Andy Newmark – drums on “Two Suns in the Sunset”
• Raphael Ravenscroft – tenor saxophone
• Doreen Chanter - backing vocals on “Not Now John”
• Irene Chanter - backing vocals on “Not Now John”
• National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted and arranged by Michael Kamen
Sorry mate, somehow, I completely missed that which is really annoying. In fact I missed the batch. I will enjoy watching those for obvious reasons then will move on to Asia.
They were and are still great. I’ve never seen them live but would love to.
Going back to Boston for a minute.
I put the first four albums on an extended MP3 CD for the car this week, playing them all the way through in order.
This morning coming back from work at 6am Third Stage was on and the track ‘My Destination’ was playing as I almost reached home. It’s only two minutes long and is a sort of extension of ‘Amanda’, but the voice on Brad Delp is extraordinary. The way he virtually speaks the first verse then takes it so high after the 1min30 mark then suddenly dropping his pitch, it’s beyond comprehension to be honest. Amazing. It didn’t quite finish until I got to the residential area of my road, so I carried on to the next roundabout playing it full blast…I was screaming it out in the car lol!
Just the one today taking us to the Top 5 later in the week…
No.6: “Unknown Pleasures” by Joy Division (1979)
I’m sure most of you would be expecting this album in the Top 10. I see this as the absolute benchmark of all indie albums of the first post-punk wave. A band who could and would have been huge, they were on the cusp of breaking through before the untimely suicide of vocalist/songwriter Ian Curtis happened when he was just 23 years old.
Tony Wilson’s Factory Record signed Joy Division when they released their infamous (and now very rare) EP ‘An Ideal For Living’ in 1978, following their name change from the Stiff Kittens. With the dark, doomy and mysterious production sound of Martin Hannett and sleeves designed by Peter Savile (this cover is one of THE most iconic in history), the line-up of Curtis, guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Steve Morris remained intact for their very short career: Two albums (one posthumously), three singles and that was that, the remaining threesome of the group becoming New Order in early 1981.
Unknown Pleasures is a superlative album. Its 10 haunting and sometimes frightening tracks are the stuff of post-punk legend. ‘Disorder’, ‘She’s Lost Control’ the terrifying ‘Day Of The Lords’; Classics all. Joy Division will always live on in spirit as one of the most influential bands of all-time.
