YMMV / Boston

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• Awesome Music: "More Than a Feeling", "Don't Look Back", "Peace of Mind", "Foreplay/Long Time", and the list goes on and on.
• Broken Base:
  • There's hardly a solid consensus on Third Stage and Walk On, but both are frequently cited as being the beginning of the end in terms of quality. Meanwhile, the last two Boston records up to this point, Corporate America and Life, Love and Hope are generally agreed to be vastly inferior. Which one in particular is worse, however, is another matter entirely.
  • The addition of Kimberly Dahme to the lineup has also sparked some controversy with fans. Some say she's unnecessary and a sub-par vocalist, while others defend her and say she has a great voice that adds variety to the band's sound.
  • The use of computerized drum machines starting with Walk On is a big sticking point for a lot of fans when discussing Boston's later work.
• Fanon Discontinuity: Depending on who you ask, Boston either ended after Don't Look Back or Third Stage.
• Epic Riff: "More Than a Feeling"
• First Installment Wins: Most of the band's hits are from their debut album.
  • Even within the debut album, the first track, "More Than a Feeling", is indisputably their biggest hit.
• Misattributed Song: "Crystal Love" was believed to be a bonus track on Corporate America, but in reality it was recorded by Lee Hyun Suk, a South Korean guitarist for his album "3" several years before Corporate America.
• Once Original, Now Common: Many other bands quickly copied the slick Arena Rock sound of the band's debut, with bands like Journey topping the charts and filling arenas in the late '70s and early '80s, but Boston was the first band to have this kind of style that mixed pop hooks with hard rock. Also, Tom Scholz pretty much created the debut single-handedly before recording albums in home studios became routine.
• Signature Song: "More Than a Feeling".
• Song Association: "More Than a Feeling" with Tony Soprano's panic attacks.
  • It’s also getting associated to Inside Out, as an appropriate song for a movie about feelings.
• Tear Jerker: For all of Life, Love and Hope's faults, it does contain the sad ballad "Sail Away", which was one of the last things Brad Delp recorded before his suicide. If that weren't enough, the song is about Hurricane Katrina and the hopeless emotions that came with the aftermath of such an event. For anyone who lost a loved one in it, "Sail Away" can't be an easy listen.

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