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| Genre = | Length = 37:41 | Label = Epic | Producer = | Last album = | This album = ''Boston'' (1976) | Next album = ''Don't Look Back'' (1978) | Misc = }} ''Boston'' is the debut studio album by Boston-based American rock band Boston. Produced by Tom Scholz and John Boylan, the album was released on August 25, 1976 in the United States by Epic Records. Scholz had first begun playing music in the late 1960s after graduating from MIT with a master's degree, which led to a senior position at Polaroid. After being involved in the Boston music scene for several years, Scholz concentrated on demos recorded in his apartment basement with singer Brad Delp. His previous group, Mother's Milk, had received numerous rejection letters from major record labels in the early 1970s. By 1975, the demo tape had fallen into the hands of CBS-owned Epic Records, who signed the band. Epic wanted the band to record in Los Angeles with a record producer, but Scholz was unwilling and wanted to record the album in his basement studio, so he hired Boylan to run interference with the label. In an elaborate ruse, Sholz tricked the label into thinking the band was recording on the West Coast, when in reality, the bulk was being tracked solely by Scholz at his Massachusetts home. The album's contents are a complete recreation of the band's demo tape, and contain songs written and composed many years prior. The album's style, often referred to as the "Boston sound", was developed through Scholz's love of classical music, melodic hooks and guitar-heavy rock groups such as the Kinks and the Yardbirds. The album was first issued by Epic in August 1976 and sold extremely well, breaking sales records and becoming one of the best-selling debut albums of all time. Boston's style was appropriated by label executives and imitated by bands to create radio-friendly "corporate rock", the creation of which the band was also accused. The album's singles, most notably "More Than a Feeling" and "Long Time", were both AM and FM hits, and nearly the entire album receives constant rotation on classic rock radio. The album has been referred to as a landmark in 1970s rock and has been included on many lists of essential albums. The album has sold 17 million copies in the United States alone and 25 million worldwide. ==Background== In the late 1960s, Tom Scholz began attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he first began writing music.〔 After graduating with a master's degree, he began working for the Polaroid Corporation in the product development division. By night, he played keyboards for bands in the Boston bar and club scene, where he collaborated with keyboardist/drummer Jim Masdea.〔 The two—who shared a concept of the perfect rock band, one "with crystal-clear vocals and bone-crunching guitars"—viewed themselves as only part-time musicians.〔 Despite this, the duo built a small studio near Watertown, Massachusetts to record ideas. Scholz recorded for hours on end, often re-recording, erasing and discarding tapes in an effort to create "a perfect song."〔 Both musicians later joined Mother's Milk, a band featuring guitarist Barry Goudreau, that vied for recognition in the Boston music scene. Scholz quickly went from keyboardist to lead songwriter, and the band went through dozens of lead vocalists before Brad Delp auditioned.〔 Delp, a former factory worker at a Danvers electric coil company, spent much of his weekends in cover bands. Delp drove to Revere Beach, where the three-piece were performing at a club named Jojo's.〔 Delp was impressed that the band had recorded a demo tape and were still recording, and earned his position in the band after auditioning the Joe Walsh song "Rocky Mountain Way". Mother's Milk became an early version of Boston, with Goudreau on lead guitar.〔 By 1973, the band had a six-song demo tape ready for mailing, and Scholz and his wife Cindy sent copies to every record company they could find. The group received rejection slips from several labels—RCA, Capitol, Atlantic and Elektra among the most notable—and Epic Records rejected the tape flatly with a "very insulting letter" signed by company head Lennie Petze that opined the band "offered nothing new."〔〔 The tape that received the most attention contained embryonic renditions of future songs that would appear on Boston's debut album. Financial reality encroached the dream for Delp, who departed shortly thereafter because "there just wasn't any money coming in."〔 By 1975, Tom Scholz was finished with the club scene, concentrating exclusively on the demo tapes he recorded at home in his basement. Scholz was renting the house and spent much of his funds on recording equipment; at one point, he spent the money he had saved for a down payment on a future home on a Scully 8-track.〔 He called Delp to provide vocals, remarking, "If you can't really afford to join the band or if you don't want to join the band, maybe you'd just want to come down to the studio and sing on some of these tapes for me." Scholz had given the Mother's Milk demo to a Polaroid co-worker whose cousin worked at ABC Records (who had signed one of Scholz's favorite bands, the James Gang). The employee forgot to mail the tape out and it sat in his desk for months until Columbia began contacting Scholz, after which he sent the tape to ABC.〔〔 Charles McKenzie, a New England representative for ABC Records, first overheard the tape in a co-worker's office.〔〔 He called Paul Ahern, an independent record promoter in California, with whom he held a gentleman's agreement that if either heard anything interesting, they would inform the other.〔 Ahern had connections with Petze at Epic and informed him—even though Petze had passed on the original Mother's Milk demos. Epic contacted Scholz and offered a contract that first required the group to perform in a showcase for CBS representatives, as the label felt curious that the "band" was in reality a "mad genius at work in a basement."〔〔 Masdea had started to lose interest in the project by this time, and Scholz called Goudreau and two other performers who had recorded on the early demos, bass player Fran Sheehan and drummer Dave Currier, to complete the lineup. In November 1975, the group performed for the executives in a Boston warehouse that doubled as Aerosmith's practice facility.〔〔 Mother's Milk was signed by CBS Records one month later in a contract that required 10 albums over six years. Currier quit before he knew the band passed the audition, and Scholz recruited drummer Sib Hashian in his place. Epic had signed an agreement with NABET, the union representing electrical and broadcast engineers, which specified that any recording done outside of a Columbia-owned studio but within a 250-mile radius of one of those studios required that a paid union engineer be present.〔 As such, the label wanted the band to travel to Los Angeles and re-record their songs with a different producer. Scholz was unhappy with being unable to be in charge, and John Boylan, a friend of a friend of Ahern, came on board the project.〔 Boylan's duty was to "run interference for the label and keep them happy," and made a crucial suggestion: that the band change their name to Boston.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Boston (album)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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