Boston
Once Upon a Time

THE REVIEW

Boston have never released a proper live album, so to hear their gargantuan sound on record as they delivered it in concert, one has to turn to minor productions put out by “independent” or ad-hoc labels.

So in 1990, Italian(!) Lobster Records released this document of a performance by the Bostonians dating back no less than thirteen years earlier, at the Long Beach Arena near Los Angeles. Being a low budget production, the recording is far from optimal, but at least it’s free from those telltale little tweaks meant to erase or replace mistakes or imperfections, tricks that are so common on live albums from major labels. Therefore, on this record you get to hear 100% of the real band on stage, including a few “blunders”, notably some flat notes from vocalist Brad Delp during certain “tough” moments of his vocals.

We’re in 1977, and Boston are still in their original lineup—a lineup that would last only a few years and record two (wonderful) albums before disputes with the record company and the strictness of their leader and factotum Tom Scholz regarding certain artistic and managerial choices ended the original partnership.

What’s new or different about hearing these tracks instead of the original versions on CBS (later Sony) records? For starters, there’s their mega-hit “More than a Feeling”: on this album, this acknowledged evergreen is twice as long—nine minutes—thanks first to a choral intro marked by powerful stops that replace the famous studio-made twelve-string guitar opening; and above all, thanks to a long instrumental outro built on a dark gallop of toms and timpani, over which the twin guitars weave delicate, evocative lines, aided by the masterful use of “spacey” delay, patented by the multi-talented engineer Scholz.

There’s also a previously unreleased track, “Help Me”, but it’s a rock’n’roll tune without particular distinction, similar to other openers in their setlist; it’s only fitting that it never ended up on a studio album.

The concert setlist also features a gem from their second album: “Don’t Look Back”, at the time still in the works (it would be released the following year). The performance of the freshly written “A Man I'll Never Be” is wonderful, aside from a few off-key vocals from the late Delp: the two Boston guitars are on fire, engaged in maximum dynamic work that alternates between quiet volume-knob-halfway-down arpeggios and majestic explosions with everything wide open.

As always, “Smokin’”, their boogie-time masterpiece, is devastating, with the eclectic Scholz splashing away two-handed on Hammond keys like Jon Lord himself. And the mighty “Long Time” is also here—personally, my absolute favorite Boston track—introduced, as usual, by the furious neoclassical prologue “Foreplay”, the only progressive song in their repertoire.

Five stars for the music, three stars for the somewhat patched-together “packaging” (including the photographic montage on the cover, which also incorrectly lists one song: “Something About You” has become “It’Ain’t Easy”, clearly inspired by a line from another part of the chorus). So, an average overall: ****