#392/2071
September 23 1986
Boston
Third Stage
Genre: Glorified Power Pop
3 out of 5
Highlights:
Amanda
The lead single, “Amanda”, was huge but I can’t help thinking it reminds me of “Someone Save My Life Tonight” by Elton John. There’s something about the melody that makes me want to add “Sugar Bear” to it and then I just wanna turn it off and go to the John classic.
I loved those first two Boston records. Well, the first one, a LOT. The second was pretty darned good, too.
The first one sounded fresh, like a bolt out of the rock and roll blue/. And the follow up had that sense that there was still something left to be said.
Third stage sounds like the band is saying, “We gotta make a ‘Boston’ record. It’s gotta sound like a ‘Boston’ record!”.
It’s big and full and all epic and everything. But motifs are rerun to diminished effect and there’s little joy in the crafting of these giant set pieces Scholz calls songs.
The secret to Boston is easily found in the penultimate cut, “Can’tcha Say You Believe In Me”. Beneath the pyrotechnics of guitar playing and the wanna be prog rock is a pretty fun and simple Raspberries song. Delp sounds like eric Carmen at times. Boston didn’t reinvent anything, they just added more “Power” to the “Pop”.
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