Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Boston
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2013
Length: 42:58
Rating: 4.5/5
Tom Scholz is by any measure one of the most important figures in the story of rock ‘n’ roll, ever. Boston’s debut turned studio recording techniques on their head in 1976. If Tom Scholz was the sonic innovator on the western side of the Atlantic, then across the pond his counterpart in rock was surely the brilliant Brian May (Queen). Scholz invented the »magic box« called the Rockman and sold the license to Dunlop in 1982! That gadget shaped the studio sound so many albums were chasing through the eighties — without it, a titan like Deff Leppard’s famous Hysteria, for instance, would never have sounded the way it does. With the Rockman, Tom Scholz definitely earned himself a monument in rock history!
Scholz has always been a huge perfectionist — he’s practically obsessed with idealizing the goal he wants to hit in his vision. So it was a real, first-class surprise when he finally decided to release a new Boston studio album this year. It had been announced for a while, but nobody was losing sleep over the promises. We told ourselves something like: »Great if there’s a new album, but who cares when it comes, if it ever does.« The fact is that Boston albums have always shown up with enormous delays compared to the announcements, because Scholz kept fixing the sound in between, upgrading it and polishing it until he was absolutely convinced the album was truly ripe for release.
»Life, Love & Hope« is definitely a brighter, more upbeat album than its predecessors »Corporate America« and »Walk On«, both of which are weighed down with a lot more hard-riffing heft. It has a more retro sound, which brings it closer to the first three releases. The essential characteristics of the typical Boston sound, though, are still firmly in place. Compact and authentic to the core! First and foremost, there’s that instantly recognizable multi-harmonic approach to coloring the lead guitar lines, the chorus melodies where the mood-driven crescendo of the songs takes center stage, and the rhythms famously stripped down with an extra »hand clap« effect. Tugging at the heartstrings of nostalgic souls works wonders once again, and every true Boston devotee will grab this album instantly and without hesitation.
Times have changed. You can’t expect to reproduce the magic of the first two albums, but you can get awfully close, if you want to. Especially if you go fully »analog« in the studio and use exactly the same technology as 35 years ago. The famous recipe a la Tom Scholz, in other words! At the same time, Tom Scholz is still brimming with studio perfectionism on the new album! That’s why he decided to rearrange and sonically restore three »Corporate America« tracks, which he felt would finally get a worthy form on a studio record. What’s more, he judged that even in their original versions their arrangements could tie in effectively with the new material and so help shape »Life Love & Hope« close to the kind of perfection that only Scholz himself idealizes and knows. And believe me, Scholz, as Boston’s harshest and most merciless critic, sets that standard very, very high!
The production is incredibly vivid and breathes with full lungs! On the new album, too, Scholz keeps that recognizable sense of arena sound that underpins all the classic Boston works. A superbly chosen melodic sensibility — you could even say a noble way of squeezing the most out of what melody can do in rock — is now embodied by »Life, Love & Hope« as well. It’s a »product lost in time and space«, a gorgeous new gem of AOR perfection.
Sure, reusing material from the previous album takes a bit of the seriousness away from it, but this is repackaging his own compositions, which is entirely forgivable. Especially because in the rock world they’re one of a kind and come from the hands of a man whose vision and pioneering role revolutionized the sound of albums and, as a result, drove the expansion of AOR music in the eighties. The songs Don’t Mean To Fall In Love, Someone and You Gave Up On Love originally appeared on »Corporate America«. Even there they counted as creative peaks, so in their renewed sound and partly rearranged form they tie in perfectly with the newly written material of »Life, Love & Hope«.
There’s the title track Life, Love & Hope, then the opener Heaven On Earth, then Someday (with a tasteful harmonica integration), here comes the (expected) instrumental Last Day Of School, as stately as can be in its compositional shape, followed by Sail Away, a track of older origin that Scholz hadn’t used before and on which the late Brad Delp sings lead! Everything is in its standard place, just as it should be. Nitpicking is pointless, but you can still find a bit of reserve in If You Were In Love, because Scholz handed the vocals to the first lady of the Boston lineup, bassist Kimberley Dahme. Her voice simply lacks a recognizable character, charisma, or the right charm to draw out the proper measure of heart and passion. It’s too nondescript a character, though fine for duets or backing vocals. Because Kimberley was picked for lead vocals, »Corporate America« already wobbled in quality at a few important points. Tommy De Carlo and David Victor, on the other hand, impress with their contributions, especially in the opener Heaven On Earth (Victor), the title track Life, Love & Hope (DeCarlo) and the closing The Way You Look Tonight (DeCarlo). And I can’t skip Love Got Away, where the most illustrious Tom Scholz himself steps up to sing lead. Bravura songs that don’t waver in quality against each other. It’s hard to get deeper into the essence of the chosen structures in terms of their full-blooded impact, how they reinforce one another, and how they create the feeling of a harmonious dialogue living in perfect balance.
We can say that with the new album Scholz pulled off exactly what he set out to do. A perfectly chosen gem of the typical characteristics of the recognizable, essential AOR arena rock aesthetic, with a prominent pomp element of solemn awakening! This is precisely the standard Boston fans demand from Scholz, and only the name Boston can deliver it to the market!
The album feels nostalgic and hypnotically wins over the hearts of fans of the ultimate classics of a band that carries evergreen status in its pocket on the wings of its released hits: More Than A Feeling, Amanda, Don’t Look Back, Piece of Mind, Smokin’, Rock And Roll Band, Foreplay/Long Time, which have helped it sell over 31 million albums in total to this day. »Life, Love & Hope« keeps up with all the Boston eras in time and aesthetics. It’s a gorgeous successor to the past studio works and one of the highlights of this year’s melodic rock releases. You could say that putting out this album, after eleven years of silence in terms of new Boston releases, is one of the most important moves of the year in the AOR and melodic rock genres. Let’s hope that »Life, Love & Hope« maybe brings Boston to European concert stages next year.
Lineup
Tom Scholz – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
Gary Pihl – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Kimberley Dahme – vocals, bass guitar, backing vocals
Curly Smith – drums, percussion, harmonica, backing vocals
Tommy DeCarlo – vocals, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
David Victor – vocals, guitar, backing vocals
Production
Tom Scholz
Track List
1. Heaven on Earth
2. Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love
3. Last Day of School
4. Sail Away
5. Life, Love & Hope
6. If You Were in Love
7. Someday
8. Love Got Away
9. Someone (2.0)
10. You Gave Up on Love (2.0)
11. The Way You Look Tonight
