Brad Delp, the lead singer of the band Boston has passed away at age 55.
It may seem at odds with the musical tastes I’ve exhibited here previously, but I have an insane fondness for Boston’s 1976 debut. It’s one of those rare albums that I can listen to from beginning to end without ever feeling the urge to skip a track, alongside The Clash’s London Calling, UK Decay’s For Madmen Only, and The Cure’s Seventeen Seconds.
My love for the band came, like my interest in Captain America, from my younger brother who developed a taste for seventies rock while he was attending college out at UMass-Amherst. He’d make occasional trips back to Woburn on weekends and breaks, and we’d spend the time playing Perfect Dark and discussing (and arguing) comics trivia. We also made a lot of trips to area comics stores in search of back issues, and it was on one of those trips that my enduring love for Boston was sealed.
It was a weekday afternoon in the spring of 2000, and my brother decided out of the blue that we should pay a visit to a store we frequented in Waltham (two towns over, but still a hike). After calling and checking that the place would be still open when we got there, we hopped into his car and made our way down Route 128. He had Boston’s debut album in the car’s CD player, and made a remark that he had recently gotten into the band. It was nostalgia candy to my ears, but I’d be hard pressed to pick out a better soundtrack for a late afternoon drive with the windows rolled down and zero personal obligations for the immediate future.
We cleared the rise overlooking the cluster of hills around the Route 20 exit just as “More Than a Feeling” kicked into full rocking mode. The staid outcrops of New England granite in the distance stood silhouetted against the bruised violet and apricot tapestry of the sunset, and it felt so perfect, that synergy of classic rock, brotherhood, and the glories of a warm spring afternoon.
So thanks, Brad, for the part you played in making it happen.
Boston – Rock and Roll Band (from Boston, 1976)
Saturday, March 10, 2007
never worry ‘bout the things we were missing
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4 comments:
If you are over 30 and don't love this album, there is something wrong with you.
[I would add "Born to Run" to your list as well, BTW.]
RIP Brad.. what a voice. Thanks for writing about it.
It always seemed odd that their first album was just about perfect and while their second album didn't totally suck they never came close to matching the first one. Maybe it's tough when the first thing you do works out almost too well. Sorry to hear he died, at least he participated in one nearly perfect thing in his 55 year.
Jeff
Agreed with anonymous the first. If you are over 30 (over 35?) and can't enjoy the first Boston album as at min a guilty pleasure, you've got a problem.
By all accounts Delp and the guys other than Scholz have been happy to cash many royalty checks and live comfortable lives without the creative urge to match the first album. Who's to say there's anything wrong with that?
let's face it, Boston is for all intents and purposes the poster child for classic rock radio. There are others, but really, they're the ones who typify it best. Having said that, I've been guilty in the past of half-ridiculing them as probably most people do as some "arena rock dinosaur". But, I gotta come clean... That first record is a sonic world of wonder and immense clarity. Delp's vocals(and bushy 'stache) are truly amazing. You'll never hit his high notes however hard you try. Everything about it bleeds a pristine, feel-good warmth. Not to mention, some of the most overused & cheesy rock lyric cliches: "payin' your dues", references to "the music", etc...
As well as Delp's incredible 'stache! It's sad y'know?
"...you'll forget about me after I've been gone..."
Not Likely. R.I.P.
-Jude
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