Music for Hypocrites 03.19.07: In The Year 2001, Part One
Posted by Matt Stone on 03.19.2007
Well I'm taking my time...
Let's talk about me for a minute, ok?
We need to flashback to a younger and more innocent time, a time before 9/11.
So let's pick the time right before 9/11.
THE ABRIDGED VERSION
I was making decent money in the dot-com world and my lease was up on an apartment I had with a bunch of other dot-com folk. I moved my stuff into my parent's garage with the intention of saving up bank for a couple of months and looking for a condo. I moved back on a Saturday. That Tuesday, I was laid off from my job. The months that followed and year of rambling back into the world of gainful employment are an entire novel worth of babbling for another site on another day. However, there were 5 things that changed my life for the better that summer. I'm going to cut two off this list, since my wife and my old band are not proper reading material for a music site. Wait, a rock band not being material for a music site? Moving along, the last three I'm going to spend the next couple of weeks talking about.
Poignantly, the first one up is Boston. With my 30th birthday around the corner, I've been pondering the last decade for the craziness it has been, but seeing Brad Delp kick the bucket last week bummed me out the same way Jim Henson bummed out my sister when he died. Now in all honesty, I didn't even know the guy's name until last week. Keeping up with that honesty, I only owned one Boston album ever and illegitimately at that. However, everything you need to know about awesome classic rock is contained within those 46 minutes.
The Classic Rock Cliché Check List
The acoustic guitar open Check.
The big solo guitar riff/progression Check.
The huge instrumental intro Check.
Power slides Check.
Slow/half-time mid-break Check.
Unfathomably high harmonies Check.
Blues shuffle song Check.
Singing about sex, preferably in the form of "makin' love" Check.
Singing about drugs Check.
Singing about rock n' roll Check.
Passing mention or allusion to a car Check.
Lyric about dancing, preferably in a bar Check.
Ballad Check.
Arena-sized rock anthems Check.
Big, repetitive ride out Check.
How they hit at least 15 of the top 20 classic rock clichés within 8 songs is a testament to just how complete this disc is. I don't think anyone but Def Leppard can even come close to paint by numbers rock that actually transcends how generic it is with strong melody and confidence, but here it is. I've never been able to find a flaw with this disc, be it musically, lyrically or melodically. Later discs, well, they were never worth the listen for me. Based on a random listen here and there and reviews of those discs, I came to the decision long ago that this is the Boston I love and the Boston I will always remember. To demean a great disc like this with anything less than perfect would break my heart.
Once I heard that disc completely for the first time (recreational drugs and/or alcohol aside) it was immediately burned to disc, and put into every car or stereo by my person from May through August. Friends at first laughed, then realized how good the disc was, then specifically asked for it to be played during any event that involved grilling or watching baseball in my parent's garage, which had now been remodeled to almost perfectly mimic my previous residences living room. Through the good times and the bad times of that summer, Boston was disc one, track one on the soundtrack to my life. Spinning the disc a couple of times while writing this column, the memories are flooding back of a time since lost, forgotten and left behind as the realities of life, employment, responsibility and all the nagging requests that adulthood and having/getting your shit together require. Good times, indeed,
I fear I may be dating myself or at least my tastes a little bit by praising Boston, the album, by Boston, the band. I'm taking a wild guess that the majority of people reading haven't heard the disc before, though they've more than likely heard each and every song on this disc played on classic rock radio stations during fourth of July weekend, even if they're just flipped around the dial or the radio happens to be playing while they switch out CDs in their car. Ah, who the hell am I kidding, everyone's got iPod's now except me, right? So, if you have an iPod, you must use iTunes right? For the love of whatever god you pray to, go to the iTunes store and buy the first Boston disc today. Live a little and get the 2006 remaster. It will be the best $7.92 you ever spend.
