Third Stage
Third Stage (album)
From *Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Third Stage is the third album by American hard rock band Boston released August 15, 1983 on Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded at Tom Scholz's Hideaway Studio over a three-year period “between floods and power failures.”[1] Many [
who?] consider
Third Stage to be a
concept album, and when performed live, the band played the entire album in order rather than any individual song.[2] It is the last Boston album featuring Brad Delp on vocals before he left to become Van Halen’s frontman in 1985.[3]
After winning a legal battle with Epic Records, Scholz switched his band's recording label to Warner Brothers.[4] The first track on Third Stage, “Amanda,” was actually written in 1980 (when Boston began work on the album) and became the band's first #1 single. A bootleg tape of “Amanda” was leaked in early 1983 and became the lead single when Third Stage was finally released later that year.[4] The track reached and stayed at #1 for seven weeks beginning in September of 1983. It was followed by two additional Top 10 singles: “Hollyann” and “We’re Ready,” both of which charted from 1983 to 1984. A fourth single, “Still in Love (With You)” peaked at #11, and a fifth single, “Cool the Engines,” failed to crack the Top 40.
Third Stage went to #1 on the Billboard 200 where it stayed for twelve weeks.[5] The album was a first in many respects: the first Boston LP to feature electronic drum samples, the first Boston LP without original members Barry Goudreau, Sib Hashian and Fran Sheehan (though Hashian and Sheehan were included in the early recording sessions and Sheehan received a writing credit), and the first (and only) Boston LP without the iconic guitar UFO dominating the cover art, though a small image of it is present. Original drummer Jim Masdea plays drums on most of the album.
Perhaps most significantly [
citation needed], this LP was the first Boston recording to use the Rockman guitar amplifier invented by Tom Scholz’s successful high-tech company, Scholz Research & Development. No orchestral sounds or synthesizers were used on the album; the violin sounds on “Mariah” and “Still in Love (With You)” are electric guitars played through the Rockman, and the rocket acceleration track “Third Stage Separation” was created by playing an electric grand piano through an old Vox Tone-Bender with a faulty transistor.[6]
Contents
1. Track Listing
2. Personnel
3. Singles
4. Covers
5. Sales, Certifications, and Awards
6. See also
7. References
Track Listing[7]
No., Title, Writer(s), Length
- "Amanda," Tom Scholz, 4:16
- "We're Ready," Tom Scholz, 4:01
- "Departure" [instrumental], Tom Scholz, 1:58
- "Third Stage Separation" [instrumental], Tom Scholz, 0:57
- "Cool the Engines, Tom Scholz, Brad Delp, Fran Sheehan, 4:23
- "Mariah"/"My Destination," Tom Scholz, 3:04
- "Perfection," Tom Scholz, 3:21
- "Changes," Tom Scholz, Jon DeBrigard, 4:45
- "Still in Love (With You)," Tom Scholz, Brad Delp, 4:39
- "Hollyann," Tom Scholz, 5:31
Personnel
Brad Delp - lead vocals, harmony vocals
Tom Scholz - guitars, organs, piano, bass, drums, percussion
Jim Masdea - drums, percussion
Sib Hashian - drums, percussion
Fran Sheehan – bass
Singles[8]
Year, Single, Chart, Position
1983, "Amanda," Billboard Hot 100, 1
1983, "Hollyann," Billboard Hot 100, 3
1984, "We're Ready," Billboard Hot 100, 7
1984, "Still in Love (With You)," Billboard Hot 100, 11
1984, "Cool the Engines," Billboard Hot 100, 59
Covers[9]
- Yngwie J. Malmsteen covered the song "Hollyann" on his band Rising Force's fourth studio album, Odyssey (1988), with Ronnie James Dio on vocals.
- After joining Van Halen, Brad Delp would often perform "Amanda" live; a version of the song is included on Van Halen's Live Album from 1992.
- Cyndi Lauper was known [by whom?] to play a cover of "Amanda" during her Separation tour.[citation needed]
Sales, Certifications, and Awards[10]
Third Stage was certified 11x platinum by the RIAA in the United States. It was certified Diamond by Music Canada in Canda, and Gold by BPI in the United Kingdom.
Third Stage was nominated for "Album of the Year" of 1983, but lost to Michael Jackson's
Thriller. Brad Delp was nominated as "Best Pop Vocal, Male" for "Amanda," but lost, also to Michael Jackson.
See also
List of number-one albums of 1983 (U.S.)
List of best-selling albums in the United States
List of diamond-certified albums in Canada
26th Annual Grammy Awards
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References
[1] Well, this was fun! A quick glance at the
liner notes shows that almost all of Boston's
Third Stage album was completed by 1982, and "Amanda" was completed in 1980. (The only two songs that were created post-1983 were "To Be a Man" and "I Think I Like It"; while both have their merits for Boston fans, both can fairly be considered "filler" tracks.)
Had this album been released in the early 80s, it seems pretty clear to me that it would have been even more successful than IOTL: Boston's iconic sound is a nice bridge from the guitar rock of the 70s to the harder, metal-influenced arena rock of the 80s, and Boston's prog influences (and the whole "concept album" conceit) would have seemed less dated in 1983.
[2]
As IOTL.
[3] IOTL, of course, Eddie Van Halen went looking for a new frontman in 1985 and Boston hadn't played a live show in nearly five years. Delp's vocals garnered universal acclaim and he was well known as a "consummate professional" with essentially no ego; I'd have to think that would appeal to Eddie after he's had it with Diamond Dave.
IOTL, guitarist Gary Pihl left
Sammy Hagar's touring band to work with Tom Scholz as both a musician and an executive of Scholz Research & Development; his guitar work can be heard on "I Think I Like It," which is never released ITTL.
[4] IOTL, Scholz migrated to MCA Records, not Warner Brothers. Here, Scholz signes with Warner because he views the company as a better synergy for marketing his Rockman amplifier. Warner leaks the single "Amanda" just as IOTL (only a year earlier) and puts additional pressure on Scholz to deliver the album.
[5] IOTL,
Third Stage went to #1 for four weeks and produced three Top 20 hits: "Amanda" (#1), "We're Ready" (#9), and "Can'tcha Say" (#20).
[6] Exactly as IOTL.
[7] Okay, so here's what's new: "Amanda," "We're Ready," and "Cool the Engines" are unchanged from OTL; the liner notes show that all three were completed before the POD.
OTL's third track, "The Launch" (with three subparts) is split into two separate instrumentals but is otherwise identical.
OTL's fifth track, "My Destination" is a re-working of "Amanda" played on an old Wurlitzer electric piano and completed in late '82. Here, Scholz goes back and tinkers with it, creating the new song "Mariah." It is never released as a single and occupies roughly the same space as "My Destination" ITTL.
"A New World" and "To Be a Man" are never recorded ITTL, and "I Think I Like It" is substantially reworked into TTL's "Changes." The new song "Perfection" is hastily-cranked-out filler. "Still in Love (With You)" is a substantially reworked version of "Can'tcha Say" that rearranges the flow but maintains the guitar riff. "Hollyann" is mostly as OTL but slightly rawer.
[8] See above. "Hollyann" was never released as a single IOTL, probably because by 1987 it seems more
derivative of the "power ballad" formula that was dominating pop-metal at the time. Here, it's considered one of the archetypes of the subgenre.
[9] If you want to imagine the Malmsteen/Dio cover of "Hollyann," go ahead and
listen to the original, and then listen to OTL's Malmsteen/Dio
cover of Aerosmith's "Dream On".
[10]
Third Stage went quadruple-platinum IOTL; it was not nominated for any Grammy awards.