Surell

Well I mean, the other ones were all into trying to be out there and proggy but Boston only focused embraced the kind of cheesiness their upbeat, mega-love ballads, and only based their prog notions in playing really well and having a great vocalist. Of course, "Foreplay" was a little more on the prog-instrumental side, but I think it serves as a buildup to the release of "Long Time." Plus, their music is just so warm and inviting, even though the vocalist went on to kill himself and all; and "More Than a Feeling" is one of the most powerful expressions of love in Rock Music to me, just for how it moves (I guessing chord progressions and melody and stuff).

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Unknown Soldier

Personally I see Boston no better talent wise than the either Journey, Styx or Kansas from the original list. The only reason Boston weren't progressive, is that they were a much newer band than the other three and by the time they put out their first album, it was obvious that progressive rock was gradually going into decline as a commercial genre. I guess their warmer feeling comes from the fact that they embraced old fashioned 'rock n roll' into their core sound. Sure Brad Delp was a great vocalist but certainly no better than Steve Perry.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Surell

It's the melodrama too - I think Boston, by embracing more humble songwriting (trad. RnR as you said, and love songs), were a little more understated than the others, and weren't such caricatures of grandiose rock n roll. Steve Perry's voice is technically good, but it can be very grating, and it just seems so contrived. I've never heard it soar quite like Brad Delp, who was also very reserved in his shining moments.

Don't let me fool you in seeming like I know a lot about these bands, though, because my knowledge is strictly radio hits.

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Janszoon

For me Boston gets bonus points for being largely the product of a single person, and for being DIY before it was cool.

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

FRED HALE SR.

Seriously serious?

Janszoon

It's more than a feeling.

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

FRED HALE SR.

I gotta say for nostalgia sake I have a soft spot for most of these bands. I remember the first time I skated with a girl was done to Open Arms, it was touching. I remember my first Beer Bong was done to More Then A Feeling.

Unknown Soldier

Well you seem to have quite a good grasping on these bands. The reason why a lot of people have a negative view on the bands on the above list, is that they were largely commercial acts, who were geared upto to sell millions of albums, most of them though didn't start like this and actually in both Styx's and Journey's case they sounded like very different bands. Both Styx and Kansas went through a phase of almost being dropped by their record labels unless they started selling more albums, so their commercial direction was just a reaction to this. What most people neglect to see, is that these bands were outstanding musicians and knew what songcraft was all about so they knew what they were doing. Therefore people judge these bands strictly on their radio hits whilst probably not being too aware of their album material, personally I love these bands based on their albums and not on the strength of their singles.

I agree with this. Tom Scholz was very much a DIY artist, but instead of going out and producing a grass-roots or underground style album, he put out a glossy soft rock classic and he would go onto reach great technical heights on the third album Third Stage. The problem with Tom Scholz though, was he believed too much in his own brilliance and therefore spent years trying to perfect albums instead of just getting them out.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Great thread this especially when my favourite band is constantly voted as being the best.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Neapolitan

Who, Cheap Trick?

If I had to rank the bands in the poll:

1. Boston
2. Journey
3. Foreigner
4. Kansas
5. Styx

I like Boston, even though I don't think everything they did was great, still I really like a feel some of their tracks. I don't care much for Styx they seem like a boiled distilled version of Yes and other bands.

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