Two entries back is the fearsome snowman. One entry back is the graphic novel art.
A couple of weeks ago the lead singer from the band Boston, Brad Delp, was found dead in his home. If you've gotten most of your 70s knowledge from retro TV shows and didn't actually live then, Boston was a kick-ass rock band around the same time as Styx, Supertramp, Kansas, and Heart, only more kick-ass than all of them. Yes, even Heart.
Boston featured the anal-retentive guitar work of Tom Scholz, a super-goddamn hippy, who also happened to be a fucking genius musician/inventor. Scholz, unhappy with recording and amp sounds available to him in the early 70s, got off his hippy ass and pulled new types of amps and recording equipment out of it instead. His amp, Rockman, was and is used by Journey, ZZ Top, the Nuge, Def Leppard, the GoGos, and Rush. All kick-ass in varying degrees.
Boston's debut album in 1976 had sold 17 million records, going platinum in 3 months, which is pretty fucking kick-ass, then over the next, well, forever, only produced 4 more. Scholz, not one of those peace loving goddamn hippies, spent a lot of time suing record companies and former members, most of which were out to screw him. Meaning he won the lawsuits.
Through it all, he and Delp remained the rock solid core of Boston's sound. Scholz provided complicated layered guitars, which Wikipedia described as in the same class as Queen's super kick-ass guitar god Brian May and I think that's a fair comparison. Delp was the same thing, only what Scholz did with guitars, Delp did with his voice. Delp had a pretty kick-ass range and was able to record layered harmonies, one after another, infused with emotion, without getting anything lost or confused. Equal to Scholz's unique guitar, Delp's vocals and harmonies made Boston's sound immediately identifiable.
Goddamn I loved that band and recently spent almost a year of school working on projects with Boston in the background.
So, what's the deal, you say? Great band, dead guy, nothing new. Well, it's not, you're right. What it is, is one of those things, and you know what I mean, that mark the passage of time. Not mark it like Christmas' or birthdays or new seasons of Lost. I mean fucking mark it. With a big, fat, permanent marker that says, you are getting older, time is passing and you are going to die. And until you do, this thing you loved is never coming back. This thing attached to memories, now has a new component and that component is melancholy; it's sadness or anger or regret.
Brad Delp killed himself, by the way, fucking hippy jerk.
He now joins my uncle and my genetic father; Reggie White and Mike Webster; kick-ass super band Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury. All the people I can't say I've known, but have provided valuable pieces of what constitute me.
I like getting older. I like the stereotypical wisdom that comes with it, the experience, and watching the cycles of politics and entertainment. But, fuck, I'm getting older. And I'm going to die.
Unfortunately, before I go, a lot of things I love are going to beat me to it.
Boston's Website
A couple of weeks ago the lead singer from the band Boston, Brad Delp, was found dead in his home. If you've gotten most of your 70s knowledge from retro TV shows and didn't actually live then, Boston was a kick-ass rock band around the same time as Styx, Supertramp, Kansas, and Heart, only more kick-ass than all of them. Yes, even Heart.
Boston featured the anal-retentive guitar work of Tom Scholz, a super-goddamn hippy, who also happened to be a fucking genius musician/inventor. Scholz, unhappy with recording and amp sounds available to him in the early 70s, got off his hippy ass and pulled new types of amps and recording equipment out of it instead. His amp, Rockman, was and is used by Journey, ZZ Top, the Nuge, Def Leppard, the GoGos, and Rush. All kick-ass in varying degrees.
Boston's debut album in 1976 had sold 17 million records, going platinum in 3 months, which is pretty fucking kick-ass, then over the next, well, forever, only produced 4 more. Scholz, not one of those peace loving goddamn hippies, spent a lot of time suing record companies and former members, most of which were out to screw him. Meaning he won the lawsuits.
Through it all, he and Delp remained the rock solid core of Boston's sound. Scholz provided complicated layered guitars, which Wikipedia described as in the same class as Queen's super kick-ass guitar god Brian May and I think that's a fair comparison. Delp was the same thing, only what Scholz did with guitars, Delp did with his voice. Delp had a pretty kick-ass range and was able to record layered harmonies, one after another, infused with emotion, without getting anything lost or confused. Equal to Scholz's unique guitar, Delp's vocals and harmonies made Boston's sound immediately identifiable.
Goddamn I loved that band and recently spent almost a year of school working on projects with Boston in the background.
So, what's the deal, you say? Great band, dead guy, nothing new. Well, it's not, you're right. What it is, is one of those things, and you know what I mean, that mark the passage of time. Not mark it like Christmas' or birthdays or new seasons of Lost. I mean fucking mark it. With a big, fat, permanent marker that says, you are getting older, time is passing and you are going to die. And until you do, this thing you loved is never coming back. This thing attached to memories, now has a new component and that component is melancholy; it's sadness or anger or regret.
Brad Delp killed himself, by the way, fucking hippy jerk.
He now joins my uncle and my genetic father; Reggie White and Mike Webster; kick-ass super band Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury. All the people I can't say I've known, but have provided valuable pieces of what constitute me.
I like getting older. I like the stereotypical wisdom that comes with it, the experience, and watching the cycles of politics and entertainment. But, fuck, I'm getting older. And I'm going to die.
Unfortunately, before I go, a lot of things I love are going to beat me to it.
Boston's Website
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