Boston marked the 50th anniversary of their self-titled debut album by announcing a 50th-anniversary edition — although it won’t arrive until 2027. But Impex Records said the upcoming version will differ from previous reissues because it’s being assembled in collaboration with bandleader Tom Scholz.
The guitarist, inventor and producer endured steep challenges to deliver the original record, first released on August 25, 1976. His exacting audio requirements and determination to retain control of the product made its path to success a difficult one.
In fact, it took seven years to complete the 11-track project.
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“I started around 1969,” he told Classic Rock in 2023. “That was when I wrote my first song, Foreplay. It’s ironic that the first piece I ever wrote appeared on a best-selling 17-million-plus album.
“From there it was a long, long string of doing everything from buying time in so-called professional recording studios. Back in the ’70s that was incredibly expensive. Then, after I had blown enough money doing that and realized it was just gonna cost too much, I decided I would put my own little demo studio together.”
Scholz received a series of rejections before Epic signed Boston — and demanded that the tracks they’d heard be re-recorded in a “proper” studio.
“I knew I couldn’t… I’d gotten used to working alone,” he said.
That’s when producer John Boylan offered a sneaky solution. “I would make the record in my basement and wouldn’t tell anybody, and he would take a couple guys he knew out to L.A.,” Scholz explained. “They would record some songs out there, and Epic would think all the recording was done in L.A.”
Former coguitarist Barry Goudreau recalled the episode in an interview with Guitar Player.
“All of us, except for Tom, flew out to California and did some recording out there to give the label the impression that we were recording the album in L.A. with John Boylan,” he said. “But Tom was just doing it in the basement, and pretty much replicating what he’d already done on the demo. And if you compare the two, they’re really close.”
Regardless, Boston’s record hit pay dirt, with hits like “More Than a Feeling” — which beautifully merged acoustic and electric guitars — “Peace of Mind” and “Foreplay/Long Time.” The album continues to receives airplay on classic rock radio to this day.
Impex described the 2027 release as “the most authentic version of this oft-reissued classic,” and added, “Wishing to offer something truly unique to the millions of Boston fans who’ve supported the band through the years, Tom has — for the very first time — dug deep into his massive archive of recordings to find the long-lost, previously unreleased demos he famously shopped to the labels before being signed by Epic Records.
“He painstakingly restored and remastered these elusive treasures with the help of producer, digital expert and Boston guitarist Gary Pihl, exclusively for this 50th-anniversary release.”
Full details have yet to be revealed, but the anniversary package is available for pre-order now in black vinyl, gold vinyl and SACD/hybrid formats.
