OK, I might be jumping the gun here, as it's not been confirmed by the band or the label in question, but I figured I might as well throw this bit of news out for people who have missed it: Boston are set to return with a new album (titled Life, Love & Hope) in December this year. There hasn't been a cover art or tracklist provided yet, so this is purely running on what I've seen around the web.
Some people may be wondering whether it can really be called Boston without Brad Delp (who died in 2007). Well, it is true that Delp's voice helped make the band, but I would safely argue that, since Walk On didn't have his vocals, you could get away with saying that Brad's absence is more a shame than a reason to expect this album to automatically be bad. It is Tom Scholz's band at the end of the day, so I think asking whether this album can be considered a Boston one or not, while a reasonable question, is not without precedent.
The better question is this: will the album meet up to the hype? Bear in mind, these guys are legendary for their first album, so there will be an expectation of a good album, but, after an eleven years wait, the expectations will be noticeably higher. From what I've heard, a lot of fans aren't fond of Corporate America (their last album, released in 2002: interestingly, you have to really look to find a decently priced copy of that album, which suggests it didn't get a large pressing to me...) and, from what I've gathered, they've not really been on the same level since their third album (released in 1986), although that and the follow up (Walk On, released in 1994) were still decent. So, I'm sadly going to have to be pessimistic and say that I'm not expecting the record to be that great. They could pull off an amazing record, but I think the odds of that happening aren't in their favour.
So yeah, classic rock fans, be prepared for a new Boston album to hopefully hit stores in December. Just don't expect a classic: you're not likely to get that. I'll keep my ears open for any more news regarding the album.
Oh, and if you're wondering where the Green Day and/or Queensryche review is: I'm hoping to have one uploaded on Friday. Been slightly sidetracked recently, but I do have both reviews started and should be able to get them finished before the 16th, barring a personal crisis. Apologies for those of your who've been checking back hoping to see the reviews, since the sidetrack shouldn't have happened in the first place: got a bit too excited about the news relating to the upcoming XCOM and Assassin's Creed games and some other music related news (Lostprophet's breakup, the Queensryche lawsuit, catching up on Grim Reaper in preparation for their new album, new Hell track, White Wizzard's messy departure of their fifth singer, new Nightwish vocalist announced, new Boston album confirmed...that's just the high points of what has been eating into my time!) to focus on writing the reviews. I'll try not to start suffering from Valve time with the Judas Priest reviews and hope you're still looking forward to the reviews I've lined up for this month!
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