I'M GONNA TAKE YOU
BY SUPRISE
AND MAKE YOU
REALIZE

Third Stage
is the
third studio album
by the American
Rock band
released on
September 24, 1986,
on MCA Records,
as the band's
first album
on the label.
It was recorded at
Boston co-founder
Tom Scholz's
Hideaway Studio
over a long,
strained,
six-year period
"between floods and power failures".
Scholz and vocalist
Brad Delp
were the
only original members.
The lyrics
invoke themes of
aging and
working through stages
in life.
The first track
and lead single,
"Amanda",
became a
number one hit
and one of the group's
best known songs.
The album itself
was eventually
certified 4× platinum
by the RIAA.
Development
After winning a legal battle
with Epic Records,
Scholz switched
Boston to the
MCA record label.
The album's first track,
"Amanda",
had been written in 1980
(when Boston began work on the album)
and became the band's
only #1 single.
It reached #1
for two weeks
in November 1986.
The second Top 10 single,
"We're Ready",
reached #9.
After only three weeks
on the chart,
Third Stage
reached #1
on the Billboard 200
for four weeks.
It is the first
CD-formatted album
to have been certified
gold
(500,000 copies)
by the RIAA.
It was also certified
gold in the LP format,
believed to be the
first album certified
in both of these formats.
In all,
the album was
certified 4× platinum.
It is the first Boston LP
with electronic drum samples,
the first to include
songs not written
by either
Scholz or Brad Delp, t
he first Boston LP
without original members
Barry Goudreau
and
Fran Sheehan
(Sib Hashian played drums
on three tracks
and Sheehan was included
in the early recording session
and received a writing credit).
Jim Masdea
plays drums
on most of the album.
According to Masdea,
"the first side,
half of it or a
little bit more,
is all Sib.
Then
'The Launch,'
'My Destination'
I played with Tom.
And then the second side,
that's pretty much all me."
It is the first
Boston recording
to use the
Rockman guitar processor,
invented by Scholz.
No orchestral sounds
or synthesizers
are on the album.
Critics have noted
that the album
has a darker,
more somber tone
than Boston's
previous work.
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