Boston : Third Stage

I'M GONNA TAKE YOU

BY SUPRISE 

AND MAKE YOU

REALIZE

 Third Stage

 is the

 third studio album 

by the American

 Rock band 

Boston

 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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