Third Stage

2025-10-03T01:56:00Z

2001:67C:2660:425:25:0:0:D6:

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Third Stage
| type = studio
| artist = [[Boston (band)|Boston]]
| cover = Boston - Third Stage.jpg
| alt =
| released = September 24, 1986
| recorded = 1980–1986
| studio = Tom Scholz's Hideaway Studio
| genre = {{hlist|[[Hard rock]]|[[art rock]]|[[soft rock]]|[[progressive rock]]}}
| length = 36:27
| label = [[MCA Records|MCA]]
| producer = [[Tom Scholz]]
| prev_title = [[Don't Look Back (Boston album)|Don't Look Back]]
| prev_year = 1978
| next_title = [[Walk On (Boston album)|Walk On]]
| next_year = 1994
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Third Stage
| type = studio
| single1 = [[Amanda (Boston song)|Amanda]]
| single1date = September 1986
| single2 = [[We're Ready]]
| single2date = November 1986<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Boston&titel=We%27re+Ready&cat=s|title=Boston singles}}</ref>
| single3 = [[Cool the Engines]]
| single3date = 1986
| single4 = [[Can'tcha Say (You Believe in Me)]]
| single4date = February 1987
| single5 = Hollyann
| single5date = June 1987
}}
}}

{{Music ratings
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name=All>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/third-stage-r2450/review |title=Boston Third Stage review |accessdate=2011-09-11 |last=Iyengar |first=Vik |work=[[AllMusic]] |publisher=[[All Media Network]]}}</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s|Christgau's Record Guide]]''
|rev2score = C<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=B&bk=80|chapter=B|accessdate=August 17, 2020|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s]]|publisher=[[Pantheon Books]]|year=1990|isbn=0-679-73015-X|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref>
|rev3 = ''[[Kerrang!]]''
|rev3score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Oliver |first1=Derek |title=[[Kerrang!]] |chapter=Boston 'The Third Stage' |volume=130 |publisher=United Magazines ltd. |date=2 October 1986 |location=London, UK |pages=18–19 }}</ref>
|noprose = yes
}}

'''''Third Stage''''' is the third studio album by the American [[Rock music|rock]] band [[Boston (band)|Boston]], released on September 24, 1986, on [[MCA Records]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/FMQB-Album/1986/FMQB-1986-09-19.pdf|title=FMQB|page=45}}</ref> It is the band's first album on the MCA label, and was recorded at Boston co-founder [[Tom Scholz]]'s Hideaway Studio over a long, strained, six-year period "between floods and power failures".<ref name="Third Stage">{{cite AV media notes |title=Third Stage |others=Boston |year=1986 |type=CD liner |publisher=MCA Records }}</ref> Considered a comeback album for the band, Scholz, and lead singer [[Brad Delp]], the [[lyrics]] invoke themes of maturity, [[Human ageing|aging]], and working through stages in life. ''Third Stage'' topped the ''[[Billboard 200]]'' albums chart upon release, and its lead [[single (music)|single]], "[[Amanda (Boston song)|Amanda]]", became a number-one hit on various [[Top 40]] charts and the ''[[Billboard Hot 100]]''.<ref name="All" /> The album is [[Music recording sales certification|certified]] 4× Platinum in the United States and 3× Platinum in Canada by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]].<ref name=Buchanan>{{cite web|date=October 22, 2014|accessdate=January 9, 2018|first=Brett|last=Buchanan|url=http://archive.alternativenation.net/10-rock-albums-that-took-forever-to-make/|title=10 Rock Albums That Took Forever to Make}}</ref>

==Development==
After winning a legal battle with [[Epic Records]], Scholz switched Boston to the MCA record label.<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/05/arts/the-pop-life-new-boston-hit-a-throwback-to-70-s.html |last=Pareles |first=Jon |title=The Pop Life; New Boston Hit a Throwback to 70's |date=1986-11-05 |accessdate=2010-08-30 |work=[[The New York Times]] }}</ref> The album's first track, "[[Amanda (Boston song)|Amanda]]", had been written in 1980 (when Boston began work on the album)<ref name=nytimes/> 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. The singles "Cool the Engines" and "Can'tcha Say (You Believe in Me)/Still in Love" also got substantial airplay, with the former reaching #4 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Mainstream Rock (chart)|Mainstream Rock]] chart, and the latter peaking at #20 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] in 1987. "Can'tcha Say" remains Boston's last [[Top 40]] hit.

After only three weeks on the chart, ''Third Stage'' reached #1 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] for four weeks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thirdstage.ca/boston/articles/newspaper-and-magazine-articles/360-boston-heaven-is-a-reel-to-reel-tape|title = Boston: Heaven is a Reel-to-Reel Tape - thirdstage.ca}}</ref> 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. 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]], and the 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."{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}} It is the first Boston recording to use the [[Rockman (music)|Rockman]] guitar processor, invented by Scholz.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}

==Track listing==
{{track listing
| headline = Side one
| all_writing = [[Tom Scholz]], except where noted
| title1 = [[Amanda (Boston song)|Amanda]]
| length1 = 4:16
| title2 = [[We're Ready]]
| length2 = 3:58
| title3 = The Launch" <br />a) "Countdown"<br />b) "Ignition"<br />c) "Third Stage Separation
| length3 = 2:55
| title4 = [[Cool the Engines]]
| writer4 = {{hlist|[[Tom Scholz]]|[[Fran Sheehan]]|[[Brad Delp]]}}
| length4 = 4:24
| title5 = My Destination
| length5 = 2:19
| total_length = 17:52
}}
{{track listing
| headline = Side two
| title6 = A New World
| note6 = instrumental
| writer6 = [[Jim Masdea]]
| length6 = 0:37
| title7 = To Be a Man
| length7 = 3:30
| title8 = I Think I Like It
| writer8 = {{hlist|Scholz|Jon DeBrigard (credited as John English)}}
| length8 = 4:06
| title9 = [[Can'tcha Say (You Believe in Me)|Can'tcha Say (You Believe in Me)/Still in Love]]
| writer9 = {{hlist|Gerry Green|Scholz|Delp}}
| note9 = Track length misprinted as 7:14 on CD releases
| length9 = 5:13
| title10 = Hollyann
| length10 = 5:09
| total_length = 18:35
}}

== Personnel ==
Adapted from ''Third Stage'' liner notes.<ref name="Third Stage"/>

* [[Brad Delp]] – vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion
* [[Tom Scholz]] – guitar, bass, grand piano, electric piano, [[Hammond organ]], [[theater organ]], drum editing, "guitar 'violin', rocket ignition, thunderstorms, unidentified flying objects"
* [[Gary Pihl]] – co-lead guitar (8)
* [[Jim Masdea]] – drums (3, 5–10)
* [[Sib Hashian]] – drums (1, 2, 4)

== Production ==
* Tom Scholz – producer, arrangements, engineer, liner notes
* Gragg Lumsford – piano track engineer (9) at Blue Jay Studios (Carlisle, Massachusetts)
* Augustine Antoine – technical support
* Mike Blackmere – technical support
* Bill Clack – technical support
* Del Eilers – technical support
* Neil Miller – technical support
* Gary Pihl – technical support
* [[Bob Ludwig]] – mastering at [[Masterdisk]] (New York, NY)
* John Salozzo – cover artwork
* Chris Serra – cover concept sleeve drawing
* Richard Ocean – photography
* Ron Pownall – photography

==Charts==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}

===Weekly charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Chart (1986–1987)
! Peak<br/>position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=19}}</ref>
| align="center"| 35
|-
{{Album chart|Canada|1|chartid=0857|artist=Boston|album=Third Stage|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}}
|-
{{Album chart|Netherlands|15|artist=Boston|album=Third Stage|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}}
|-
! scope="row"| Finnish Albums ([[The Official Finnish Charts]])<ref name=FINI>{{cite book|last=Pennanen|first=Timo|title=Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972|edition=1st|publisher=Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava|location=Helsinki|year=2006|isbn=978-951-1-21053-5 | language= fi}}</ref>
| align="center"| 30
|-
{{Album chart|Germany|25|id=468|artist=Boston|album=Third Stage|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}}
|-
! scope="row"|Italian Albums (''[[Musica e Dischi]]'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicaedischi.it/classifiche_archivio.php|title=Classifiche|work=[[Musica e Dischi]]|language=it|access-date=27 May 2022}} Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Boston".</ref>
| align="center"| 24
|-
!scope="row"|Japanese Albums ([[Oricon]])<ref name="JPN">{{cite book|title=Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005|publisher=[[Oricon|Oricon Entertainment]]|location=Roppongi, Tokyo|year=2006|isbn=4-87131-077-9|language=ja}}</ref>
| align="center"| 8
|-
{{Album chart|Sweden|23|artist=Boston|album=Third Stage|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}}
|-
{{Album chart|Switzerland|13|artist=Boston|album=Third Stage|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}}
|-
{{Album chart|UK2|37|date=19861012|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}}
|-
{{Album chart|Billboard200|1|artist=Boston|refname=Billboard 200|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}}
|}
{{col-2}}

===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col" | Chart (1986)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
{{album chart|Canada|26|chartid=8824|rowheader=true|access-date=April 4, 2025|refname=CA_YE}}
|-
! scope="col" | Chart (1987)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
! scope="row" | US ''Billboard'' 200<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bestsellingalbums.org/year-end/Billboard_Top_Albums_1987|title=Top US Billboard 200 Albums - Year-end 1987|website=BestSellingAlbums.org|access-date=April 4, 2025}}</ref>
| 17
|}
{{col-end}}

==Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|title= Third Stage|artist=Boston|award=Platinum|number=3|relyear=1986|certyear=1979|access-date=27 June 2012}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|title= Third Stage|artist=Boston|award=Platinum|number=4|relyear=1987|certyear=1996|access-date=27 June 2012}}
{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}

==See also==
*[[List of number-one albums of 1986 (U.S.)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Boston (band)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1986 albums]]
[[Category:Boston (band) albums]]
[[Category:1980s concept albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Tom Scholz]]
[[Category:MCA Records albums]]

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Third Stage