Live, Love & Hope is the first Boston effort since the release of the disappointing Corporate America and after 11 years of waiting the disappointment is even bigger. First of all this album comes with 4 re-recorded songs from Corporate America and the most hilarious is that Scholz had a vision and decided to change the name of I Had A Good Time into Te Quiero Mia for the Best Buy release. This seems to be a miserable attempt to feature vocals of Brad Delp in this album... 3 of these songs are sang by Delp apart from a new one titled Sail Away.
With no doubt Delp is one of the best Rock singers ever. I grew up with his voice and when i knew of his death it was kind of shock. I would like to listen to his vocals in a million of new songs but sadly he's gone so i think the best way to respect his memory and legacy is letting him rest in peace instead of trying to do some business at the expense of his voice.
This is the first Boston album featuring Tommy DeCarlo on vocals, i listened to him live in New York in his first tour with Boston and the guy is a good singer but he doesn't show his best in Live, Love & Hope. Musically this album has a similar problem with Corporate America, that cold and empty sounding drum, though they aren't, it seems like all drums are computerized, Scholz way of playing is repetitive and humdrum, vocals by DeCarlo, Dahme and Victor are weak and songwriting is deadful.
Actually, I don't know if this is a review or whatever but the real deal is that it's not worth talking a single more word about this album... one of the best Rock bands ever has become something ridiculous and Live, Love & Hope is truly a joke, this is going to be Boston biggest commercial failure ever... maybe this is the right moment to withdraw for Tom Scholz and Boston.
Soundbites
Heaven On Earth
