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Corporate America

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Corporate America
A guitar-shaped spaceship floating in Earth's orbit with the band's logo above in gold
Studio album by
Boston
ReleasedNovember 5, 2002
Recorded1998–2002
GenreHard rock
Length44:28
LabelArtemis
ProducerTom Scholz
Boston chronology
Greatest Hits
(1997) 		Corporate America
(2002) 		Life, Love & Hope
(2013)

Corporate America is the fifth studio album by American hard rock band Boston, released in 2002. It is the first album to feature band members Anton Cosmo and Kimberley Dahme, the last album released in vocalist Brad Delp's lifetime (though he would posthumously appear on the band's following album Life, Love & Hope), the second and final album with vocalist Fran Cosmo, and the only album released by Artemis Records.

Corporate America received mixed reviews, with critics praising the production values. It was also a commercial disappointment, failing to chart outside U.S. and Japan.[1] The low sales led to a lawsuit by the band's leader, Tom Scholz against Artemis. A 48-date North American tour was launched on June 6, 2003.[2][3]

Recording

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The title track was released on the Internet before the album's release and went number one on MP3.com's progressive rock charts. The song was released under the pseudonym "Downer's Revenge" in order to test its appeal to a younger demographic.[4][5][6] Lyrically atypical song for Boston, according to Scholz, it's the most important track on the album.[7]

"Didn't Mean to Fall in Love" was said to be similar to "More Than a Feeling".[8] "Livin' for You" is a live version of a song that appeared originally on the previous full-length album Walk On (1994). "I Had a Good Time" was included on a 2009 reissue of Greatest Hits, the only track representing the album.[9]

Three songs from the album were included with the band's next studio album Life, Love & Hope (2013): "Didn't Mean to Fall in Love" was remastered, "Someone" was rearranged and re-recorded as "Someone (2.0)", and an original version of "I Had a Good Time", "Te Quiero Mia", was included as a bonus track.[8][9]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Rolling Stone[11]

The Deseret News said the Corporate America is a typical Boston album and isn't as good as their previous ones.[12] Rolling Stone said the album is full of "overblown prog-rock pomp and hackneyed sentiments".[11] The Vindicator named the album 2002's "most dismal rock record" along with Bon Jovi's Bounce.[13] The Village Voice compared the album stylistically to Def Leppard and called it "sweet-sounding, brawny pop-metal".[14] AllMusic contrasted the album's fresh, energetic sound to "downscale aesthetic of post-punk".[10] In a retrospective, Classic Rock noted the songs as "not memorable enough" and Delp's vocals as "underutilised".[15] Looking back, Scholz called the album "a disaster" and "an experiment that didn’t work".[16] Scholz felt it was a mistake to let other people get more involved in the writing and recording process.[17]

The album charted at #42 on the Billboard 200 and by December 2002 had sold 60,000 copies.[4] In 2003, Scholz sued Artemis for failing to promote the album properly.[18]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Had a Good Time"Tom Scholz4:15
2."Stare Out Your Window"Anthony Cosmo3:19
3."Corporate America"Scholz4:37
4."With You"Kimberley Dahme3:28
5."Someone"Scholz4:10
6."Turn It Off"A. Cosmo4:37
7."Cryin'"A. Cosmo5:19
8."Didn't Mean to Fall in Love"Scholz, Curly Smith, Janet Minto5:14
9."You Gave Up on Love"Scholz4:22
10."Livin' for You" (live)Scholz5:07

Personnel

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Boston

  • Tom Scholz – vocals (1, 3, 9), guitars (1, 3, 5, 8, 9), bass (1–5, 8, 9), drums (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9), keyboards (3, 5, 7–10), electric guitars (4), organ (6), lead guitar (6, 7, 10), backing vocals (6, 8), arrangements
  • Brad Delp – vocals (1, 3, 5, 8), backing vocals (2), harmony vocals (10), acoustic guitar
  • Fran Cosmo – vocals (2, 3, 7), lead vocals (6, 10), rhythm guitar (10), arrangements
  • Anthony Cosmo – vocals (2), guitars (2, 6), harmony vocals (6), acoustic and rhythm guitar (7), arrangements
  • Kimberley Dahme – vocals (3, 4, 9), acoustic guitar (4), harmony vocals (6), arrangements
  • Gary Pihl – keyboards (10)

Additional musicians

  • Dow Brain – keyboards (2)
  • Frank Talarico – keyboards (2), percussion loop (7)
  • Sean Tierney – keyboards (7)
  • Billy Carman – bass (6, 7)
  • David Sikes – bass (10)
  • Tom Moonan – drums (6, 7)
  • Curly Smith – drums (10)
  • Beth Cohen – flute and vocals (9)
  • Julia Van Daam – girl voice (1)
  • Bill Ryan – radio broadcast voice (3), nightstand clock (5)
  • Charlie Farren – vocals (9)
Production
  • Tom Scholz – producer, engineer, art direction
  • Fran Cosmo – co-producer, engineer
  • Anthony Cosmo – co-producer, engineer
  • Dietmar Schmidt – live studio session engineer (4)
  • Bob Acquaviva – drum track engineer (6, 7)
  • Adam Ayan – digital transfers, editing
  • Daniel Chase – digital transfers, editing
  • Steve Churchyard – digital transfers, editing
  • Adrian Hernandez – digital transfers, editing
  • Matt Knobel – digital transfers, editing
  • Carl Nappa – digital transfers, editing
  • Gary Pihl – digital transfers, editing, image editing
  • Bill Ryan – digital transfers, editing
  • Toby Mountain – mastering
  • Alisa Andreola – design
  • Darryl Hirschler – front cover artwork
  • Darvin Atkeson – back cover artwork
  • Ron Pownall – photography
  • Kathy Murry – image editing

Charts

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Chart (2002) Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[19] 29
US Billboard 200[20] 42
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[21] 3

"I Had a Good Time" peaked at #30 on the Billboard Heritage Rock Chart on November 11, 2002.

References

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  1. ^ Smith, Steve (November 8, 2013). "Steve Smith: Boston's first album in 11 years; Paul Simon and Sting to tour; new Stevie Wonder albums in 2014". San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Digital First Media. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  2. ^ "Boston Take On Corporate America". Pollstar. Oak View Group. March 12, 2003. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  3. ^ Singer, Kristi. "Years since its last tour, Boston unleashes 'Corporate America'". Star-News. Gannett. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Pratt, Mark (December 15, 2002). "New approach paved way for Boston's CD". The Sunday Gazette (Associated Press). pp. G1 – G2.
  5. ^ Tavernise, Sabrina (September 22, 2002). "The Company Song, Sour Notes and All". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  6. ^ Simon, Bruce (September 18, 2002). "Boston's New Song Popular--Just Not Under The Band's Name". LAUNCH Media (Yahoo! Music). Yahoo!. Archived from the original on November 10, 2009. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  7. ^ Considine, J.D. (December 2002). "Boston: Mean Business". Guitar World. Future plc. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Sendra, Tim. "Life Love & Hope Review". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Ives, Brian (December 4, 2013). "Interview: Tom Scholz of Boston: 'It's Just A Matter Of Trying To Do The Best I Can'". Radio.com. WZLX. Archived from the original on December 5, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Doerschuk, Robert L. "Corporate America Review". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Archived from the original on June 16, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Edwards, Gavin (November 28, 2002). "Boston: Corporate America". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 10, 2008.
  12. ^ Iwasaki, Scott (November 29, 2002). "Boston album good but not group's best". Deseret News. Deseret News Publishing Company. pp. W14.
  13. ^ "On the Record - "Corporate America"". The Vindicator. Ogden Newspapers Inc. November 17, 2002. p. E4.
  14. ^ Smith, George (January 21, 2003). "More Than a Vegan". The Village Voice. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  15. ^ Oliver, Derek (June 23, 2020). "How Boston Flew So High And Fell So Far". Classic Rock. Louder. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  16. ^ Elliott, Paul (March 10, 2022). "The Boston albums you should definitely own". Classic Rock. Louder. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  17. ^ Sculley, Alan (April 30, 2015). "Boston on a steady path to SunFest". Florida Weekly. Hoffman Media Group. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  18. ^ Kaufman, Gil (June 25, 2003). "Boston Sue Artemis". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  19. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  20. ^ "Boston Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  21. ^ "Boston Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
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