Why I love Boston's debut album, by Trivium's Paolo Gregoletto

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The Trivium bassist wasn't even born when Boston's self-titled album was released in 1976, but he loves it just the same...

Trivium's Paolo Gregoletto
(Image credit: Getty)

Because of the way Trivium sounds, I guess some people might be surprised that I really like Boston – especially because I wasn’t born until 1985.

I was actually introduced to Boston by my mom. She was a a huge fan of theirs who’d grown up listening to them – she even saw them back in the 1970s; she told me that their concert was one of the most amazing nights of her life. So Boston’s music was always being played around the house. We never seemed to have the radio tuned into the alternative rock stations, it was always the classic rock ones. There was so much music being made back then, it was an influential time.

I liked Boston’s first CD so much I ended up stealing it from her. What I liked most about the band was their sense of melody. Brad Delp was an awesome singer. And the guitarist, Tom Scholz, somehow came up with the cleverest and most memorable riffs and choruses.

If you put their debut album on, every song on there is a classic in its own right. Most of them were hits, and just about all the album’s eight songs can still be heard all the time on American radio. It’s so well written and produced, they almost made the perfect album.

I really don’t see a problem in somebody liking Boston and Rush was well as Metallica and Iron Maiden. It’s all good music. If you play Boston, it doesn’t sound like it was made back in 1976. Metallica were the first extreme band I heard, but I could never get the stuff I’d heard on classic rock radio out of my system. A lot of the stuff that was considered extreme in the 1980s had its roots in those classic rock bands – it was the same type of anthem songs, just played a lot heavier.

Of course, Trivium don’t sound anything like Boston. But if you take time to look at the song structures, it’s possible to make comparisons. There’s a part on the song A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation on the album Ascendancy, that has a long, melodic guitar line. I always have fun playing it because it reminds me of Boston.

It made me laugh when someone told me that Kurt Cobain was a big Boston fans, and that he based Smells Like Teen Spirit on the riff to More Than A Feeling. Until then, it hadn’t occurred to me, but I guess it could be true. I listen to that song in a whole new light.

Paolo was speaking to Dave Ling. Trivium’s album Silence In The Snow is out now. For tour dates, visit their Facebook page.