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Boston V. Van Halen (the albums...the bands too if you like)


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Which album is awesomer?  

33 members have voted

  1. 1. Which do you prefer?

    • Boston - Boston
      13
    • Van Halen - Van Halen
      20


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So these two debut albums are among the best debut albums in existence and the most influential albums on the rock music scene of the late seventies and early eighties.

 

Boston essentially kicked off the success of Album Oriented Rock (AOR) radio, giving huge popularity and rise to the more commercial material of bands like Styx, Journey, Foreigner, and REO Speedwagon, forming a style of popular music which dominated the commercial rock scene until the mid-eighties when all of these bands nearly simultaneously broke up.

 

Van Halen essentially kicked off the success of the Hair Metal scene, giving huge popularity and rise to the music of Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, and many others. These bands held a more underground, though still greatly commercially viable, style until AOR fizzled out in the mid eighties and Gun's N' Roses and Aerosmith (not hair metal, but still grittier) brought back grittier rock in popular music.

 

Both albums are lodged with more than their fair share of hits and awesome songs, each playing essentially as a greatest hits album for their respective band (minus a few major hits). Which album do you prefer? Which album is more amazing?

 

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Both bands are bands that pop up on my shuffle and I enjoy, but aren't bands I go looking for like "I wanna listen to <band>".

 

Both of their debut albums are great and one of their best (Van Halen's true best being Fair Warning), but I gotta with go Van Halen.

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OK...I prefer Boston's debut.

 

Overall, though, I like Van Halen a lot more. And Hagar era VH is not too shabby either, I would now take that side of the band over Boston as well.

 

But of both bands, Boston's debut is the best album either band ever released.

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So far this seems to be more divisive than controversial, as in most people are generally decided on this, but there's relatively even split between Boston and Van Halen votes. Of course, it's still rather early to analyze the poll results.
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So far this seems to be more divisive than controversial, as in most people are generally decided on this, but there's relatively even split between Boston and Van Halen votes. Of course, it's still rather early to analyze the poll results.

 

Did you major in statistics? Or political science, perhaps? :LOL: :)

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So far this seems to be more divisive than controversial, as in most people are generally decided on this, but there's relatively even split between Boston and Van Halen votes. Of course, it's still rather early to analyze the poll results.

 

Did you major in statistics? Or political science, perhaps? :LOL: :)

 

I'm in high school. Lol.

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So far this seems to be more divisive than controversial, as in most people are generally decided on this, but there's relatively even split between Boston and Van Halen votes. Of course, it's still rather early to analyze the poll results.

 

Did you major in statistics? Or political science, perhaps? :LOL: :)

 

I'm in high school. Lol.

 

Holy crap!

 

:P

Edited by Blue J
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I have to go with the way I felt when it was all going down. I was not a fan of popular music at all and was very stubborn about that fact. When Van Halen's debut came out it was like WTF is this?!! To rockers like myself and being in my senior year in high school this was incredible. It seemed like something so different than I had heard before. I got the album right away of course and wore it out. I got tickets to see them open for Ted Nugent at the earliest opportunity possible and they were incredible. Boston's debut came out a couple years earlier and I had no interest whatsoever. I had friends who loved that stuff. Styx, Boston, Eagles and Foreigner etc. All these guys were all over the radio and I wanted nothing to do with them. I will admit now that some of that music is pretty good to excellent. It is a huge part of the soundtrack of my life whether or not I wanted it to be or not. It was unavoidable. You can certainly party and tap your toes to it for sure but I was a Van Halen guy all the way back then for sure...

 

Edit: I don't own a Boston album to this day and I doubt I ever will...

Edited by Narps
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Van Halen blew the doors off. Everything changed after that album. I remember the time well. Boston, although very good, was just immensely popular. And, to this day, I don't understand why.

 

I think I was wrong...I think VH might have had two albums better than Boston's debut...

 

Replaying them I am sorta like "Boston? Whodat!"

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Van Halen blew the doors off. Everything changed after that album. I remember the time well. Boston, although very good, was just immensely popular. And, to this day, I don't understand why.

 

I think I was wrong...I think VH might have had two albums better than Boston's debut...

 

Replaying them I am sorta like "Boston? Whodat!"

I take that back. Boston is an extremely well-made album. Great production, great hooks. I totally understand why it's so popular. I just don't think it really changed anything. If that makes any sense....

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Van Halen blew the doors off. Everything changed after that album. I remember the time well. Boston, although very good, was just immensely popular. And, to this day, I don't understand why.

 

I think I was wrong...I think VH might have had two albums better than Boston's debut...

 

Replaying them I am sorta like "Boston? Whodat!"

I take that back. Boston is an extremely well-made album. Great production, great hooks. I totally understand why it's so popular. I just don't think it really changed anything. If that makes any sense....

 

I love Boston's debut but I am trying to imagine I am in the seventies, listening to VH for the first time...and Boston had a great debut, but it sounds like any random Styx album.

 

VH must have seemed otherworldly! Like...wow when this was new it must have blown you all away like fraroc's posts.

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Van Halen blew the doors off. Everything changed after that album. I remember the time well. Boston, although very good, was just immensely popular. And, to this day, I don't understand why.

 

I think I was wrong...I think VH might have had two albums better than Boston's debut...

 

Replaying them I am sorta like "Boston? Whodat!"

I take that back. Boston is an extremely well-made album. Great production, great hooks. I totally understand why it's so popular. I just don't think it really changed anything. If that makes any sense....

 

I love Boston's debut but I am trying to imagine I am in the seventies, listening to VH for the first time...and Boston had a great debut, but it sounds like any random Styx album.

 

VH must have seemed otherworldly! Like...wow when this was new it must have blown you all away like fraroc's posts.

It really did.

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Boston for me. Where Roth's voice grates on me after a while, Brad Delp had one of the most incredible voices of any singer, and his harmonies are flawless. I like the sound of the guitars on the Boston records - a nice combination of distortion and whatever other effects altered the signal. I think there are great songs on VH's first record, and some jaw-dropping guitar playing, but I prefer the guitar parts on Boston, which I find more melodic and richer in tone - and the solo for Hitch a Ride is one of my all-time favorites. To me, the album is much more imaginative and emotionally pleasing.
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I cannot vote.

 

I wasn't there, I am torn by which I prefer, and which I know rocks better.

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I just knew this would be a great poll! The more I look at Boston and Van Halen, the more I see how crazy important, similar, and different each album is. These two for me are easily the most important seventies precedents to two thirds of the entire popular eighties rock scene (the other third being New Wave and alternative music, which in turn eventually became the most successful of these three styles), and I love them both very much. Right now I'm on a Boston kick since I finally got the debut on CD but VH is mind blowing every time too. I cannot decide.
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I just know back when it was all really happening at least in my little part of the world the "real" rock guys (outcasts if you will) were into Van Halen and the dudes that just wanted to be popular and had girlfriends liked Boston and stuff like that. One of my best friends and the best man at my wedding was like that. He wasn't into the Rush, Priest, Yes, AC/DC etc and hiding in his room listening to music all the time like I was. He was into whatever was popular and hung with that crowd mostly because of it and had girlfriends etc. My other really close friends were more nerdy, non girlfriend having, alone in their room hard rock dudes...
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