Boston’s Third Stage turns 40 on September 24, 2026, marking four decades since Tom Scholz and Brad Delp returned with the band’s long-awaited third album and its only US number one single, “Amanda”.
by Paul Cashmere
Boston’s Third Stage will mark its 40th anniversary on September 24, 2026, four decades after the album ended the band’s six-year recording wait and returned Tom Scholz and Brad Delp to the centre of the American rock landscape. Released by MCA Records in 1986, the album reached number one on the Billboard 200, while its opening single, “Amanda”, became Boston’s only number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
The album’s extended creation was largely shaped by Scholz’s meticulous approach to recording. Third Stage was recorded between 1980 and 1986 at Scholz’s Hideaway Studio, with the process affected by technical setbacks including floods and power failures. The six-year period between the beginning of the project and its release became part of the album’s story, particularly after Boston’s previous studio album, Don’t Look Back, had been released in 1978.
Third Stage also represented a change in Boston’s record-label relationship. Following a legal dispute with Epic Records, Scholz moved the band to MCA Records. The resulting album became Boston’s first release for MCA and the first new Boston studio album in eight years.
The timing of “Amanda” added another chapter to the long wait. Written in 1980, the song had existed in demo form for years before being released as the first single from Third Stage in September 1986. It quickly established Boston at the top of the US singles market, spending two weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1986. It also topped Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart for three weeks.
“Amanda” was followed by “We’re Ready”, which reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. “Cool the Engines” reached number four on the Mainstream Rock chart, while “Can’tcha Say (You Believe in Me)/Still in Love” reached number 20 on the Hot 100 in 1987. “Can’tcha Say” remains Boston’s last Top 40 single.
Third Stage itself reached number one on the Billboard 200 after only three weeks on the chart and remained there for four weeks. The album was subsequently certified four-times platinum in the United States and three-times platinum in Canada.
The recording also documented a changing Boston lineup and recording method. Original members Barry Goudreau and Fran Sheehan were absent from the completed album, although Sheehan had participated during an earlier recording period and received a writing credit. Sib Hashian played drums on “Amanda”, “We’re Ready” and “Cool the Engines”, while Jim Masdea performed on most of the remaining tracks.
Masdea later described the division of the drum performances, explaining that Hashian played much of the first side, while Masdea handled “The Launch”, “My Destination” and most of the second side. Scholz’s production extended beyond conventional guitar and keyboard work, with his liner-note credits also listing drum editing and a series of studio sound effects.
Third Stage was also significant technologically. It was Boston’s first album to incorporate electronic drum samples and the first Boston recording to use Scholz’s Rockman guitar processor. The album’s instrumentation included guitars, bass, grand piano, electric piano and Hammond and theatre organs, with Scholz handling much of the instrumental production alongside Delp’s vocals and acoustic guitar.
The album’s themes reflected its title. Its songs addressed maturity, ageing and the experience of moving through different stages of life, while “The Launch” created an instrumental sequence built around “Countdown”, “Ignition” and “Third Stage Separation”. “My Destination” provided a brief transition before the second side moved into “A New World”, “To Be a Man”, “I Think I Like It”, “Can’tcha Say” and “Hollyann”.
For Boston, Third Stage occupies a distinctive place between the band’s landmark 1976 debut and the later Walk On, released in 1994. Its eight-year gap from Don’t Look Back was unusually long for a major rock act, but the eventual commercial response demonstrated that the audience had remained in place.
“Amanda” was particularly unusual for a number one single of its era because Boston did not release a conventional promotional performance video for the song. The track had already generated significant radio interest after a raw demo was leaked to radio stations through a syndicated satellite feed in the early 1980s.
Third Stage remains a defining chapter in Boston’s catalogue, combining Scholz’s studio-driven production with Delp’s vocals across an album that took six years to complete but returned the band to the top of both the album and singles charts. Forty years after its release, its central significance is still tied to that extraordinary gap between creation and public release.
Tracklisting
Amanda
We’re Ready
The Launch
Cool the Engines
My Destination
A New World
To Be a Man
I Think I Like It
Can’tcha Say (You Believe in Me)/Still in Love
Hollyann
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