Walk On (Boston album)

Walk On is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Boston, released on June 7, 1994, by MCA Records.[1] It is the band’s only album to date not to feature vocalist Brad Delp, though he did assist as a songwriter. Vocal duties were handled by Fran Cosmo, making this his first appearance on a Boston album. Delp and Cosmo shared leads during the album's supporting tour and the album’s follow-up Corporate America.

Walk On
Studio album by
Boston
ReleasedJune 7, 1994 (1994-06-07)
RecordedNovember 1990 – December 1993
GenreRock
Length44:24
LabelMCA
ProducerTom Scholz
Boston chronology
Third Stage
(1986)		 Walk On
(1994)		 Greatest Hits
(1997)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyC+[2]
Rolling Stone[3]

History

After the success of their 1986 album Third Stage, the band began planning a follow-up and writing for Walk On, which began in 1988. Brad Delp, Having fulfilled his agreement to finish the recording and tour of "Third Stage" after quitting the band in 1981 after the firing of Barry Goudreau, Left the band in 1989 to join original Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau in forming a new band (named RTZ). Soon after, Fran Cosmo was hired and introduced as the new lead singer. Cosmo had previously worked with Goudreau in the band Orion the Hunter. So, effectively, Scholz and Goudreau swapped vocalists in their musical projects.

Delp returned to Boston to assist in the songwriting, and shared lead vocals on the subsequent Walk On Tour, though he did not sing on the album. Delp and Cosmo also shared leads on Boston's next album Corporate America.

After its release, Walk On peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and yielded the hit "I Need Your Love." It was certified platinum by the RIAA on September 8, 1994.[4][5]

The final eight pages of the album's booklet were titled "Walk On — Against Violence and Cruelty", and dedicated to preventing domestic abuse and animal cruelty, providing contact information of numerous organizations, including the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Humane Society. It was noted that Delp himself was a contributor to these causes.

Classic Rock critic Paul Elliott rated "Livin' for You" as Boston's 3rd greatest song of all time and as Boston's greatest ballad.[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tom Scholz except for "Magdalene", which is written by David Sikes and Galen "Rusty" Foulke, additional songwriters are noted below

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Need Your Love"Fred Sampson5:33
2."Surrender to Me"
  • Sikes
  • Bobby Laquidara
5:34
3."Livin' for You" 4:58
4."Walkin' at Night" (instrumental) 2:02
5."Walk On"
2:58
6."Get Organ-ized"/"Get Reorgan-ized" (instrumental) 4:28
7."Walk On (Some More)"
  • Delp
  • Sikes
2:55
8."What's Your Name" 4:28
9."Magdalene"
  • Sikes
  • Foulke
5:58
10."We Can Make It"
  • Sikes
  • Bob Cedro
5:30
  • Tracks 4, 5, 6 and 7 are all part of one long song ("Walk On Medley"), but were indexed separately on the CD.
  • On the LP release, "Get Organ-ized" was split across the two sides of the record, with the portion on Side Two named "Get Reorgan-ized".
  • "Magdalene" was originally written by the Pennsylvania band Hybrid Ice.
  • A live version of track 3, "Livin for You", was included on the band's next album, Corporate America.

Personnel

Boston
  • Fran Cosmo – lead vocals
  • Tom Scholz – Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano, organs, clavinet, keyboard strings, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass (1, 2, 8–10) drums (1, 8), handclaps, various effects, subsonic bass vocals, narratives
  • Gary Pihl – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, handclaps, various effects
  • David Sikes – bass (3, 5–7) backing vocals
  • Doug Huffman – drums (2, 3, 5–7, 9, 10)

Additional Personnel
  • Bob Cedro – rhythm guitar (10), handclaps
  • Matt Belyea – handclaps
  • Tommy Funderburk – backing vocals
  • Michael Shotton – harmony vocals (1, 5)

Production
  • Tom Scholz – producer, engineer, arrangements
  • Gary Pihl – associate producer, assistant engineer
  • David Sikes – associate producer, assistant engineer
  • Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY)
  • Vartan Kurjian – art direction
  • Ron Larson – design, back cover illustrations
  • Andy Engel – cover art concept
  • Michael Bryan – cover illustrations

Charts
Chart (1994) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[7] 10
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[8] 25
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[9] 31
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] 40
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[11] 9
Scottish Albums (OCC)[12] 96
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 16
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 16
UK Albums (OCC)[15] 56
US Billboard 200[16] 7

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[17] Platinum 100,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[18] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[19] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Walk On - Boston". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
  2. Frost, Deborah. "Walk On". Retrieved 2019-11-20.
  3. Evans, Paul. "Boston: Walk On". Archived from the original on August 28, 2007. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  4. Billboard Charting History - Walk On. Retrieved on January 12, 2010.
  5. "Gold and Platinum Database Search". Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  6. Elliott, Paul (March 10, 2016). "The 10 Greatest Boston Songs Ever". Classic Rock. Louder Sound. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  7. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2514". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  8. "Dutchcharts.nl – Boston – Walk On" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  9. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  10. "Offiziellecharts.de – Boston – Walk On" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  11. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  12. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  13. "Swedishcharts.com – Boston – Walk On". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  14. "Swisscharts.com – Boston – Walk On". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  15. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  16. "Boston Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  17. "Canadian album certifications – Boston – Walk On". Music Canada. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  18. "Japanese album certifications – Boston – Walk On" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved December 27, 2020. Select 1994年7月 on the drop-down menu
  19. "American album certifications – Boston – Walk On". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
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