Life, Love & Hope

Every Boston fan knows that Tom Scholz takes his time making every Boston album. Eleven years after Corporate America, Boston presented its follow-up: 2013’s Life, Love & Hope. In the meantime, classic Boston singer Brad Delp tragically took his life in 2007. Scholz had several tracks with Delp in the can, so when Delp's voice appears on “Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love,” there’s an eerie, heartbreaking quality to the moment. Oddly, that song—plus “Someone” (another strong Delp vocal) and “You Gave Up on Love”—all appeared in different versions with Scholz on vocals on Corporate America. Seven different singers (Delp, Scholz, David Victor, Louis St. August, Kimberly Dahme, Tommy DeCarlo, and Jude Nejmanowski) are credited among the ranks here, while Scholz handled nearly all the songwriting himself. Interestingly, the mixes are a bit confused. Scholz’s guitars are always a thing of beauty, but the keyboards and background harmonies often poke through inconsistently on the album’s two prettiest songs, “Someday” and “Love Got Away.” Maybe the permanent loss of Delp has Scholz chasing something other than studio perfection.