10 tracks · 37 min
Third Stage is the third album by American hard rock band Boston released September 23, 1986 on MCA Records. The album was recorded at Tom Scholz's Hideaway Studio over a six-year period "between floods and power failures". After winning a legal battle with Epic Records, Scholz switched his band's recording label to MCA. The first track on Third Stage, "Amanda", was actually written in 1980 (when Boston began work on the album) and became the band's only #1 single. The track reached and stayed at #1 for two weeks in November 1986. It was followed by the second Top 10 single from the album, "We're Ready," which reached #9 in 1987. Third Stage went to #1 on the Billboard 200 where it stayed for four weeks. The album was the first CD-formatted album to be certified gold (500,000 copies) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was also certified gold in the LP format, making it what is believed to be the first album certified in both of these formats. In all, the album was certified four times platinum. The album was a first in many respects: the first Boston LP to feature electronic drum samples, the first to feature songs not written by either Scholz or Delp, the …
