This Day in Music History: Boston/Third Stage (09/23)

Third Stage is the third album by American hard rock band Boston released on this day in 1986 on MCA Records after the usual inordinate delay. It was recorded at Tom Scholz's Hideaway Studio over a long, strained 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 album's first track, "Amanda", was actually written in 1980 (when Boston began work on the album) and became the band's only #1 single. It 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. "Can'tcha Say/Still in Love" also entered the charts and peaked at #20. It remains Boston's last Top 40 hit to date.

"Cool the Engines" also got substantial airplay but failed to chart, even though it was the most badass song on the album.

Third Stage went to #1 on the Billboard 200, where it stayed for four weeks. It was the first CD-formatted album to be certified gold (500,000 copies). 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 4x platinum.

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