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]

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.

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 original guitarist Barry Goudreau, left the band in 1989 to join 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

Personnel

Boston

Additional Personnel

Production

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 Certification Certified 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. ^ a b 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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