I was more than a little amused when Boston released a "greatest hits" album. They may have had best-selling singles since they first stormed the charts in 1976, but they haven't really written a new song (or at least a better one) since they (or, rather, their fans) invented the practice of air guitar, lo, these many years ago. "More Than A Feeling," "Smoking," "Peace Of Mind," "Long Time," "Rock & Roll Band" - tracks from Boston, the band's debut - those are Boston's greatest hits. That said, let us praise those feathered-back, flair-cut masterpieces! Boston was a remarkably insular record that distilled the art of hard rock into a science, at once both a singular achievement and a death knoll for the genre. No other band embodies those heady days - just before punk and disco exploded the status quo - than Boston, marking them as a relic of a happier, simpler time.

Not surprisingly, Greatest Hits has the five superlative songs from Boston, plus songs from Don't Look Back (their 1978 follow-up), Third Stage (their long-awaited 1986 comeback), and some otherwise unavailable new material. And, since Boston's catalog has never been remastered, Greatest Hits benefits from improved, digital-age mastering - something bandleader and MIT graduate Tom Scholz would no doubt appreciate.

For me, Boston epitomizes the "faceless" rock of the 70's, wherein corporate rock bands like Styx, Kansas, and Foreigner rarely pictured themselves on the covers of their albums. But, Boston also reminds me of a time when we wore our jeans tight, vainly tried to grow cheesy mustaches, and used words like "boogie" without irony - a time I admit I enjoyed. For that, I love them, but I'll stick with that first album.