Corporate America is the fifth studio album by American hard rock band
Boston, released in 2002. The album introduced both
Anton Cosmo and
Kimberley Dahme as both band members and songwriters. This is the last Boston album released during original lead vocalist
Brad Delp's lifetime, before his death in 2007. It also marked the final appearance of
Fran Cosmo. It is the only Boston album released by
Artemis Records. Corporate America received mixed reviews, critics noted that it had the band's usual sound and production values. Commercially the album was a disappointment, failing to chart outside U.S. and Japan.[1] The low sales led to a lawsuit by the band's leader,
Tom Scholz against Artemis. A 48-date North American tour was launched on June 6, 2003.[2][3]
Recording
The title track was released on the Internet before the album's release and went number one on
MP3.com's
progressive rock charts. The song was released under the pseudonym "Downer's Revenge" in order to test the it's appeal to a younger demographic.[4][5][6] Lyrically atypical song for Boston, according to Scholz, it's the most important track on the album.[7]
"Didn't Mean to Fall in Love" was said to be similar to "
More Than a Feeling".[8] "Livin' for You" is a live version of a song that appeared originally on the previous full-length album Walk On (1994). "I Had a Good Time" was included on a 2009 reissue of Greatest Hits, the only track representing the album.[9]
Three songs from the album were included with the band's next studio album Life, Love & Hope (2013): "Didn't Mean to Fall in Love" was remastered, "Someone" was rearranged and re-recorded as "Someone (2.0)", and an original version of "I Had a Good Time", "Te Quiero Mia", was included as a
bonus track.[8][9]
The Deseret News said the Corporate America is a typical Boston album and isn't as good as their previous ones.[12]Rolling Stone said the album is full of "overblown prog-rock pomp and hackneyed sentiments".[11]The Vindicator named the album 2002's "most dismal rock record" along with
Bon Jovi's Bounce.[13]The Village Voice compared the album stylistically to
Def Leppard and called it "sweet-sounding, brawny pop-metal".[14]AllMusic contrasted the album's fresh, energetic sound to "downscale aesthetic of
post-punk".[10] In a retrospective, Classic Rock noted the songs as "not memorable enough" and Delp's vocals as "underutilised".[15] Looking back, Scholz called the album "a disaster" and "an experiment that didn’t work".[16] Scholz felt it was a mistake to let other people get more involved in the writing and recording process.[17]
The album charted at 42 on the
Billboard 200 and by December 2002 had sold 60,000 copies.[4] In 2003 after the album had failed commercially, Scholz sued Artemis for failing to promote the album properly.[18]