but otherwise I think of Boston as the most generic of all generic classic rock bands
I didn't pick them at all, but this strikes me as the wrong way to look at it. Instead of striking me as generic, I would say they helped
define the AOR genre. Big difference in that and I think that my take would be more accurate. Ready to listen to counterpoints, as it's not my area of expertise. But if you can't show your significant other two tickets to paradise (Welcome to the gun show!) while the riff from "More Than A Feeling" is playing in a moving car, you're doing something wrong with music.
Gotta agree here. For a while during COVID,
I got obsessed with those Rick Beato What Makes This Song Great videos. His one on
More Than A Feeling gave me a whole new perspective. I always liked the song fine, but now can see how perfectly it's constructed.
The one whose popularity here surprises me is
Don't Fear the Reaper. Good song and all, but kind of shocked that more than one person list it as among their ATFs.