"We're Ready" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

written by founder, lead guitarist and primary songwriter

Tom Scholz Donald Thomas Scholz (born March 10, 1947) is an American musician. He is the founder, main songwriter, primary guitarist, keyboardist and only remaining original member of the rock band Boston. He has appeared on every Boston release. Scholz, a ...

. It was first released on the band's third studio album '' Third Stage'' (1986). It was released in late November 1986 as the second single from the album, following up on the #1 hit " Amanda." "We're Ready" itself was their last Top 10 hit, reaching #9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and also reached #2 on the Billboard's

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

chart. ''

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'' also named it as the #24 "Top Rock Track" for 1987, one position ahead of another song from ''Third Stage'', " Cool the Engines." It also reached #12 on the '' Cashbox'' chart. In Canada, it reached the Top 25 in ''

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'' magazine's Top Singles chart.

Lyrics and music

Described by ''

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'' critic Jon Pareles as a "

rock ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ball ...

," "We're Ready" was written as early as 1981, earlier than the other songs on ''Third Stage'' except "Amanda." The song begins softly, with acoustic guitars and lead singer

Brad Delp Bradley Edward Delp (June 12, 1951 – March 9, 2007) was an American musician who was the original lead singer and frontman of the rock band Boston. He began collaborating with leader Tom Scholz in 1970 and appeared on every album except '' W ...

sounding like a choir boy, but the song develops into a hard rocker. The song ends with the sound of

church bell A church bell is a bell in a church building designed to be heard outside the building. It can be a single bell, or part of a set of bells. Their main function is to call worshippers to the church for a service of worship, but are also rung o ...

s, which are played by Scholz on

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

Critical reception

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critic Vik Iyengar retrospectively claimed that "We're Ready" is one of the songs on which ''Third Stage'' "works on all cylinders" and "sounds great." ''

'' said that "the band's fluid and forceful style remains a hard rock staple." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' praised the "layered guitars, spatial background vocals and Brad Delp’s stratospheric tenor" and the song's abundance of

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

s. Critic Mark Madden of the ''

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'' noted that it is a "radio favorite" and one of the "highlights from ''Third Stage'', and described it as "a slightly harder rocker han "Amanda"with an exhilarating vocal hook." '' Daily Press'' contributor Billy Warden states that the song "introduces the band's whomp to children's choir-styled vocal harmonies, making for good, catchy pop fun." ''

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'' critic Phillip Booth praises the impact of the dual

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

work on the song by Scholz and Gary Pihl. Peter B. King of ''

The Pittsburgh Press ''The Pittsburgh Press'', formerly ''The Pittsburg Press'' and originally ''The Evening Penny Press'', was a major afternoon daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for over a century, from 1884 to 1992. At the height of its popul ...

'' calls "We're Ready" ''Third Stages best tune and praises the song as "a classic example of the invigorating, rocking but melodic music that is Boston's forte." Melissa Ruggieri of the ''

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Broward County, an ...

'' described it as one of Boston's "classic tunes." Jerry Spangler of ''

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'' regards "We're Ready" as one of the best songs in Boston's rock 'n' roll style. "We're Ready" later appeared on a number of multi-artist

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s, such as

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's ''Sounds of the Eighties: 1987'' and Madacy's ''Best of the 80's''. It was also covered on the tribute album ''Smokin': A Bluegrass Tribute to Boston''. However, despite its success "We're Ready" was omitted from Boston's 1997 ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' album, for which the '' San Antonio Express'' criticized the package.

Charts

References

{{Authority control Boston (band) songs 1981 songs 1986 singles Songs written by Tom Scholz Song recordings produced by Tom Scholz MCA Records singles