Power Soak

Invention, Obsession, and the Pursuit of the Perfect Sound

By: Brendan Borrell

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Power Soak tells the true story of an MIT engineer who helped shape the sound of arena rock and took on the most powerful man in the music business.

In the 1970s, Tom Scholz built the sound of Boston in his basement, fusing engineering precision with soaring melody to create the clean, explosive style that made “More Than a Feeling” a hit. His studio inventions spread to Journey, Def Leppard, and The Cars, bringing his signature guitar tone to many of the defining albums of the time.

But when Scholz refused to hand over his own record, Third Stage, until it met his exacting standards, CBS Records chief Walter Yetnikoff declared war. Royalties were cut off. Lawsuits piled up. The band splintered. And Scholz sank further into isolation. Then two rival power brokers—Irving Azoff and David Geffen—entered the fray, racing to pry loose Boston’s long-awaited album, which would become one of the last blockbusters of the classic-rock era.

Power Soak reveals the full inside story of this battle for the first time. Drawing on thousands of pages of court filings, internal CBS documents, and new interviews, journalist Brendan Borrell traces how Scholz pushed back against the major-label power structure and helped arm artists with new tools in their struggle for creative control.

“Forget the autobiographies, forget most of the writing about this business. Power Soak is the real story.” — Bob Lefsetz