More Than A Feeling was never one of my favorite tunes, but there's little doubt it was a huge hit for Boston back in the late 70s and became their signature tune. The song has a fairly hard rock sound to it, which is why the record that inspired it is one you wouldn't expect - a soft little number that was almost MOR in sound. 

Here's the story from founding member Tom Scholz:

"The initial theme was inspired by both personal experience and by US mid-60s strings-heavy pop act The Left Banke. “It started with a love affair I had when I was in school, so the song is written about something I went through myself,” [Scholz says]. “There was another song out then that, whenever I heard it, caused me to pine miserably for this particular girl and so I decided to write my own song about those feelings. That song was called Walk Away Renée by The Left Banke.”

Among the other revelations about the tune - the entire thing was recorded in Scholz's basement, because he didn't want to go to L.A. and sit in an unfamiliar and impersonal studio. I guess you could say he had a sixth sense about it and staying home to record it involved more than a feeling. 

The story behind the song is fascinating. You can read the entire history of it here.