BLUE ÖYSTER CULT

Nadir of the First Nine

I've noticed that the most common critical view of the mighty BOC holds that Secret Treaties was their masterpiece, Agents of Fortune and Spectres were commercial sellout, Mirrors was the collapse, and Cultosaurus was some sort of musical redemption. In a word---poppycock. My admittedly in-the-minority assessment is that Agents of Fortune is their true masterpiece, Spectres was wonderful, Mirrors, while more commercially-oriented and radio-friendly, was at least still fun, Cultosaurus was the collapse, and Unknown Origin/Revolution by Night were the musical redemption of the First Nine albums.

Cultosaurus is one of the greatest examples of a band completely out of creative gas, a title it would hold for just over five years until Club Ninja wrestled that title away from it. Club Ninja and Cultosaurus have tons in common, actually, despite their surface-level differences in production and sound-sheen: both are stacked front to back with lifeless, monotonous, utter-generic template hard rock numbers that begged me to martyr them as "parking lot" albums (an immature outcome we subjected vinyls to as teenagers when we were displeased with their content---essentially a contest to see who could launch them highest over the empty church parking lot by my friend's house and then produce the most glorious results on impact. Immature, for sure, but at the time, hilarious late-summer-night drinking antics.) For Martin Birch, bless his heart, this was not a collection of material he was going to save with a producer's magic.

The jazz interlude in "Monsters" was a welcome parlor trick that harkened the sense of playfulness this band used to possess, but it's a brief respite. "Divine Wind" is anything but divine, five minutes of relentlessly repetitive plodding. While Buck Dharma could be counted on for a surprise mid-inning stand-up triple as on "I Love the Night" or "The Vigil" elsewhere, here that at-bat would be "Deadline," and he goes down swinging as well. "The Marshall Plan," oh dear, where is that skip button? "Hungry Boys" sounds like a Joe Jackson throwaway. "Fallen Angel" is a nice break from Eric Bloom with Joe B delivering a solid vocal. If I had to come up with one song from this album to place on a BOC retrospective, it would ironically be the last number, "Unknown Tongue," rather than everybody's sweetheart, "Black Blade." "Tongue" has a sinister and playful vibe that would have been right at home on Agents of Fortune, and it has some fine piano playing (by Lanier, I assume.) It has been noted elsewhere that Allen was largely absent from creative input on this album, perhaps another clue into the band dynamic of the moment.

But far too much of Cultosaurus is utterly forgettable, repetitive, and with a sad, performative passion as opposed to music that truly moves you or surprises you. Yes, they are certainly heavier and harder-rocking songs than Mirrors, but you'd never convince me that they're more interesting or ear-pleasing in any way. Members of BOC were trying to find their way back to their first three albums, a spiritual home in their mind, but they lacked the basic quality material and the "early band magic" to pull off such a trick at this point. Mind you, few will agree with my assessment of Cultosaurus, so you'd best check it out yourself. Although, actually, there is one prominent BOC insider who did happen to agree with me, the late great Sandy Pearlman, who noted, "Cultosaurus, I don't like it; some people do. I just don't like it. It doesn't do much for me."

A final point before I exit my soap box is to consider how poorly this album compares to peer albums from other legacy rock acts of the same era---does anyone seriously contend with a straight face that Cultosaurus can stand up to Permanent Waves or Heaven and Hell? Fortunately for our beloved Cult, a more convincingly authentic musical redemption was just around the corner, the one-two punch of Fire of Unknown Origin and The Revolution by Night.

I think this is a better album than "Agents of Fortune". For one thing, it's a lot more diverse. Secondly, the band's sense of humor comes forward. "Godzilla" is an obvious goof, but I find it hard to believe that "R. U. Ready to Rock" and the "Born to Be Wild" rewrite "Golden Age of Leather" were meant to be taken too seriously. I don't find "Death Valley Nights" and "Fireworks" too memorable, but everything else works. My two favorites were the non-hit singles, although why they didn't score is beyond me: the proto-New Wave pop of "Going Through the Motions" and the beautiful ballad "I Love the Night". I don't think it's a vampire anthem, any more than Joan Armatrading's "Back to the Night" is. The woman just likes hanging out after dark, that's all. There are four bonus tracks on the remaster. They're not all that interesting, except for the strange decision to cover the Ronettes' "Be My Baby". At least Eric Bloom sings it well enough. This was is peak vocally in my opinion.

Superb, unique, extraordinary band and so is the debut album - many would follow. If I'm right Secret Treaties is considered as the highlight of the Black n' White era, but I can't put my finger on what this album is falling short. There is not a single note that could be omitted, absolutely genius rock and surely none of its cliches are in here. Every time I listen to it I feel pure bliss surge in me. As everyone knows Then Came the Last Days of May and Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll are the only ones that still are part of the set-list and they are true stone-cold classics. The flow of the album is perfect. Some have said that BOC were the answer of the USA to Black Sabbath, but these guys are a universe on their own. Countless bands tried (and still do) to copy or play like the absolute Gods Black Sabbath. I don't know any that tried to sound remotely like BOC. The lyrics, Buck Dharma's playing, the whole concept are unrepeatable.

Do take the time and read the wikipedia section, there is some useful information about the songs.

And with their third studio album released in 1974 following right after their previous album "Tyranny and Mutation"Blue Oyster Cult strikes gold in this fantastic album. Keeping their original lineup from previous albums B.O.C hits their peak in my opinion bringing in even more prog elements. This is probably one of the most well respected albums by B.O.C for it being sought after by both classic rock fans, prog rock fans, and even metal fans its a very versatile album. Something to appreciate is the guitar solos by Donald Roeser and Eric Bloom even though he hasn't gained the iconic voice yet. Career of evil was minor hit even getting a single version. For the people of prog listening, Flaming Telepaths is where to look. on YouTube there is a version of Flaming Telepaths transitioning into the conclduing track "astronomy i highly recommend listening to that. This album was thier absolute peak and puts the band on track for thier 1976 album "Agents of Fortune".

Ah, things could have been so much better! The band seems determined to explore a variety of musical styles on the first side. It kicks off with Black Blade a brilliant rocker. Monsters that comes next, is simply a summit and one of the best Cult tunes, ever, and justifies why BOC are a talk in our prog circles. It balances between jazz/rock so craftily, a sign of the musical IQ that exists in this band. Divine Wind is more on the blues side, whereas the keyboards in Deadline provide a more 80s, commercial approach, but still interesting. Unfortunately, the first three tracks of side B (especially Hungry Boys and Fallen Angel) are, in my opinion, way below the usual quality the band delivers. Did they run out of ideas? Did they want to keep open the commercial doors? Who knows. The thing is that they sound two-a- penny. But the final two songs bring back the edge of the band. Lips in the Hills rocks hard and Unknown Tongues features (among the rest stuff) some awesome piano playing too and it is a really great track. All in all, a good album, though it could have been so much better!

There is no doubt that since signing with Frontiers Music that there has been a real outpouring of B'C material, and here we have a collection of songs which were originally recorded between 1978 and 1983, except for one track from 2016, "If I Fell." This includes the only known studio recording of their concert classic 'Kick Out the Jams' (MC5 cover). Some of the material is from sessions workshopping material for an album, some is from performance rehearsals, and while this is not a 'proper' album which is going to be sought out by the general punter, there is a consistency here which comes with a band who were both consistently recording and touring. They released four albums between 1978 and 1983, then just two more in the Eighties, and only three in the last 35 years, so these songs come from a very busy period as they revelled in the success not only of albums but also "(Don't Fear) The Reaper".

The version of 'We Gotta Get Out of Place' is full of fun and joy, sounding very much like a live performance, and I prefer this to the version which appeared on 'Some Enchanted Evening', while 'Kick Out The Jams' seems somewhat muted even though it is high octane stuff, as that is a song which very much belongs in the live environment bouncing off the energy coming from the crowd. Apart from the later track, which has wisely been put at the end of the album, they all feature the classic line-up of Eric Bloom (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Albert Bouchard (drums, vocals), Joe Bouchard (bass, guitar, keyboards, percussion, vocals), Allen Lanier (guitar, keyboards) and Donald 'Buck Dharma' Roeser (guitar, vocals), while George Geranios, the band's original audio engineer and an integral part of the band's golden years, co-produced the original 1978-83 recordings along with B'C. Aimed for fans of the band, this is actually an interesting set which is worthy of investigation, and I am sure many will be pleased these songs have finally been made available.

Recorded in 1973 following their debut album recorded in the year of 1972 before B.O.C keeps the starting lineup and keeps the Hard rock elements and even add more on this album. Considered their heaviest tracks B.O.C uses sounds that heavily resemble Deep Purples "Fireball" released in July of 1971. tracks 1-4 are all classic rock gems that start off the album. track 4 on the other hand brings in prog elements that resembled Pink Floyd s "echoes" The red side of the album starts off with "Baby Ice Dog" which brings in softer rock themes. The rest of the album sort of match's the rock formula from their debut. Slight copy paste of their debut but would bring in prog elements for the album and would allow B.O.C to build the foundation for later albums.

Emerging from the psychedelic era of music with other hard rock groups such as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin The Blue Oyster Cult Originally formed as "Soft White Underbelly" in the year of 1968 they created a new sound that resembled the hard rock craze in the early 70's. To analyse the lineup: Eric Bloom and Donald Roeser at vocals and lead guitar and Eric Bloom also at keyboard. Alan lanier playing rhythm guitar and keyboard and the brothers Bouchard, Joseph playing bass and backing vocals and Albert playing drums. B.O.C amplified the classic hard rock theme being created at the time and this debut album really gave the group a good start. Their former band under the alias "Soft White Underbelly" created 60's demos that would be implemented later on the Columbia remaster of the album.

Club Rock Bottom

I remember well that day in the '80s when I walked into Great American Music, a music store at the local mall near my house. From the first moment I spotted the display for the new Club Ninja album, it was an immediate sinking feeling of, "Oof, that's a terrible album cover." I bought the album anyway and took it home, hoping it was just a rare miss for a band that usually has cool cover art. Nope. The music was even worse than the cover. Total and complete---well, I won't finish that here, but my teenage vernacular at the time was less than delicate. Lest ye think I am just engaging in flagrant '80s-hate, that is just not the case. I loved The Revolution By Night, and I believe that Rev by Night was just as good as the two beloved '80s BOC releases that preceded it. I think people who bash Rev By Night are missing the boat. But on this album, Club Ninja, I've no choice but to admit the obvious that others have. It was rock bottom.

This is not a talent issue. These are fine players, with Roeser in particular singing and playing as well as ever. This is a songwriting issue, a lack of quality control, a collapse in confidence and execution, and a meddling by record company suits. All of the above. I just can't get over the disinterest I have in these songs even all these years later. I've been playing this album over and over the past few months trying to figure out what my teenage ears missed, but aside from lots of polish, there is simply nothing here that grabs me, nothing that moves me, and nothing that does what BOC has always done...excite me! From the beginning right up through Revolution By Night, this was a band that could excite me and were a joy to listen to. Every album had magic, humor, creativity, and mood. We felt a special camaraderie as their fans. But it was obviously time for a long break to recharge and regroup.

Club Ninja is just the most jarring contrast in quality, worse than other low-rated peer releases like Passionworks, Invisible Touch, or Face Dances. For all of those reviewers out there who complained about the "misstep toward commercialism" regarding Agents/Mirrors/Spectres, I would say at least those albums had some passion, some color, some gasps of creativity and mischief. Nothing of the sort can be said about Club Ninja. This is an album of autopilot, mid-gear generic rockers and a couple of songs ("Perfect Water" and "Madness to the Method") that try to feel deep, that try to summon the muse, but end up a parlor trick amounting to little more than finding a coin behind your ear. There's little true creative substance there that stays with you in the way an "Astronomy" or a "Joan Crawford" would.

Rather than just being themselves, what their fanbase loved about them in the first place, they were now subbing out songwriting on like half the album! Peers like Heart and Aerosmith hit the jackpot selling out their integrity, but it didn't work as planned for BOC. Despite spending more money on recording this album than any of their previous albums, it was a sales flop. One of the tracks, "Dancin' in the Ruins," was at least catchy and brought them some of the radio play they were clearly jonesing for, but it didn't bring sales. Sadly, the ruins they were dancing around were the smoldering ashes of a rock band who, like many of their contemporaries, were seemingly clueless on how to survive in that new era.

On top of that, it's never been more obvious that the band were now simply out of song ideas, and I'm guessing not really able to work effectively together due to the strain of their circumstances. I personally dislike both the drumming and the keyboard work introduced by the newer members, but that's more a personal taste thing. I've seen others praise the drumming and sound. To be fair, Club Ninja does have its supporters who approve, but most everyone else---fans, critics, hell, some band members---consider it pretty much a dumpster fire. I'll end with a few quotes I found, the latter two of which speak volumes about the environment surrounding this album.

"'least attached to the BOC body of work, painfully constructed, and baffling in its bad taste'" -Author Martin Popoff, "Agents of Fortune - The Blue Oyster Cult Story"

"Club Ninja was the worst record I was ever involved with in my life." -Sandy Pearlman

"Club Ninja was the big catalyst for me leaving the group." -Joe Bouchard

A Classy Nightcap for the Vintage Era

I have a special affinity for the mighty BOC's The Revolution by Night. Their ninth studio album was released at an exciting time in youth when friends and I were beginning to go to every concert we could afford, spending all of our time (and money) in record stores, and spending our precious minutes between classes arguing about our favorite guitarists (as opposed to the jocks who were arguing about girls, football, and cars.) While "Let Go" may have been the corniest of BOC's cheerleading anthems (following in the tradition of stuff like "Dr. Music" and "R.U. Ready 2 Rock"), we felt the message was aimed at outcast teens like us, and we appreciated the lyrical nod. We loved Rev by Night, and we were absolutely stoked to the gills for the Cult to roll into town with that show. I'll never forget that concert.

The album is often disparaged. While there are valid criticisms to be had, I would argue that Rev by Night is not only a successful follow-up to Fire of Unknown Origin, but a sibling of it, nearly Origin, part II. Both share the enigmatic album art of the late Greg Scott, and there are remarkable similarities in the pace and roster of songs. The differences come in sound presentation and production, with Fire being a bit harder-edged and grittier while the late Bruce Fairbairn's take was a glossier one, for sure. He was one of the giants of the slick 1980s terrain, working with Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Van Halen, and Loverboy. I would have instinctively preferred others to produce BOC, yet somehow the strange alchemy worked. Their flawless playing met beautiful construction; their little intricacies and embellishments were layered expertly.

Like Fire of Unknown Origin, more than half of the tracks are top-tier additions to the BOC canon, while a few fall into that less impressive (yet still reasonably enjoyable) rock purgatory that feels a bit like watching your team down big with five minutes on the clock. You know they're not coming back, but you're too dedicated to cut early to beat the rush to the parking lot. On Rev, there's only one or two of those lesser tracks, although, as I've admitted, I'm biased on this album for sentimental reasons. BOC were dealing with the same problem many of their peers were. Veteran bands spent the 1970s not only having the luxury of their strongest creative bursts, but their audience were their peers in age and experience. By the 1980s, all of these rockers were moving through their 30s while their audiences were trending younger, and they were being forced to appeal to kids half their age, kids who were now expecting videos and more elaborate live shows.

Meanwhile, the record companies were not sympathetic to artistic concerns, and there was increasing turmoil in the band line-up in this case. One can imagine the pressure. Despite it all, the anchors here--"Shooting Shark," a strange, dreamy, hard-to-articulate seven minutes, and "Shadow of California," some staunchly standard Cultish doom vibe--support several more solid bangers in "Take Me Away," "Veins," and "Feel the Thunder" (which could have been melded with "Shadow of California" to create a glorious mini-epic--I can hear it!) Even "Eyes on Fire" and "Light Years of Love" have their moments as luxurious melodic change-up. I usually don't appreciate electronic drumming to this degree, but, strangely, it seems to work with Rev. One could even argue that Fairbairn used the temptations of 1980s synths and e-drums more judiciously and wisely here than producers did on releases like Under Wraps, Grace Under Pressure, and 90125, all of which are more heavy-handed with now-dated sounds.

With The Revolution by Night, the Cult had found the new, stable yet still strange terrestrial landscape that began on Fire of Unknown Origin: mature and yet still wildly fun, refined and yet still growling at heart, focused in mood and artwork vision, having seemingly scaled the same transitional peak that Rush had with Signals/Grace Under Pressure, although BOC would prove less adept at sustaining it than Rush were. After all this time, I still find Revolution to be a highly enjoyable spin despite its flaws, despite lacking the teeth of a Holy Diver or Born Again, which we craved. But for my old friends and I--ignoring our teachers as we worked on D&D modules or read sci-fi in their class--we were blissfully blasting Shooting Shark, Veins, and Shadow of California on our Walkman headphones.

Cheers, guys, wherever you are.