HEAVEN FORBID

I've openly admitted several times that I am a big Blue Oyster Cult fan, and I still am. Even though they may not be the most progressive of bands, their music has always been appealing to me, mostly because they have found this line between popular metal and original style that has way too often eluded artists. They never really caved to the pressures of being another hair metal band even though they were around long before that craze, lived throuhg it and survived long after. There is just that certain something about them that has intrigued me, whether it's the appealing sound of heavy guitar mixed equally to cool keyboard riffs and solos, or their crazy and original lyrics, or the feeling of the mystic surrounding them. Maybe it's a combination of everything. But they've always been a favorite.

I'm not saying that they've always made perfect choices though. Though I don't hate "Mirrors" as much as some, I still find that there are some great songs on it and "Club Ninja" also has enough redeeming qualities to keep it on rotation for me, they are admittedly their weakest moments. Add "Heaven Forbid" to their weaker efforts, though, again, it still has it's redeeming qualities nonetheless.

"Heaven Forbid" came along during after a long hiatus where we hardly heard anything from the band, a period of time that started after the underrated and amazing progressive album "Imaginos", so it was a nice surprise when it came out. The band was considered to be a thing of the past because it had become one of those revolving door bands that see members come and go, changing as often as you'd change a pair of socks. They had resorted to playing 2nd rate outdoor concerts in fairs and such. When they got together to make this album, at least they had somewhat solidified their membership again with the amazing Buck Dharma, Eric Bloom, Alan Lanier and (for the most part) Danny Miranda returning. The only "stranger" was drummer Chuck Burgi, who had played for just about everyone from Michael Bolton's band to "Rainbow" to Enrique Iglesias, however, he held his own here. They also recruited the help of sci-fi/horror writer John Shirley to help on most of the lyrics. They had used lyrical guests in the past, like Patti Smith and critic Richard Meltzer, so this was something to help bring back the original feel of the band. Well, for some reason, it didn't work out quite as well as it should have.

The album starts off sounding very promising with the 1-2-3 punch of excellent tracks; the heavy metal rocker "See You in Black" that will make you sit up and listen thinking, wow they are back with a vengeance. This is followed by the excellent "Harvest Moon" which reminds one of the complex lyrics and sound of the band that once was, and if that's not enough, "Power Underneath Despair" is solid, dark and mysterious. At this point, you might be wondering, how is it that this is such a bad album. You'll be convinced that this is one of their best albums, like I was. But following this, the music gets a bit lighter and poppier, the lyrics get repetitive and even corny sometimes and the music less interesting. It's not all a loss at this point as Dharma gets to play more of his excellent solos, and there is a bit of variety, but the lyrical content suffers along with some boring and repetitive choruses. After this point, the only salvageable songs are "Damaged" which is a fast rolling track that speeds up even more on the coda, somewhat similar to "Moon Crazy" from "Mirrors" album, and "Live for Me" which returns to better lyrics and even reminds one of the excellent song "Perfect Water", the best track on the "Club Ninja" album. It's not enough to bring back the excitement of the first part of the album after the remaining so-so tracks in between it all. The album tries to bring back the glory days with a sequel to "Burnin' for You" and a live version of "In Thee" that sounds rushed, but neither one of these are that great.

Overall, this was a disappointment, but it still has enough on it for the true fans of the classic band to be happy about. Just the first 3 songs are almost enough of a reason to pick it up. When weighing out its value, it still manages to come out with 3 stars as the great songs are really great, even though most of the songs are definitely not their best effort. There is probably less prog than normal with this album too. Most of their albums usually have some progressive songs on them, but in this one, the prog seems to be missing. Yet, the great songs are still great, so overall, it's an average album.