Just noticed that Ghost Stories, the whole album , on Youtube. I'm a couple songs in.
I have the CD. It is pretty much exactly as advertised. An album of leftover tracks that never made it onto an album that have been resurrected with the help of A.I. and Richie Castellano. It is not a great B.O.C. album, but I have enjoyed it for what it is. I would not say that any of these songs are classics, but most of them are enjoyable. On first listen I really didn’t like “Don’t Come Running To Me,” but damn if it did not become an earworm and now I can’t get it out of my head. “So Supernatural” has grown on me. “Gun” “Late Night Street Fight” and “Shot In The Dark” are good. There are studio versions of live staples “We’ve Got To Get Out Of This Place” and “Kick Out The Jams” and a thruway Beatles cover of “If I Fell” for some reason. This is certainly not on the level of “The Symbol Remains,” but it is a fun listen.Originally Posted by Vic2012
Accurate assessment. I heard all of it. I like it. The cover songs are pretty good mostly. If I Fell seems kind of pointless. It's funny actually. Most of the album is just good Rock and Roll. 4 out of 5 stars for me.
I didn't know about the AI angle - what aspects was AI used for? The album is on Spotify too, so most streaming service I assume.
I streamed it and found it...ok. Nothing there that overwhelmed me. There wasn't anything that seemed like an undiscovered gem I couldn't do without.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
I never knew this existed. Now I regret checking it out.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
I was expecting a fast, noisy, punky version of it....lol
The Japanese release also includes a studio version of Roadhouse Blues that is at least as good as the other studio covers.
PS - if I had heard their cover of If I Fell somewhere else before hearing it on this album, there's no way I would've guessed it was BOC.
Check out this video from Richie. He explains how it all came about including the AI angle:
I didn't know about the AI angle - what aspects was AI used for? The album is on Spotify too, so most streaming service I assume.
Thanks, Steve!
Seems complicated. Why not just have the current band go through the songs and record them without trying to resurrect "old" sources. Seems like it might be less time consuming.
I have seen recent interviews with Joe Bouchard and Eric Bloom and both of them mentioned Alan Lanier’s contribution to these recordings. I got the distinct impression that part of the reason for using the original recordings was to preserve Alan’s keyboard parts as they were originally conceived. This is just my interpretation of their comments, I got the impression that it was at least part of their motivation.
Yeah, keeping Allen's parts intact without redoing them was a priority, maybe the priority.
It was never going to be another Symbol. I hoped for some good leftovers, and got those, with "So Supernatural" and "Don't Come Running to Me" sitting at the top. I love the latter song, especially. That would easily elevate Club Ninja.
"Cherry" is a nice little (if underwhelming) tune, but placing it second wasn't right. It should be the penultimate track. The inclusion of "If I Fell" is a head-scratcher. It's just a waste of time. Really weird.
I feel a brand-new song ought to start the album. "Roadhouse Blues" should be on the domestic issue, too. Then it'd feel more solid all-around. But I still like the good stuff a lot.
I'm not a huge BOC fan but I'm sort of in a binge because of this thread. I've heard Cultasaurus and into Fire Of Unknown Origin. And I've never heard this song until about 20 minutes ago:
Cool track.
I love the title track of Fire of Unknown Origin. Funny that it counts as a deep cut!
Agree, on both points. Seems like the current band could have come up with at least one song that could have been included. There is also plenty of room for "Roadhouse Blues" too, so seems odd that they left it off.
Had they saved up the songs that are on Symbol over a long period of time, or did they write much of it specifically for that release? It's such a good, large collection of songs, it seems like they should be able to write a new single album's worth of tracks, right? Maybe they aren't interested in doing another, or maybe they will eventually...
Sometimes it's not that easy to reproduce a certain tone, vibe, feel, or whatever other element they may have felt was in the original tracks.
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^^ Totally agree, but it seems like the Frankenstein monster approach is even more difficult if part of the object is to preserve some sort of vibe. It almost sounds like most of the band were on the periphery of the album's creation.
A quick aside, "Secret Treaties" is given an in-depth profile in today's Wall Street Journal of all places.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/blue-oy...hare_permalink
Heavy Metal: Black and Silver was submitted to to be the theme song of the movie Heavy Metal. They chose Sammy Hagar's song instead. Don Felder also had a Heavy Metal song in the movie, but BOC got Veterans in. Vengence: The Pact tells some of the story of Taarna from the movie.I'm not a huge BOC fan but I'm sort of in a binge because of this thread. I've heard Cultasaurus and into Fire Of Unknown Origin. And I've never heard this song until about 20 minutes ago:
Cool track.
JG
"MARKLAR!"
From interviews I saw around the time of it's release I am under the impression that "Symbol" was written and recorded during COVID times when they had a bunch of time on their hands. The majority of the album was recorded remotely with Richie once again being the main catalyst behind the whole project.
Groovy. I'm halfway through reading when I realize Myers refers to Buck only as "Mr. Roeser."
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