Pre Ordered on Amazon to get free shipping.
Pre Ordered on Amazon to get free shipping.
I hope they're planning a tour. I've only seen them headlining once - I need to see them again!
Autobuy!
They tour pretty much constantly, although they seem to be slowing down a bit. There are scattered dates announced through the spring so far, but nothing in your neck of the woods yet.Originally Posted by JKL2000
Still the original lineup, that's got my immediate attention. Of course, the real mother lode would have been tracks not released in the black & white period but that won't stop me. Auto-buy.
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
Is the black & white period your favorite? I love Secret Treaties, but the ones before that a) I just haven't listened to that much, and b) just don't sound as appealing to me as what came after. But, with further listening, who knows?
Thanks for sharing the videos.
I'm not expecting great things from this collection of songs (and I may be wrong of course), but it's good at least to hear something new and to see all the remaining original members collaborate on the project. It may be a nice bookend to their recording career.
Man, I don't know how BOC passed me over. I guess I lost interest in them after Secret Treaties. I've recently been listening to those later records through "The Symbol Remains". A few thoughts:
Imaginos has some great material. I'm not a fan of the production. There seem to be too many cooks in the kitchen.
The Symbol Remains is a great latter day record. Box in My Head would have been a hit had it been released back in the day.
Buck Dharma is a fantastic guitarist.
Mirrors is a good record, too. I actually love the title track. BOC does the pop metal thing better than most!
Revolution by Night and Club Ninja are my least favorite records, but even those have some great tracks.
In short, don't pass them by like I did! I haven't heard Heaven Forbid, but plan to rectify that soon.
That's kind of what happened. It's not a traditional BOC album in any sense, it went through quite a convoluted birthing process. After Albert Bouchard was kicked out of BOC in 1981, he and Sandy Pearlman began work on his solo album Imaginos. The concept is something that Pearlman had been developing for over a decade, and some of the songs that BOC had previously released in the 70's were part of the Imaginos story.
And throngs of musicians played on the recording. Guitarists alone included Robbie Krieger, Aldo Nova, Joe Satriani, Kevin Carlson, Marc Biedermann, Tommy Morrongiello, Jack Rigg, Phil Grande, and Albert Bouchard. Also of note, Allen Lanier, Joe Bouchard and Donald Roeser guested on the original recordings in minor roles. But all vocals were originally done by Albert.
Adding to this, by the mid 80's, BOC had fallen apart for the most part, their two most recent albums (Revolution and Club Ninja) had been commercial failures.
So it's already complicated. But then Sony and Pearlman agreed that this album could be released as a Blue Oyster Cult album with more participation from Bloom and Dharma. So those two redid/replaced some of Albert's vocals, and eventually the album came out as a BOC product, despite it not really being one.
Albert never liked it, either. He recently redid the Imaginos saga as he and Pearlman (more or less) originally envisioned, as a trilogy of albums. They're a fun list, IMO.
The biggest issue for me with Imaginos is Albert's vocals. They are the very definition of "an acquired taste".
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've always liked him - he sang Cities on Flame, Dominance and Submission, Vera Gemini, Sinful Love, Debbie Denise, You're Not the One I was Looking For, and others. And wrote many other classic tracks for them. I also think he was good at quality control, generally, while he was in BOC.
Wow, never once had any issue with the vocals on Imaginos. Always loved that album, whoever is responsible for making it. Never looked too deeply into who was singing what songs, although I did realize there were a ton of guest guitar players.
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I agree with everything you say here.
One smart thing he did with the "Imaginos" trio of albums is let others sing more on the 2nd and 3rd ones. Alberst still does some singing, but not nearly as much as on that first recored.
I'm listening to Tyranny and Mutation now. This and the first one have really grown on me. I know all their stuff (studio anyway) up to and including Fire of Unknown Origin but nothing after that. I see they are doing some shows this spring like Steve said but not a whole lot. They are one band I've never seen live that I feel I need to check out at least once if possible. They have a new one coming out soon too.
Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)
The Symbol Remains is pretty good, their last release. Don't give up on them after Fire of Unknown Origin. Anything with Buck Dharma on it is worth listening to. The new one is apparently old material touched up by the current lineup.
Oh I actually haven't. It's just that I got most of those for five dollars and haven't seen any of the later ones for that price. I'll get around to them (maybe not all but at least some) sooner or later. Revolution by Night has two songs I like and Imaginos is supposed to be pretty good. Club Ninja not so much. That seems to be rated even lower than Mirrors (which I actually kind of like). Yes, I've heard the Symbol Remains is good so I'll put that on the list also.
Also, I just looked it up and Buck Dharma seems to be on all their albums. Were there some he didn't sing on?
Last edited by Digital_Man; 03-19-2024 at 10:23 AM.
Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)
I like Cultosaurus Erectus, there's seven or so really good tracks there. Martin Birch produced it and he got far more punch into the mix than punchless Pearlman.
Here's Buck taking lead vocals on the best cut off Heaven Forbid
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
This is my favorite track from Heaven Forbid. Also sung by Buck. Plus a nice guitar solo. And to me it has that classic creepy BOC vibe.
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The problem is The Symbol Remains, Curse Of The Hidden Mirror and Heaven Forbid are all now out of print, so finding a physical copy for $5 is going to be tough. Personally, I loved Symbol Remains and rank it up with the band’s classics. Heaven Forbid is also a very strong album.
You mention Club Ninja. It is not nearly as bad as people often claim it is. There are a few pretty bad songs, but most of the album is good to great.
Agree, one of the best songs he has written in his whole career.
I think Buck is on every BOC release.
One thing I don't quite understand is why BOC are often considered to be a heavy metal band. Sure they had some metal or metallish songs but so does Queen and no one calls them metal. My theory is that maybe a lot of that has to do with their image and subject matter of many of their songs (sci fi, horror, etc.).
Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)
I totally agree. BOC is hard rock, like Deep Purple. Remember that Jethro Tull won Best Metal Album for Crest Of A Knave in 1989, beating out Metallica, who is actually heavy metal. BTW I'm seeing
Martin Barre's 50 years of Jethro Tull show Wednesday night at Yoshi's Oakland. No metal will be played. Ha!
Harvest Moon is a favorite BOC song of mine and I've listened to every album many times. Now that Jeff Beck is gone, Buck is my favorite rock guitarist. Completelly different
players. Both amazing.
Huh? Somehow I've never noticed the existence of either Heaven Forbid or Curse of the Hidden Mirror! I thought there were no studio albums between Imaginos and The Symbol Remains. Are either of these albums any good?
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