Both are very good, some songs stronger than others but should be listened to. Check them out for yourself.Originally Posted by JKL2000
Both are very good, some songs stronger than others but should be listened to. Check them out for yourself.
Curse of The Hidden Mirror is a great BOC album. It's heavy, and proggy in spots. Recommended. I've heard Heaven Forbid on Youtube. I think it's pretty close to heavy metal.
Your mileage may vary, but I think they both have some strong material and are worth having. Great modern production compared to many of their earlier albums.
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I think it is because B.O.C.’s music is so eclectic that it is difficult to categorize. I once heard them called “Thinking Man’s Metal” which I thought was a pretty good description even though they don’t really do a lot of metal. The more contemporary band Ghost, who are very influenced by B.O.C. have the same problem. They get lumped into the metal category, but the majority of what they do is not metal.
For me “Heaven Forbid” is the better album of the two. If this album had been released in the 70’s or 80’s there are several songs that I think could have been huge hits. I don’t like “Curse Of The Hidden Mirror” as much, but it does have it’s moments and is worth owning.
They're all musts. I love Curse and The Symbol Remains.
Club Ninja's issue is that songs by outside writers were forced on them, as with Triumph's The Sport of Kings around the same time. The band's material is good, but the dreck really pulls everything down ("Beat 'Em Up" being the worst offender, it has no place on a BÖC album). Thus, Club Ninja deservedly gets panned. That said, it's still worth having for "Madness to the Method" alone!
Last edited by dropforge; 03-20-2024 at 12:22 PM.
"Dance on Stilts" [from Curse) has a great riff and could've been a huge single, as well. "The Old Gods Return" is fantastic and wouldn't be out of place on Cultosaurus Erectus.
The studio releases after Imaginos are:
* Bad Channels soundtrack (there are only two BOC studio tracks on this, but they're both very good. The rest of the album is padded by some very poor tracks by bands you haven't heard of before, and about 30 minutes of Buck noodling around on synths I believe (though this is labeled as Blue Oyster Cult, it's not the full band), that are music cues from the actual film. Other than the two studio tracks, the rest of the album is not worth listening to, IMO)
* Cult Classic (re-recordings of their earlier 70's/80's hits. This is actually a pretty good album, and a fun listen. There are two instrumental versions of Godzilla and Reaper at the end. I believe they may have been used in the tv version of Stephen King's The Stand that came out the same year, 1994).
* Heaven Forbid
* Curse of the Hidden Mirror
* The Symbol Remains
* ...and the upcoming release, Ghost Stories
There have also been a number of live releases, which may be hard to keep up with, so I'm not going to list all of them. Most are post 2000's recordings, though a 1983 show was officially released as well.
Thanks for that info. I realized that the reason I didn’t know about HF, Curse…, and also Cult Classic is that these albums aren’t on Spotify or in the boxed set I have. Also, I must not have finished Jacob Holm-Lupo’s book!
Agree, "Beat Em Up" is horrible as is "Make Rock Not War". "Madness" is a great song and rank "Perfect Water" up with Buck's best. "Daning In The Ruins" should have been a hit single IMO.
Agree, both great songs.
The box set includes only their Columbia output, so it ends with Imaginos. All of the albums after that are on other labels.
]i]"There's a lot to be said, for a blow to the head"[/i]
Dancing In The Ruins was the MTV song and it wasn't bad. But Perfect Water is a fantastic song.
This came up on my feed:
Kinda thrashy. I dig it.
Just listened to a new interview with Buck. It sounds like B.O.C. are starting to wind down their career. He said this new album will most likely be the band’s last and that they are only playing around 30 live dates this year which is way down from their usual touring schedule. He didn’t come right out and say it, but it sure sounded like they may be heading toward a greatly reduced schedule. He also said he has a new solo song coming out later this spring although did not mention anything about an album.
It's perfectly understandable, though sad. I've seen them countless times and consider myself lucky to have seen them last year at Marin County Fair. I will see them anytime they come to the Bay Area. I really hope Buck
releases a second solo album at some point. I love Flat Out.
First time I saw BOC they were touring this album:
Love the production. Tight and muscular. It's heavy, but not metal. That rhythm section is punchy (Danny Miranda - bass, Bobby Rondinelli-drums). I love this album. First BOC album I ever bought. I have the t-shirt with the album art on it.
Anybody have the Columbia box set? I'm not sure if the remastering is the same as some of the individual re-issues but I read that some of the albums were improved quite a bit including On Your Feet Or On Your Knees. And there's two bonus discs of rarities. I don't know why I like these guys because it's not my usual cup of tea. But I've been listening to Tyranny and Mutation and I dig it.
I have it and think all of the albums sound great, some of them improved quite a bit.
I saw a show on that tour in a VERY small venue (I was probably ten feet from the band), and while they're known to vary the setlists, I got to hear one of my favorites, "Black Blade"! From Curse of the Hidden Mirror, they played "Dance on Stilts."
That's good to know, thanks!
And Buck played his swiss cheese, headless guitar. He is a great rock guitarist. Great tone. I saw him at a resort in the Florida Keys years ago playing with a pick up band. Carmine Apicce was on drums. They played......GODZILLA!!!!!
Yeah, the headless Swiss was live without a net! It's cut up into different videos, but you can watch an entire Buck Dharma Band concert from the late '90s.
There goes Tokyo.....
I love this f***ing song. Might be my favorite BOC song.
^^ I saw that tour (Spectres) in March of '78, front row center leaning on the stage.
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