BOC Club Ninja a Review

[Ted O. Jackson]

> Strange.  A strange album from an equally strange band.  Blue Oyster Cult
> has for most of its career been a cult band, its fans are loyal beyond
> belief to music that mainstream rock and rollers have never fully embraced.
>  Their early career was dedicated to songs entitled Workshop of the
> Telescopes, Cagey Cretins and Wings Wetted Down.  Later they became a bit
> more mainstream, albeit not much, with Don't Fear the Reaper and Godzilla,
> each of which remain two of only three songs listeners can actually hear on
> radio stations.  Probably the highlight for this band was a theme peice
> called Imaginos which this particular writer considers one of the greatest
> rock albums ever made, put it up there with Led Zepplin IV, Floyds Dark Side
> of the Moon and Alan Parsons Tales Of Mystery and Imagination.
>
> The latest effort Club Ninja bears no real resemblence to anything BOC has
> done before.  Not to heavy and not to light and most dfinitely not very
> Oysterish.  Still for the shear number of tracks there may be more radio
> ready songs on this effort than any other BOC release.  Perfect Water is a
> prime example.  Donald (Buck Dharma) Roeser has long been considered one of
> the greatest rock guitarist for many years.  His solo effort Flat Out while
> not a comercial success was a good blend of rock and pop, escpecially when
> Buck decided to do some singing.  Perfect Water is cut from the same vein as
> Flat Out and is easily the best song on the album.  Over the years I was
> never particular fond of Buck's vocals as they always seemed better suited
> for pop music as opposed to hard rock / heavy metal.  Perfect Water is
> tailored made to Buck's strength; even vocals spread over melodic guitar
> riffs.  I played this song several times to get a good feel for it and
> suprisingly came away with the impression that should there be a BOC
> greatest hits package there is no way one could leave this particular song
> off the album.
>
> As for the rest of Club Ninja, well after three playings I came to the
> conclusion that it just dosen't stand up to previous BOC standards.  I
> drafted a scathing review blasting the band for a lack of creativity,
> energy, enthusiasm, you name it I was accusing.  Suddenly I decided to give
> it one more spin surely there must be something on this album other than
> Perfect Water worth listening to and writing about.  I cleared my mind and
> listened to CN again this time throwing all I knew of BOC out the window.
>  This was a debut album, the first effort, is this a good band or a bad
> band.  The fourth listen brought me to the conclusion that this is a bad
> album only if compared to previous BOC works.  If it were the first then CN
> wasn't bad at all.  Oh sure Make Rock Not War,  Beat Em' Up and Shadow
> Warrior sound like the same song played a dozen different ways by a dozen
> different bands, but there was something dramatically un-BOC like about this
> album.  White Flags was catchy, Dancin in The Ruins rythmic, Spy in The
> House of the Night, hey use it in a Double o 7 soundtrack.  This stuff was
> pretty good!
>
> Yeah.  I was starting to like Club Ninja.  I looked at the cover again to
> ensure it was really Blue Oyster Cult and not just a Buck Dharma solo
> Project.  Yeah it was them alright.  CN represents a radical change for the
> Oyster boys.   There is more keyboarding and less reliance on Bucks fancy
> fingers even though his trademark licks can be found smattered through
> various songs.  Eric Bloom is somewhat understated but it works on a few
> numbers as the music takes the front seat.  Though I do not care very much
> for Make Rock Not War, Eric's vocals makes the song at least tolerable to
> the extent that a slight remix may make this one a candidate for top 40
> airplay.  The only grevious error on the album is the inane Beat Em' Up.
>   Dumb message for an even dumber sounding song.  What should come over as a
> rah-rah everyone on your feet and clapping song turns out to be a third rate
> version of Let Go from Revolution By Night (Hey guys never end a show with
> this one.)
>
> Bottom line while not perfect CN may suprise a few folk who have never given
> BOC a proper listen.  This album may go over well with those who like their
> rock with a little pop mixed in.  A little more energy a better mixing
> couldn't hurt but then who has time to make Perfect Music anymore.  A word
> of warning to new BOC listeners however, NEVER PLAY THIS ALBUM IN FRONT OF A
> RABID BOC FAN, IT COULD BE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH.
>
> Joe's Overall rating - 5.5 out of ten.  Much as I tried I couldn't quite
> separate the band from the music which impacts the ratings.  CN is at best a
> half hearted effort from one of the worlds best bands, sounds a bit too much
> like an album for the sake of fufilling a contractual obligation.  Still I
> would like it more if BOC's name were not on it, maybe REO Speedwagon.
> Hardcore BOC fans boy are they gonna grumble about this one.
> ****************************************************************************
> ***************************************
> Just my strange way of sayin Club Ninja isn't all that bad if it were to
> stand alone.  Problem is it can't stand up to the leagacy BOC has already
> established.
>
> AB

AB
Curious that you sort of panned CN, wondering if it's really a Buck
solo album, but you love (as do I) 'Imaginos' which is pretty much an
Albert solo album, de facto. Am I imagining (ouch) this, or does
Albert supply almost all the vocals on 'Imaginos.'  The production is
great, but there's been some creative eq-ing of the vocals.  Does
Eric sing ANY lead vocals on this album?  How about Buck?  Also, in
your review of CN you don't touch upon the presence of outside
influences and the fact that BOC on this album is essentially a trio
with added sidemen.  This theme reoccurs on 'Imaginos' which seems to
be, judging from the credits, a studio record made by studio
musicians, with the BOC mainly singing (excuse me, Albert mainly
singing) and outside musicians supplying much of the sound.  Don't
get me wrong, 'Imaginos' is a masterpiece, I'm just not sure who's
playing what.  It's almost like a great concept album with the BOC
conducting a select orchestra of rockers from the sidelines.  My
actual knowledge of 'Imaginos' is sketchy, and these opinions are
purely speculative.  Can you fill me in on 'Imaginos' and perhaps
provide a similar capsule review?
theo