BOC: A few thoughts on Club Ninja

[John A Swartz]

Well, it's open season on *Club Ninja* again, I see.  What the hell, I'll
throw out some spare change on the discussion . . .

IMHO, all BOC albums have some merit, are all listenable, and are all
part of the band's rich history.  And, most of the albums have at least
one or 2 songs which alot of people don't like (e.g. "Debbie Denise" on
*Spectres*, or perhaps "Teen Archer" on *Tyranny and Mutation*), but
a big problem with *Club Ninja* is that there's too many songs on it
which fall into this category.  But then, it's kind of funny, because
alot of us will agree that there's a few good tunes on it -- but based
on what I've seen in the recent posts, over half of the album's songs
are listed by one person or another as being a good song.  The problem
seems to be that there are very few (or maybe no) songs on *Club Ninja*
that are liked by nearly everybody -- contrast that with some of BOC's
other albums (I'll be 99% of all BOC fans think that songs like "Flaming
Telepaths", "Cities on Flame", "The Red and the Black", and "Golden
Age of Leather", to name a few, are great songs - maybe not their
favorite, but great songs).

Also, had *Club Ninja* had a few stronger numbers in it (perhaps "Wings
of Mercury" would have strengthend it), we wouldn't think as badly of it.
Take, for example, the song "Shooting Shark" - would you have liked the
song less if it had been on *Club Ninja*, rather than *Revolution By
Night*?  It seems to me to fit into the overall sound of *Club Ninja*
better, but my guess is that it would have been less liked by BOC fans
if it had been on that album, because it is a mellow tune and would
have probably made that album even more commercial-sounding than it
already was.  Hey here's a thought - what if something like "Teen Archer"
appeared on *Club Ninja*?

I think my point is that the problem with the album in most BOC fans
minds is that it doesn't work for them as a "whole" - there are some
great moments on the album, but as an entity it doesn't feel like what
we know and love as BOC.

John (who might be one of the few people that thinks "Beat 'em Up" is
a decent song)

PS:  One more thought -- alot of bands, when their popularity begins to
wane, "return to their roots", and get back to the sound and style that
made them popular to begin with.  Perhaps things might have gone a bit
differently for the band had they done this rather than trying to be
more "commercial" (I think again what might have happened if *Imaginos*
could have been done, and done right, after *The Revolution By Night*,
or better yet, after *ETL* . . .).