Imaginos :Black & Silver

[John A Swartz]

Theo writes:

>Wow!  What a killer set that would be, or more appropriately, what a
filmed presentation. (piching up AB's thread from a few months ago.
All
this speculation is both tempting, yet bittersweet.  If only this
band could have held together and seen through such a project.
'Imaginos' is, for me, a tough album to listen to, in that it shows
us, once and for all, the genius that BOC was capable of, esp.
appearing after a couple of lackluster albums.  And then, after
having teased us so, the band sank into semi-obscurity.  That coupled
with Albert's continued creativity on his own with the Surgeons, just
leaves such an impression of vacuum regarding BOC.  What if??  If the
band could have treated Albert fairly?  If Al could ever forgive
them, and somehow work with BOC again? (Not that I blame him at all
if he chose not to--he's got ample reassons.)  'Imaginos' shines so
brightly as an album, evoking the same feelings I have for earlier
BOC material, that, while I enjoy it righteously, it still makes me
sad every time I listen to it...
theo


Well Theo, you've been reading my mind again ;-)   Actually, alot of
what you said I recently commented on to Wallace McBride's "Transmaniacon
PC" column (on ROBODUDE's "Underbelly Online") - he should be posting
that response along with others soon.  Basically, I feel that while
*Imaginos* may be one of the best albums with the BOC name on it, when
I think of what "could have", or "should have" been, it's a bit sad
to me as well.  Without going into everything I said before, I'll just
quickly mention the 3 things that "should have" happened, IMHO:

1.  Production - should have been at least a double-CD package with the
*complete* Imaginos saga, including the unreleased songs, and perhaps
a few more.  This whole thing was big, a long time coming, and should
have been presented in all its glory.

2.  Participation - This album should have been recorded primarily by
the entire original line-up.  Other people maybe could have had major
contributions, but the original 5 members of BOC should have done the
lion's share of the recording.

3.  Albert Bouchard - Were it not for him, Imaginos would be a collection
of Pearlman poems, with no music (with the exception of maybe 2 songs).
Albert is the musical force behind this album, and to not have had his
input at the end, and to not give him full credit for his efforts was
just plain WRONG.

O.K., now I'm not saying that given the various circumstances at the time
that the above things could have come about properly.  But when I think
about what it should have been . . .

As I believe Chip Hart told me recently, it would have been BOC's
equivalent of The Who's "Tommy" or Pink Floyd's "The Wall".  (hope I'm
not misquoting)

John