Rough guide to rock

[John A Swartz]

Alas, another book written by people who don't have a clue...

Just a few thoughts on the review:

The reviewers, like many who were exposed to BOC (including some of us
die-hard fans) never really made the transition with the band around
the mid-70's (even those who didn't first hear the band until after
that).  What I mean is that BOC, at first beginning with *Agents of
Fortune*, made conscious moves to break out of the mold to which they
had been cast, and expand their musical horizons -- they were getting
tired of the whole heavy-metal/leather/hell imagery.  They spent more
time on individual contributions, and took less creative input from the
likes of Sandy Pearlman.  The result?  Well, at first their most
successful song and album.  Then of course, the times they were a-
changin' -- disco was hot, punk was making inroads, and heavy metal
and alot of hard rock was pretty much dead.  Then, of course, the band
had pressure from the record company to release more material in the
same vein as *Agents*.  But I digress -- the point I wanted to make
was that BOC took some definitive steps to break out of the style of
the first 3 studio albums, yet many didn't appreciate it.  Hey, even
us die-hards: how many of us cite the first 3 albums among our
favorites, and want more material in that vein, a la *Imaginos*?

It is interesting, and somewhat contradictory in the review that while
the reviewer liked the old-style stuff, and ocassional tracks such as
"Death Valley Nights" and "Fire of Unknown Origin", the reviewer then
goes on to blast the band for pandering to sci-fi buffs and bikers --
huh?  Wasn't a good chunk of that older material along those lines?
Also, as far as "peddling the same formula", I think I've already
discussed how the band chose NOT to peddle the same formula.

Actually, as far as "the same formula" goes, it was probably more in
BOC's live shows where the same formula was used - a trend that continues
today.  Comparing the setlists over the years, one can see how many
songs have been staples in the sets for over 20 years -- even in the
"old days" (early - mid 70's), the band pretty much stuck to the same
songs (a point which Albert has previously discussed here) -- meaning
that some of BOC's coolest material was either never done live by the
band (like "Death Valley Nights"), done very seldomly (like "I Love
the Night" or "Monsters"), or only done for the tour supporting the
respective album ("The Great Sun-Jester", "Fire of Unknown Origin",
"Divine Wind", "Morning Final", "I am the One").

John