BOC: Good Deal?

[John A Swartz]

>3 CD set for 10 UKP - Club Ninja, Cultosaurus Erectus and Blue Oyster
Cult. Is this a good place to start or am I going to get the wrong idea
about this otherwise wonderful band?! :) I gather from previous posts
that Club Ninja sucks! Is this the case?
--

Well, others have already chimed in, so I'll chip a few cents (or perhaps
pence?) into this as well.

Can't speak to the price, but first I'll say that if you have no BOC CDs
and you don't plan on getting the entire catalog, something like *Workshop
of the Telescopes* might be a "better" choice.  It is not complete by
most BOC fans' standards, but it does have all their hits, and a pretty
decent representation of alot of their material.  If you plan on getting
most of BOC's catalog, however, then Workshop may be not necessary.

Of the 3 CDs in the package, *Blue Oyster Cult* is probably most
representative of what BOC fans like about BOC - it's the original, and
in some people's opinion the best.  I think anyone wanting to get into
BOC can't go wrong with this one.  *Cultosaurus Erectus* is also very
good, and shows BOC a bit more refined, but nonetheless with alot of edge
to them (this was their return to heavier stuff after the more comercial
sounding *Mirrors*).  It didn't sell very well, but there are several
great songs on it.  *Club Ninja*? - well, I don't think it sucks, but
it certainly is somewhat different from the rest of the catalog -- much
slicker and more poppy than BOC's other stuff, and also utilizes more
outside writers than ever before.  You will no doubt find a song or 2
on it that you like (my feeling is that everybody likes a few songs on
the album, but everyone doesn't agree on which songs those are, so
opinion of the album is very mixed).

O.K., if you think that you'll only pick up a few BOC CDs, then get
*Workshop of the Telescopes*.  If you think you might get a few other
BOC CDs after purchasing the above 3-Pak, then I'd say go for it, and
then you can use those to decide which other BOC disc you might get.  If
you like the first album, then you probably will want to pick up *Tyranny
and Mutation*, *Secret Treaties*, and maybe *Imaginos* (which is heavy,
but produced in a different timeframe from the other 2).  If you like
*Cultosaurus Erectus*, you might want to follow-up with *Fire of Unknown
Origin* or *Spectres* and *Agents of Fortune*.  If you like *Club Ninja*,
then you might check out *Mirrors* and *Revolution by Night*.  Then of
course there are the live albums . . .

John