BOC's Brush With Hair Bandism

[BREVARD Adrian R.]

>
First the breaking news:

>JS>"Eric says that BOC's contributions will be 1 new song, plus 2 of "The Big
>3".

Typical of Eric not to mention the name of the "new one".

>JS>" According to Bolle, George Geranios is submitting some soundboard tapes
>to the producers of this project, but interestingly enough, these tapes won't
be from 1997, but from 1992! "

Guess that rules out Live 4 Me or X-ray Eyes being one of the new ones.
>Sounds like Harvest Moon or See You in Black.

PS JS - Loved your list but mentally inserted a smiley at the end.  You
can't be serious about the Prez's doing a BOC cover, can you?
>
>"From:    Max Wilcox
>Hi All,
>        Well, over the last few days I've been doing a bit of of BOC
>listening for the first time (I've listened to some before, but not very
>carefully). I've got Cultosaurus, and today bought Agents of Fortune.
>        Perhaps it's just not my thing, but most of the music sounds like
poor rock - having little substance, sounding like much of the stuff you
get on crappy popular radio stations. "

I would recommend that you try the first three studio releases,
Feet/Knees (Live) and Imaginos.  Then do Specters, AOF and the like.
>
Let me try to put a different spin on it by comparing BOC's career to a
modern bands career.  BOC's first three albums provided a baseline for
their unique sound.  Great stuff with a slant that no other band could
really match.  Now BOC diverted from this path with AOF and for the most
part benefitted financially.  AOF was far more radio friendly than the
first three.  Specters was in the same vien.  Thats when things started
to get hairy for our hero's.  Most of what was produced after Specters
were shots in the dark aiming for elusive targets or attempts to return
to the baseline.  You have a Mirrors and a CE.  You got a Club Ninja and
an Imaginos (for the sake of argument lets call it a BOC album even
though it wasn't.)  The point being I don't think BOC beyond a point
allowed their music to mature and progress naturally, I think they were
aiming directly at things.  In retrospect, a major mistake.  Don't get
me wrong, even during this wondering through the musical wilderness
period the band still put out some quality stuff. Conversely some of it
was pretty bad too. Check some of the songs from Mirros, RBN CN, CE and
Fires.  There's some original BOC baseline in their but some of it can
be called and "experimentation with Hairbandism", they just didn't have
the perms to go with it. 8>)  As Eric bluntly put it, "everytime they
changed they stepped on their dicks."

Compare them to Queensryche.  Its more than the umalat (sp) in the name
that provides commanlity.  Queensryche first three albums (Warning, Rage
for Order and Operation Mindcrime) established a baseline and a solid
fan base.  Empire was their AOF, better for commercial purposes but a
departure from the beginning.  Many Q'ryche fans considered it a
sellout/dissapointment.  Thats where the similarities end between these
two bands.  Promise Land followed Empire and it sounded nothing like
anything they had done up to that point.  More alienated fans, but this
band moved on.  Check out their latest, Hear in the Now Frontier.  Its
still Queensryche but its as far removed from Promise Land or Empire as
those albums were from the Warning.  This band seems to allow their
music to grow and change naturally, not aiming at tragets.  Hey you may
lose some fans and gain some but I admire their balls in allowing their
music to be what it is and not necesarrily what people might want it to
>be.

Bottom Line: Who knows how BOC's career would have turned out had they
approached it differently.  I imagine at times that had they stuck with
the beginning and matured from there they would have sounded like a mix
of Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd.  One can only wonder in the long run.

All of the above IMHO as if I really needed to point that out.


L8er
lil ab

"Some people fly...and some of us worry.  I'd risk it all to have wings.
 I know if I try I'll get where I'm going, keeping my eyes on the sky."

obcd - Queensryche,  Hear in the Now Frontier

Hairband of the Day - Night Ranger