BOC: Heaven Forbid

[Ted Jackson jr. 6L6]

>> From:          John A Swartz <jswartz at MBUNIX.MITRE.ORG>

Danm!  John, this is the most long-winded I've ever seen ya!  Do it
more often, dude!

> A few comments regarding the album that I found interesting...
>
> > some of
> you don't want to read any negative opinions about the first new b.o.c. in ten
> years.  oh well...
>
> Well, I suppose I'm guilty of this one.  Despite the fact that we on
> BOC-L have gotten something of a reputation for being critical (and yes
> this means at times negative, I suppose) of BOC (a distinction which we
> do take some pride in - we're no all-adoring, whatever-you-say, you-can-
> shit-and-we'll-call-it-beautiful fans here!), I do believe that there
> is a real sense of wanting this album to succeed.  The wait has been

Absolutely!  I've often criticised EB's voice in the past, but only
because I'm truly concerned over it.  I never wished the guy anything
but the best.  But then we're seen as critical...I expressed a bit of
displeasure over the HF cover, but only 'cause I have such a
pathological hatred for Phantom [if you lived in upstate NY or
anywhere near Toronto, I'm sure you can relate. Brian?] Apart from
that, I don't think it's half bad.  Again, we're being too
critical...


>
> A few thoughts here.  As for "cutting BOC some slack and not expect too
> much", I guess this is true - but I would say we've all come somewhat
> conditioned to not expecting too much these days from BOC.  I think BOC

Yet, ironically, BD is at an all-time peak playing-wise.  It is a
maddening phenomenon.  Wait til you hear BD this week, John. Better
put some padding on the bottom of your jaw, 'cause it's going to hit
the floor a few times...

> is what it is, and in these times its a group of talented musicians
> slugging their way through the clubs across the country trying to earn
> a living on their music - much of it was once heard by thousands at
> a time, now only heard by hundreds at a time.  We almost all would admit
> that the loss of the Bouchard brothers had a big effect on the band's
> overall volume of creative output, but most would contend that the band
> still has talent for writing great material, although presumably not
> in the same quantities as before (that's not meant as a knock - it isn't
> everyone who can show up to the recording sessions with an album's
> worth of demos, as Albert used to - but is clear from the album credits
> over the years that Eric, Allen, and Buck all contributed to some of the

Don' t overlook the impact of losing SP and Meltzer on BOC's
creativity.  Those are huge losses, almost as catastrophic as losing
the Bouchard brothers...

> songs we all know and love).  I think it is somewhat fair to expect that
> the songs on Heaven Forbid will be of pretty high quality - the band has
> certainly had plenty of time to craft these tunes, and we know that their
> ability to deliver them performance-wise is top-notch.  The real question
> may be given the gap since the previous BOC release, do we fans have some
> expectation as to what the songs would/could/should sound like?  Realize
> that it's been over 20 years since BOC's 2 biggest hits (Reaper, Godzilla)
> were written - Buck (who wrote both those tunes) has certainly changed as
> a person, musician, and songwriter in 20 years.   We as fans who have

Hell yeah!  He's way better live than he ever was.  In the studio, BD
has always been a master craftsman.  We'll soon know what he's
accomplished in the studio with this one...

> listened to many things in those 20 years have also changed as listeners
> of music.  What might we all have thought if we had heard "See You in
> Black" 20 years ago?  Would we like it?  How about "Harvest Moon"?  These
> are just somewhat random thoughts I'm having right now, and aren't intended
> to be argumentative of previous posts.
>
I remember being a bit put off by AoF when it came out.  What's all
this mellow shit?  A month later, I couldn't get it off the
<turntable.>  Archaeologists take note...

> Final thought concerning fans expectations weighing on BOC.  I think that
> this is a much more minor effect.  My guess is that if the band was more
> concerned about that, they would have released the album, somehow, someway,
> years ago.  But, and I don't fault them for it, this is much more of a
> business issue.  Also, I think the band gets quite a bit of very positive

I think it's a complex issue.  I think BOC was reluctant to put out
sub-par product.  Unless they were getting a proper budget to do
things right, they were willing to do nothing.  Seems like the
Atlantic deal would've been a good opportunity, but something blew
the deal.  I don't really blame them for not wanting to put out a
half-asses, low-budget production.  Might hurt the band in the long
run.  I do know that other CMC productions are high quality.  Hope it
works out for BOC...

> feedback both at their shows and on AOL that would outweigh any criticism
> they might hear from people who have much-less-direct contact with them.
>
> John

I just hope they have the courage to play lots of HF live, and give
us a chance to show them directly what we think...

theo