BOC: reviews and sides

[Bolts of Ungodly Vision]

>
>I THINK THAT WAS OUT OF tune!" Albert Bouchard, the original drummer for
Blue Oyster Cult, isn't thrilled with the guitar overdub he's just done.
He's playing on the thundering cover of BOC's "Dominance and Submission"
slated for Mike Watt's
>upcoming first solo album, Ball-hog or Tugboat? The former bass player
with the seminal postpunk bands the Minutemen and fIREHOSE has corralled a
stellar guest list of underground legends for his LP. Today, Watt is
trapped in Baby Monster Studios, a tiny space in a graffiti-covered
building on Manhattan's West 14th Street.
>
>"That doesn't bother you?" asks John Hanlon, the album's recording
engineer. "No way!" Watt exclaims. "What's the difference, anyway?" Watt is
still a punk at 36; he resembles an indie-rock military commander in his
Army greens, crew cut, clunky glasses and Converse low tops.
>RECORDINGS
>                                               * * *
>                                          CULT CLASSIC
>                                          Blue Oyster Cult
>                                              Herald
>                                               * * *
>                                          EPONYMOUS
>                                         The Brain Surgeons
>                                       Cellsum/Ripe and Ready
>
>The supposed sonic supremacy of compact discs apparently warps musicians'
brains like vinyl LPs in the sun. Case in point: Blue Oyster Cult's Cult
Classic. Classic collects new versions of BOC hits, rerecorded note for
note using state-of-the-art digital technology.
>
>Comparing Classic's reheated leftovers with the originals produces a
puzzling "Why?" in the listener's mind. As innovators of '70s heavy-metal
thunder, BOC captured their pivotal recordings in full analog glory. While
analog recording results in more hiss and noise than its more sanitary
electronic counterpart, it creates a warmer, fatter sound that artists from
Lenny Kravitz to the Black
>Crowes continue to emulate Indeed, Classic suffers from thinner drum and
slightly dehydrated guitar sounds.
>
>Still, that doesn't entirely diminish the. appeal of these songs. At their
best, BOG create distinctive hard rock that betrays a bitter core, couching
perverse, apocalyptic lyrics in deceptively catchy compositions. The band's
Top 20 paean to suicide, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," sounds as good as or
better than it did in 1976: Its irresistible minor-chord guitar hook sinks
its fangs deep into the
>classic-rock consciousness, and the macabre subject matter makes current
retro acts like Spin Doctors appear as tame as Disneyland. (Comprehending
their Freedom Rock appeal, BOC also include "TV mixes" of "Godzilla" and
"[Don't Fear] The
>Reaper" without lead vocals so fans can sing along) On "Burnin' for You,"
disembodied choral harmonies and twin guitar leads forge a darkly plaintive
arena crunch. Undeniably, however, the "improved" version of "Godzilla"
begets nostalgia for the definitive performance on 1978's live Some
Enchanted Evening.
>
>As the Brain Surgeons, ex-BOC drummer Albert Bouchard and his wife, noted
rock scribe Deborah Frost, also embrace digital recording, using a DAT
machine to assemble their DIY debut Eponymous in their living room. While
some of the album's songs were written with former BOC collaborators Patti
Smith and Richard Meltzer, Bouchard and Frost stake out their own musical
turf, moving convincingly from the New Wave jangle of "Language of Love" to
balls-out rockers like "Time Will Take Care of You."
>
>Eponymous falters on dated '80s electro-funk like "Brain From Terra
Incognita" (which isn't helped by Bouchard's near-rap vocalese), and the
bass sounds synthetically sterile throughout The Surgeons better
demonstrate their idiosyncrasy on odd cover choices. The weirdo surfabilly
of the Del Lords' "I Play the Drums" showcases Bouchard's gruff rasp, and
Frost pleasantly toys
>with sexual ambiguity when she sings, "I told her I was a flop with
chicks" on an appealing a cappella rendition of the Clovers'
>"Love Potion No. 9." Eponymous' revelation turns out to be Frost's voice,
a technically proicient yet passionately raw instrument.
>Moving from virtuoso Robert Plant shrieks to breathy Patti Smith-style
confessionals, Frost refutes the old adage that disgruntled
>musicians hurl at rock critics. "Those who can't do, write."
>
>`THEY'RE PLAYING MY SONG'
>
>Recording in Woodstock, N.Y., and mixing at Manhattan's Electric Ladyland,
the members of Gumball were steeped in a heavy '60s vibe as they made their
new "Revolution On Ice" album on Columbia Records. Reflecting on the fact
that much of that era's "subversive" spirit has now been watered down into
commercial jingles, the band decided to include a cover of the Richard
Meltzer,Albert Bouchard, and Allen Lanier-penned "She Is As Beautiful As A
Foot," a prepunk classic from Blue Oyster Cult's seminal 1973 debut that
was one of the bank's early inspirations.
>                                  SHE IS AS BEAUTIFUL AS A FOOT
>                                    Published by B. O.'Cult Songs Inc.
>                                             (ASCAP)
>"Blue Oyster Cult was the third band that I ever got into," says Gumball
singer/guitarist/co-producer Don Fleming. "The Beatles were first, then
there was the Rex. That first Blue Oyster Cult album was truly
mind-boggling for me at the time, and 'She Is As Beautiful As A Foot' has
always been one of my favorite songs. It was through that band that I
discovered what was then the New
>York underground--Richard Meltzer, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, Lester Bangs.
I ended up learning a lot about music just by lucking
>into that album. I wanted to remember what got me into this in the first
place. I can still listen to that song, and it still makes me feel
>glad to be making music. It was an added bonus that we got [original Blue
Oyster Cult drummer] Al Bouchard to sing background vocals on the song.
None of us could quite hit it right, so we decided to invite Al to do it
while we were mixing at Electric Ladyland.
>He told us a great story about the very room we were mixing in. Years
before Hendrix built the studio there, it was a club, and Blue Oyster Cult
were playing a gig there as Chuck Berry's backing band. they stayed late
and did a little jamming, and somebody said, 'Do you mind if we have a go
on your equipment?' It was Jimi Hendrix. So it was so cool to be mixing in
that room. That was
>our payoff. It was like, 'Wow, we're a part of this song now.'"
>