BOC: Buck Dharma Archive CDs 1+2 Review

[John A. Swartz]

For those of you that might be interested in the Buck Dharma "Archive
Series CDs", available only at www.buckdharma.com, I have attached a
review I recently did of them.  Keep in mind that these discs are
currently only available by signing up for the "package" deal, which
includes a t-shirt, autographed photo, laminated pass, 4 CDs (3 "Archive
Series CDs of Buck's demos of both released and unreleased songs, and a
CD of Buck's "The Red and The Black" demos), plus special members-only
access on the website -- all this costs $150, and is admittedly not for
everyone.  My primary reason for signing up was the CDs, so here's how
the first 2 sound to me (note: the second 2 are set to be released early
next year):

John
----------------

Got my Buck Dharma subscription package last week.  Very cool indeed.
For this fan's money, the real benefits of the membership are the "Area
51 Access" on the website and the CDs.  The shirt is high quality, and
the VIP pass is cool, and who wouldn't want a personally autographed
photo of Buck?  Still, those items are way down the list of my own
personal priorities - I'm in this primarily for the music.  So, I
thought I'd share my feelings on that.

Before I start, I will state that I can't tell anyone whether or not
they should spend the money to get this package - that is an individual
decision.  For me, there was little hesitation because most of all I
want CD-quality recordings of these rarities - realizing that many of
them are songs that were either rejected for use as BOC recordings, or
demos of Buck-written BOC songs.  So, the idea that these CDs might get
more spins than something like *Secret Treaties* or even *Heaven
Forbid*...well, that's not why one would want these CDs.  Good music,
even great music on them for sure, but their appeal is more to the
completist and the curious, rather than just a fan of BOC's music.  And
while I can lament that I couldn't just get the CDs rather than the
whole package, the decision for me personally to buy or not buy was an
easy one, and I have no regrets.

O.K., on to the music...

Disc 1:

Hot Date - Cool song that would have fit well on *Flat Out* - very
realistic horn sounds lend to a "big band" sound.  Classic Buck guitar riffs.

Here Comes That Feeling - Another song that would have fit well on *Flat
Out*, although it also sounds like something that might have made it to
*Club Ninja* with different lyrics.  These first two songs make you
wonder where Buck's career would have gone if he hooked up with a pop
band rather than BOC.  Would he have been one of those teen idols?

Burnin' For You - Fairly similar to the finished product, although I
believe Buck plays all instruments except drums (played by Albert
Bouchard).  The bassline is close, but a bit more ambitious than Joe's
version (with not enough low end), and the keyboards are thinner.
Guitar solos are different.  This is most interesting to see how the
song progressed when comparing it to the *Fire of Unknown Origin*
version - and how the flavor of the song changes when Buck's bandmates
add their contributions to the song.

Hold Me Tight - Precursor to "Lips In The Hills" - This is a great tune,
but pales next to BOC's finished product.  The lyrics really change the
character of the song - the killer riff underneath is unmistakeable, but
I just can't see Eric singing the lyrics to this.  My three-year-old,
however, LOVES this song -- she just loves singing "Hold me tight, hold
me tight...".  The real thing to note about this song, is that it shows
that Buck, for all his pop leanings, can write killer heavy music.  This
song as is would have added some heaviness to something like *Flat Out*
and it would have been a favorite on that album.  But Meltzer's lyrics
and Eric's vocals turn it into a true BOC song.

2120 Revisited - Cool little instrumental jam.

ECPI - More pop from Buck.  Nice harmonies.  If the lyrics were sillier,
I could almost picture "Weird Al" Yankovic doing this song.

Shooting Shark - Very good demo.  Doesn't have Randy Jackson's slap bass
part, but the bassline is still fairly funky and very much in character
of the song.  The use of a drum machine is more obvious in this version
than the *Revolution By Night* version - although it makes me wonder how
a real drummer would have changed the character of the final product.
The keyboards on this demo are maybe a bit too up front in the mix.

That Was Killer - A wasted half minute of space - hearing Murry Krugman
say "That Was Killer", repeated and stuttered may be silly to listen to
once, but after that who cares?  Maybe if Buck used it in a rap song or something...

Pack Of Lies - More from the new "King of Pop", Buck Dharma.  A bit
simplistic, but nice harmonies (kind of interesting to hear Buck do all
the harmonies - like their's a bunch of little Roeser clones running
around...) and a beat that you can tap your foot to.

Cold Wind - One of my favorites from *Flat Out* - fairly similar to the
final product, although the middle bridge section is less developed.
Also, and I'll have to go back and compare this to the *Flat Out*
version (which Rick Downey plays drums on), but I think Albert
Bouchard's drumming lends a subtle different feel to the song- not
immediately noticeable, but seems to be there.

You People Had Enough? - Buck takes a little jazzy instrumental and
overdubs a live track with Rick Downey encouraging the crowd.  Sounds
like it could be the way a a big band starts a live performance.  Neat.

Don't Fear the Reaper - While nowhere near as polished as the *Agents Of
Fortune* version, this is pretty cool.  Buck's use of books, the floor
and saying "Psssshhhh" for cymbals as his percussion works surprisingly
well - it is interesting to listen to how active Buck's "drumming" is in
places - almost as if Buck was trying to imitate how he envisioned
Albert would play it.  Some of the guitar leads are very trebly and
"biting" - sounds great, but does lend a different character to the song.

Premier of B.C. - Sorry, but I'll probably never listen to this one
again.  Like "That Was Killer", it is a waste of space and not even a
song - the bigger sin is that this track takes up 6 minutes.  Basically
Buck, Eric, and Rick Downey were in a bar and this drunk goes off on a
rant about the then Premier of British Columbia, which they thought was
funny enough to record.  Yeah, maybe funny to listen to once - but, if
you've heard one drunk rant and swear on and on once, you've heard 'em
all.  Maybe it would have been funnier on video - then it might be worth
listening to 2 or 3 times.  I'm really not sure why Buck thought this
belonged on this CD - I suppose it's a slice of life on the road that
was probably pretty funny at the time.  But you sure as hell can't tap
your foot to it...  I would have preferred hearing Buck play scales on
his guitar for 6 minutes.


Disc 2:

Stone of Love - Nice tune written for *Revolution By Night* that wasn't
considered heavy enough.  True, although it probably could have made
*Club Ninja*.  Musically somewhat dark - I wonder if different lyrics
could have turned this into a BOC song - I can almost envision some
vampire lyrics working well with this song.

Godzilla - Fairly close to BOC's version, including the vocal special
effects (although no Japanese warning in the middle) - also doesn't have
Joe's little bass lick, although Buck's bass playing in this section
sounds pretty funky and cool.  This demo is also a bit faster than what
BOC recorded (and definitely much faster than BOC plays this song live
today), which somewhat takes away the real feel of heaviness of the
song.  Still, very cool.

Deadline - Similar to the final version, but instrumentally thinner
(hey, it is a demo) - almost sounds like the bassline was played on a guitar.

No Traffic - The music is "E.T.I." with different lyrics - not quite a
pop feel, but close.  Perhaps Buck could have changed the face of pop
music if he had pop songs with instrumentation like this - pop songs
with substance!

I Love The Night - YES!  While not as polished as the *Spectres*
version, this song has the omitted verse which, in my opinion, makes the
song much more coherent and understandable.  Sony had a chance to redeem
themselves when they put ILTN on their remasterd "Don't Fear the Reaper"
compilation, but instead used the edited version.  It's so great to hear
the complete work.

Mirrors - A bit simpler than the album version, but good.  I think I
prefer Sandy Roeser's background vocals over Genya Ravan and Ellen Foley
(who sang on *Mirrors*).

Wind, Weather and Storm - Nice.  Amazing how similar this 1975 demo
sounds to the *Flat Out* version.  More of Buck's "book and floor"
drumming.  Listening to the bassline underscores how well Buck has a
great feel of the total song structure, and not just the vocals and guitar.

Spy In The House of The Night - A fairly different feel than the *Club
Ninja* version - not quite as heavy on the guitars, and not as polished
in the vocals (although I think I actually prefer the overall feel of
how Buck sings on this demo).

Devil's Nail - You will never hear "The Vigil" the same way again!
Amazing what a different set of lyrics will do for a song.  The song is
great with this original set of Patti Smith lyrics, but I doubt would
have made it to a BOC album with them.  It would be a real kick to see
BOC do this one live with these lyrics - would be funny to see reaction
from the more casual fans - and see how many of the "die hards" could
still sing along...

Ayatollah - The "Divine Wind" demo - another example of Buck, regarded
as more "pop", writes some killer tunes.  Still, it took Eric's vocals
to really take this tune over the top - Buck's are "interesting" here,
but don't have that heaviness - Buck's singing sounds almost like 80s
"New Wave" music.

Lost Lenore - Yehaw!  Country!  But, who sings it?  Bruce Abbott?  It
don't sound like Buck, unless they dropped his voice an octave.  Sandy
Roeser has some nice vocals on this rather silly song.

Come Softly - A nice demo of a song which was covered on *Flat Out* -
not as polished, but still very nice.  And again, Sandy Roeser's vocals
are nice.

Boogie Woogie Bagel Bun - Silly and fun.  Sounds like something that was
done on one of those Casio or Yamaha keyboards (you know, the one with
all the preset drum patterns and syth voices).  Would be really funny if
BOC used this instead of the Bladerunner tune on ocassion to open their shows.


Can't wait for Volume 3 and the Red and the Black demo CDs!



John