BOC: Lots More o' Stuff

[Ted Jackson]

On 6 Jul 2001, at 8:19, Andy Gilham wrote:

> > If
> > the fan-club
> > membership suddenly dropped after Mirrors, I would offer as a
> > possible explanation that it was not because Mirrors was suddenly a
> > whole lot worse than the previous releases, but that people who had
> > been holding on and hoping for a return to the 'good old days'
> > suddenly decided that 'nope, they werent coming back, this proves
> > it, lets get out' - the overall count for the last 2 or 3 releases
> > had begun to tip too much negative.
>
I would offer another scenario:  a lot of the 'old' fans were simply
getting older.  Sad to say, a lot of folks quit listening to music on a
serious level after they get out of college, get married, get a 'real' job
etc...But Mirrors didn't help the cause either!


> Well, since it was my flip comment that kicked off this whole MIRRORS
> debate: I got into BOC on the back of "Reaper," so did a lot of my
> friends, and we devoured all the back catalogue, got SOME ENCHANTED
> EVENING the day it came out and played it to death.  If there was a
> unifying feel between AGENTS and SPECTRES it was that they were a lot
> slicker, and both had one or two dodgy tracks whereas the first three
> albums were pure excellence, but they were still terrific albums.
>
I've been listening to the AOF remaster, and thinking what a truly
great album it is...When it came out, my friends and I were pretty
well stunned when True Confessions drifted through the speakers
the first time!  Debbie Denise wasn't exactly what we were looking
for either.  But the rest of the stuff!  Great lyrics, mysterious sound--
classic BÖC stuff.  Any album that kicks off with a song entitled
This Ain't the Summer of Love has to be a classic...

> Then MIRRORS came out, and just about everybody thought it wa
> rubbish. Sure, people would say, "The Vigil" is OK, or "Great Sun
> Jester," but that was about it.  They still played four nights at
> Hammersmith, but on the strength of earlier material and live
> reputation.  Me, I was still saying, loyally, BOC can do no wrong, but
> I knew in my heart they'd blown it; even following it up with two
> excellent albums didn't restore their reputation.
>
Wll, I agree with the sentiment that they blew it with Mirrors, but I
forgave them when CE came out...

theo