BOC: CotHM

[Joseph Brooks]

Fantastic review.. Very well put. If you see any review of CotHM this
summer, see this one! Unfortunately, this is exactly what I would have
written were I as eloquent. I especially like the part about the good ol'
spooky/scary BOC that we all loved. They're dead and gone I guess. The new
BOC is just way too homogenized. CotHM is better than HF but not by much.

When I reviewed HF here, on its release, someone on the list (accurately)
criticized me for wanting "Secret Treaties II and having sour grapes when I
didn't get it. I guess I can't really argue that anymore. What I've come to
realize though is that after all these years, this incarnation of BOC just
isn't capable of doing anything close to "Secret Treaties II". This is a sad
realization for me.. I've been a fan since 1974 and BOC will always hold a
soft spot in my black heart for no other reason than being the creators of
the soundtrack of my life.. But I find the current incarnation of BOC to be
bland, uninteresting and unintentionally funny (like a B-Movie).

You can't go back, I guess...

JB

"If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" -
Phish


----------Quote edited for brevity-----

Date:    Sun, 24 Jun 2001 15:03:21 +0100
From:    Jon Jarrett <jjarrett at CHIARK.GREENEND.ORG.UK>
Subject: Re: BOC: What's your favorite bloom growl/yell/vocal?/ CotHM in
         England at last

        I now have _Curse of the Hidden Mirror_, anyway, and well, perhaps
this is going to be a national divide but I'm really not that impressed. I
do agree that the playing and the sense of the band as a unit is much
improved, but where other people are saying there's no *great* songs on
it, I'm finding there's only a few good ones. `Old Gods Return' and `Eye
of the Hurricane' I like; `Stone of Love' I will admit to liking in
charitable company, and I can manage to like `Here Comes that Feeling' and
`Out of the Darkness'. But the rest of it does nothing for me, including
`Pocket' which I'm just simply not getting, and not including `I Just Like
To Be Bad' which is *awful*. Partly it's the Shirley lyrics, which are,
well, better than last time out but still very dull sledgehammers to crack
fairly obvious nuts. I mean, it's like this:

(Trad.)
        Hickory dickory dock
        The mouse ran up the clock
        The clock struck one
        The mouse fell down
        Hickory dickory dock

(or: by John Shirley)
        I'm a real heavy mouse
        With a clock and a hunch
        I've got to climb my house
        And get back before lunch

(for comparison: by Richard Meltzer)
        Hockety dockety dick!
        Murine craziness a-go-go
        Clockmaker can't make it out
        But that first strike's sure a no-no

(and lastly: by Sandy Pearlman)
        The bells will end the hour
        Mice running like witch's blood
        The clouds have gathered the storm
        Suzy's watch touches the time
                (chorus of phased chants of `It came from the sea!')