“ Speed is the game in the shadow of kings
Where the company of angels fly
They appear at the crossroads at once in the future
Clad in the darkness on the highways of night
With no love ... from the past”The Revölution By Night (1983)
Band members
Eric Bloom – guitar, lead vocals on tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7
Donald 'Buck Dharma' Roeser – lead guitar, keyboards, lead vocals on tracks 3, 4, 8
Allen Lanier – piano, keyboards
Joe Bouchard – bass, electric and acoustic guitars, vocoder, lead vocals on 9
Rick Downey – drums
Additional musicians
Larry Fast - synthesizers, programming
Aldo Nova – guitar and synthesizers on "Take Me Away"
Gregg Winter - backing vocals on "Eyes on Fire"
Randy Jackson – bass on "Shooting Shark"
Marc Baum - saxophone on "Shooting Shark"
Production
Bruce Fairbairn – producer, mixing
Dave Wittman - engineer
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1. Take Me Away Eric Bloom, Aldo Nova 4:31
2. Eyes on Fire Gregg Winter 3:56
3. Shooting Shark Donald Roeser, Patti Smith 7:09
4. Veins Roeser, Richard Meltzer 3:59
5. Shadow of California Joe Bouchard, Neal Smith, Sandy Pearlman 5:10
6. Feel the Thunder Bloom 5:48
7. Let Go Bloom, Roeser, Ian Hunter 3:28
8. Dragon Lady Roeser, Broadway Blotto 4:08
9. Light Years of Love Bouchard, Helen Wheels 4:05
Total length: 41:44
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Albert was out. While the rest of the band, including his brother Joe, collectively sighed with relief at being free of his antagonistic behavior (crazy drummers) that also meant they needed to take up the slack. Albert was the most prolific and energetic song writer in the band since its inception. Sure, anything that was a hit came from Buck’s pen (maybe Albert was a bit jealous) but Albert always helped with arrangements too. Considering what was about to happen, perhaps the soul of BÖC had really always been Albert. He had a way of keeping his eye on the ball and insisting (demanding?) that the band retain their identity.
The spirit of collaboration I’ve been praising throughout this thread can be taken too far and this album clearly tries to walk the ledge in hurricane. This album has the first song in their history written entirely from outside the band and four more songs include writers that had never been used previously.
Pressure does funny things to people and with CBS/Columbia insisting the band recreate the success of FoUO, what did they do? Why, throw out most of what made it a success in the first place. They hired another pop producer in Bruce Fairbairn, but in his defense most of his successes leaned in the direction of rock so it’s not really a bad choice…until. Instead of going to his studio where he’d had success, they dragged him out of his native Canada and into New York. Then when he was finished and went back to Canada, Buck and Sandy went through and remixed about half the album! I don’t know; this review is going to be too long if I sit and bellyache about what went wrong but some of the decisions are truly baffling.
Full disclosure: I don’t own this album and I don’t intend on buying it. I have “Shooting Shark” in my digital library and when it comes on during shuffle I’m just as likely to skip it as enjoy it.
This album was so far off my radar when it was released that I literally didn’t listen to it in full until researching for this thread. At the time of it’s release my tastes had moved on to Triumph, Krokus, Savatage, Maiden, Dio, Queensrÿche, MSG, Y&T and this little known indie record called “Kill ‘em All” from some nobody band called Metallica. Now that my tastes have circled back around some I’d hope to find some sweet BÖC meat to sink my teeth in but this album is awful scrawny. After forcing myself through a dozen plays I’m still of the same mind.
It’s not completely horrible and I’m even betting that some folks whose taste runs toward AOR or Melodic Rock may find some real enjoyment here. Take the Aldo Nova song…okay, Eric redid the words so he’s credited too but essentially “Take Me Away” is pure Aldo Nova with Buck doing a guest spot on guitar. It’s catchy and has some good moments if just a bit on the light side. “Veins”, “Feel the Thunder”, and “Dragon Lady” may also appeal but maybe would have been better if done by a Bon Jovi or someone like that. You know, with more enthusiasm and heart.
If you haven’t heard “Shooting Shark” I can honestly say it’s worth a listen if only for the Patti Smith lyric but this is a different animal than what we’ve listened to so far in this thread. It’s a light jazzy number with melancholy air complete with electronic drums, sax solo, slap bass (played by Randy Jackson of American Idol fame) and even when Buck plays a guitar lead it’s with a jazz club sensibility that sounds much like a sax anyway. It’s great, but different. In the extreme.
“Shadow of California” being the odd duck on this record is actually the one that sounds the most like BÖC. With reference to our long lost Transmaniacon Motorcycle Club who returns to the world they left behind, when they slaughtered each other in “Golden Age of Leather”, by the new found ability of time travel. Still, there’s nothing immediate about this song and I find the whole thing too distant.
In fact, that’s a complaint I have about the entire production. It’s very slick, don’t get me wrong, but it lacks the intimacy of their previous records. Everything is expansive, like you're listening to a stereo from across a huge, white-tiled operating theater or something. The shadows are gone and the darkness banished. Oh, and the electronic drums, especially the toms, are dated and annoying as hell.
This has been a test of the Podaar negative opinion system. If this was an opinion you actually agree with, you will receive further instructions ahead. This is only a test.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.
Thank you…
Topic: Blue Öyster Cult Discography: Curse of the Hidden Mirror (Read 43791 times)
