Blue Oyster Cult: Club Ninja

Blue Oyster Cult: Club Ninja

1985

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl & Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. White Flags  2. Dancin' in the Ruins  3. Make Rock Not War  4. Perfect Water  5. Spy in the House of the Night  6. Beat 'em Up  7. When the War Comes  8. Shadow Warrior  9. Madness to the Method


I've looked for a copy of "Club Ninja" for a good decade now, so my opinion can't help but be colored by the glorious acquisition of the album, so even if this was a suckwad album I probaly wouldn't be able to see it. And by all accounts, "Club Ninja" just so happens to gets cited as an example of a "suckwad" album in most critical circles...

It's a good thing I'm not a critic, then...I happen to really  like this album. But I'll admit it's got quite a bit going against it...

 

1. It follows the commercial (and critical) disappointment "The Revolution by Night." I covered "Revolution..." awhile back, and yea, it's a defnite step down from "Fire of Unknown Origin."

2. With the departure of keyboardist Allen Lanier we're down to only three original members...

3. BIG 80's PRODUCTION!! Oh boy, does this have it all...The echoey gated drum sound. Glossy, soft-edged guitars, and cheesy synths that are so far removed from Allen Lanier's usual tasteful keyboard style. This aspect will probably be the biggest turn-off for most people, but as I've said many times before, I grew up with 80's production so it doesn't bother me. I'll listen to "Asylum" by Kiss, for example, and it doesn't phase me much. Sure, I'd prefer a return to the harder-edged 70's style, but there was no way that was gonna happen in 1985...But yea, we're a long way from the Black & White period. That much is for sure...

 4. Take a look at the songwriting credits! Outside songwriters!!! Hey, waitasecond...Isn't every Blue Oyster Cult album full of outside songwriters? Well yea, but these are different ones...There's no Patti Smith or Sandy Pearlman, or Michael Moorcock here...I mean Richard Meltzer turns in "Spy in the House of the Night" but that's it...The rest of it was written by folks like Bob Halligan Jr. (who also wrote songs for Judas Priest in the 80's) and country songwriter Larry Gottlieb.  Surprisingly, these guys turn in some of the albums best songs...

5. Drawback Number Five...and this is a big one...They actually record a song called "Make Rock Not War"!!!! And it's exactly as cheesy as you're imagining! Especially that "tough" gang-chant chorus! I have to hand it to this song though, the part in the pre-chorus that goes, "So don't wait no more!" is pretty cool. They should have just developed that melody a bit more and made that the chorus...

Alright, so I named some drawbacks, which I believe are all fair criticisms. Now for the good points...



1. THE ARTWORK!!! Maybe my favorite BOC album cover! I love that spacestation shaped like their logo...So great...Take a moment to soak in the beauty...

...the back cover rules too! There's a robot samurai thingy that kind of reminds me of the Silver Samurai from the old Wolverine comics...

 2. "Dancin' in the Ruins." Man, is this an amazing song, featuring one of their most expertly executed choruses...It just soars suddenly...On the first listen or two this song steals the show so successfully that the rest of the album's subtler, spacier material  just kind of goes in one ear and out the other...Plus, this song has one of my favorite videos ever! A post-apocalyptic teenager wasteland clip with the band sporting their new Japanese-inspired look...Mainly, I watch this video so much because of the scene that occurs at around the one-minute mark where the guy does a skateboard-dance...ROFLMAO...You just have to see it...I have posted the video directly below...I think you'll be glad you took a couple minutes out of your day for this...

3. Oh yea, that subtler, spacier material! This album seems to be remembered as a bloated 80's metal self-parody. And that element does certainly exist here but I was surprised to find that most of the album features a dense, mysterious, futuristic sound...Songs like "Perfect Water," "Spy in the House of Night" and  "Madness to the Method" are sleek yet somehow hazy and spongy... I guess the closest comparison I can come up with is "Shooting Shark" from the band's previous album, only not as great as that track was...Anyway, it's not a style you can find anywhere else except for maybe other BOC albums of this era...

4. Radio funnyfuck Howard Stern is on this album! He does the spoken word intro on the beyond bizarre "When the War Comes." I've listened to this album a dozen times now and I still can't make heads or tails of this song. It appears to be the type of  uber-serious after-the-war song that you'd get  in the 80's but this one happens to be punctuated by those comedic "ooga chaka ooga chaka's" from "Hooked on a Feeling"? Wha-?! Even if those backing vocals and Howard Stern weren't there, it would still be a weird song...Nonsensical interlocking vocals and a dense, creepy and cheesy mood permeates...One of the weirdest BOC songs, hands down...Right up there with "She's As Beautiful As a Foot" in the weird department...Do I love it or hate it? I don't know...

5. This is probably the most important one actually...It's a Blue Oyster Cult album I haven't heard a krillion times! If I was you I'd take the same path I did...Buy all the other album first, wait ten years and then buy this one...It's like finding a whole new wing of your same, old house! A very 80's wing, though, so again, if you have an aversion to that generic 80's sound, I'm recommend avoiding this altogether.  But I swear to you, this album grows in stature every time I hear it...I would say it's on par with "Revolution by Night" and it surpasses "Imaginos" and that's not bad company if you think about it...



Oh, and it's waaaay better than Bad Company...


Anyway, let's kick off this weekend, right. Maybe throw an 80's flashback themed Friday Night Record Party...Here's "White Flags" by Blue Oyster Cult...Enjoy...