Blue Oyster Cult – Curse Of The Hidden Mirror
Album review by; John W
For years I’ve carried a guilty secret. My favourite Blue Oyster Cult album isn’t “Agents of Fortune” or even their debut album. It doesn’t even date from the 70s. To my eternal shame it’s “Imaginos”, an album so overblown and bombastic it makes Bat out of Hell look understated. As painful as that secret is to reveal it actually gets worse. I don’t even mind “Club Ninja” and “The Revolution By Night” album had its moments.
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So with the bar set pretty low I was looking forward to hearing “Curse Of The Hidden Mirror”. Originally released in 2001 it was the last studio album by the band and looked likely to be their swan song until Frontiers Records announced a new studio album “The Symbol Remains” slated for release this October.
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At the time of its original release “Curse...” utterly bombed and sank without trace. Now Frontiers have dusted it down and re-released it to coincide with the new album release. To be honest it would have been a far kinder fate to have left it to reside in utter obscurity as it does nothing for their legacy.
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To say this album is poor would be to oversell it. From first note to last gasp the word that springs to mind is bland. Imagine the horror of chatting someone up only to discover their favourite band is Coldplay. That’s the level of disappointment this album brings.
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Opening track “Dance On Stilts” kicks off with a promising guitar riff which invokes The Cult’s Lil Devil and then it just fails to build from there. Everything just falls away into a sea of mediocrity.
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Musically it’s flawless. These guys have been around since the late 60s and know exactly what they are doing but the overall result couldn’t rock its way out of a wet paper bag. Part of me feels guilty in pulling it apart as criticising old guys for no longer having an edge is almost as nasty as laughing at fat people in a gym. However, another part of me thinks they deserve whatever they get after releasing this on an unsuspecting public. “Show time” even features some apologetic sounding skanking guitar that will have you cringing in embarrassment.
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If you like B.O.C. (and who doesn’t) you are probably thinking that surely it can’t be all that bad but sadly it is. Take the track “I Just Like To Be Bad”. The first line of the song declares “I knew her when she was a secretary; she always refused to get married”. For the love of God you are totally stuffed after writing a line like that. Where does it build to? An ode to her going to night school and learning to reconcile accounts using the double entry system? Sadly, it’s some gibberish about her enjoying one night stands but it’s so bad it will leave you craving for a good accounting story instead.
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Maybe it’s because a lot of the lyrics were written for the album by John Shirley (a cyberpunk author) rather than the band member that means nothing really gels. It just sounds like the band’s heart really wasn’t in this album. If the most rocking track on your album is entitled “Pocket” then it’s probably a pretty clear indication that it might not be your best work.
There are occasional flashes of hope. “Eye Of The Hurricane” shows some balls but these moments are sadly few and far between.
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The entire album is far more Godzuki than Godzilla. Hopefully in the 19 years since this has come out the band will have penned some killer tunes for the upcoming album and this will serve as their low water mark.
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2 / 5
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On this album Blue Oyster Cult were:
Eric Bloom – Vocals/Guitars
Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser – Lead Guitar, Vocals
Allen Lanier – Rhythm Guitar
Danny Miranda – Bass
Bobby Rondinelli - Drums
Tracklist;
Dance On Stilts
Showtime
The Old Gods Return
One Step Ahead Of The Devil
I Just Like To Be Bad
Here Comes That Feeling
Out Of The Darkness
Stone Of Love
Eye Of The Hurricane
Good To Feel Hungry
The album is available now from Frontiers Music srl
http://www.blueoystercult.com/
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