Blue Öyster Cult - Ghost Stories (2024) Hi-Res

Rather than aging gracefully, Blue Öyster Cult seem focused on immortality. They are a band full of unusual, sometimes contradictory aspects such as lyrics that were more thoughtful than most and also a healthy obsession with monsters and the supernatural. The aptly named Ghost Stories is cobbled from their tape vaults, with most of the songs originally recorded between 1978 and 1983. Their two long-tenured frontmen, singer/guitarist Eric Bloom and guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, are joined by guitarist Richie Castellano, bassist Danny Miranda and drummer Jules Radino, with appearances by the original rhythm section of drummer Albert and bassist Joe Bouchard. George Geranios, the band's engineer during their mid-1970s success, transferred the music from analog tape to digital audio, and the tracks were then torn apart and re-mixed. Given the different vintages of the recordings, the audible differences and jarring transitions between tracks come as no surprise, like with the much sharper, better-recorded "The Only Thing" and the lesser quality "Kick Out The Jams."

Even with its scattered lineage, Ghost Stories again defies time and is more than worth a listen. There are spirited covers here of Mann/Weill's "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," which was a hit for The Animals (and a BÖC single in 1978), and the MC5's "Kick Out the Jams." A 2016 recording of the band giving their all in a cover of The Beatles’ "If I Fell," complete with acoustic guitar and bongos, closes the album. Longtime fans will be satisfied by the hard driving '70s rocker "Cherry," which opens with this pearl of wisdom, "Sittin' in the corner/ Graceful as a Virgin Mary," and the band’s heavier heyday is invoked by "Don't Come Running to Me," which features Roeser's incisive soloing. Blue Öyster Cult have never been content to get lumped in with their one-trick hard rock brethren, and they put a convincing funk strut into "Soul Jive." "The Only Thing," a soft soul-lite keyboards-led ballad, shows a band unafraid to stretch as they gently croon, "The only thing that lasts forever is the power pulling us along." That's also a fitting description of what's behind a band that clearly does not fear the reaper.

Tracklist
1. Blue Öyster Cult - Late Night Street Fight
2. Blue Öyster Cult - Cherry
3. Blue Öyster Cult - So Supernatural
4. Blue Öyster Cult - We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
5. Blue Öyster Cult - Soul Jive
6. Blue Öyster Cult - Gun
7. Blue Öyster Cult - Shot In The Dark
8. Blue Öyster Cult - The Only Thing
9. Blue Öyster Cult - Kick Out The Jams
10. Blue Öyster Cult - Money Machine
11. Blue Öyster Cult - Don't Come Running To Me
12. Blue Öyster Cult - If I Fell

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