BOC - Club Ninja and Wings of Mercury

[John Swartz]

>
>          Wings of Mercury*
>
>
> Heh, one of my fave BÖC gems.  I wonder how many folks on this
> list have heard it in person?

Yeah, one of my faves (I have the *Into the Crypts of Rays* bootleg CD
from live broadcast of the Club Ninja tour and that track is on it).

>
> I could have sworn that, on the CN tour, they played another
> new song that didn't make the album.  Does anyone else
> remember that?  Maybe it was one of the tunes that
> wound up on "Bad Channels?"  Thoughts?

I don't believe so - I suppose it's possible, but I never heard of
another track from that timeframe that didn't make the album.  On the
other hand, around the time of the Bad Channels release (1992, I
believe), BOC was playing one or both of the Bad Channels tracks, as
well as some tracks that later appeared on *Heaven Forbid* (Harvest
Moon, Still Burnin', Cold Grey Light of Dawn, Power Underneath Despair),
so it's possible you are thinking of one of those...

>>
>>I think I may have brought this up way back in my first BOC-L go-round, but why
>>on earth does Club Ninja get so much venom spewed at it?  I REALLY like it!
>>Sure, some of it sounds New Wave influenced, but SO WHAT?  Try throwing out
>>your assumption of what a BOC disc SHOULD sound like, and *listen* to it.

>It's one of those BOC albums that doesn't sound like a BOC album.  Half the
>songs were written by people who previously had nothing to do with the band,
>it sounds dated and some of the songs are just plain weak.  Whereas this is
>dated, the first three albums, really right up to Spectres are (to me at
>least) timeless.

Yeah, I once heard somebody describe it as a very good album, but a very
bad "BOC Album".  This album was where Albert's departure was really
felt, IMHO.  I also have a theory that there are very few songs on the
album that nearly all BOC fans like.  Ask any 5 different BOC fans about
BOC, and they'll likely tell you the album is bad, but "____" is a great
song (and "____" will be different for each of those people).  Still, I
like listening to it on ocassion (even "Beat 'em Up" gets my foot
tapping...).

Another theory - Club Ninja came out at a time that BOC's popularity was
on a steep decline.  Albert had left in '81, and the band's next studio
release came out in '84 (and *Revolution By Night* wasn't seen as a
career-reviving album by most, although it too had it's moments).  2
years later, without much touring by the band, and diehard fans I think
were waiting for BOC to make a "statement" and show that they were still
the kick-ass rockers we all knew and loved - with those expectations,
*Club Ninja* comes off as a disappointment.  But, like others have said,
if you put aside expectations and listen to it, you'll find that there's
some good stuff there.

John

PS:  No BOC discussion in months, and people start by discussing *Club
Ninja* - funny...