Blue Öyster Cult – Ghost Stories
Frontiers – 2024
Rock, Hardrock, Seventies, Psych
Rated: ***
Let’s Kick Out The Jams! Remember 2020? Back in October of that year Blue Öyster Cult released that pretty tasty album called The Symbol Remains. Surprising everyone with that album after so many years of only live stuff and even more so with its quality. And only four years later, after also releasing that celebratory live set of Blue Öyster Cult being around for fifty years, they are back with new stuff. Or should we say old stuff. Or good stuff? Well, you could say that whichever way you look at it, it’s a good time for Blue Öyster Cult fans. And well, I guess it’s a band that keeps on giving. For now, we have Ghost Stories on our hands! A selection of recordings that were still on someone’s shelf somewhere and have never been officially released. A few cover songs all the fans already know and love from earlier live albums or from the times they were present for a Blue Öyster Cult gig. But there are quite a few Blue Öyster Cult tracks on this little compilation album that are worth it. For the fans. Cause it’s not that new big album you might want. Especially since the sound seems to lack a bit of kick or flow. You know what we mean, that Blue Öyster Cult bite mark when they get gritty or that languid rush whenever they let it all flow like a river. Both of these aspects seem watered down. And after reading that some tracks have been improved upon with the help of AI, we wonder if that is the reason it sounds so bland. Like a veiled version of everything Cult. But even then, you must conclude there is still something that might fascinate you, especially as a fan, for the tracks were recorded in a long period between 1978 and 2016. Which in itself seems like a big period to capture on one release. It makes you wonder if this is it of if there is more out there. Whatever the case, let us hope we will not see any more Beatles covers in the future…
(Written by JK)