When Blue Öyster Cult first announced Ghost Stories, a compilation album consisting of odds and ends rarities, I was all onboard. Sure, this wasn’t “brand new” BÖC, which I sure wish it was considering the creative triumph that was The Symbol Remains, but I’ll gladly take “new old” BÖC over no BÖC at all. I was also of the disposition that BÖC’s leftovers would be more worthwhile than most band’s released material, because again, I’m THAT much of a diehard. The keyword in that last sentence is “was”.
Ghost Stories consists of a dozen songs recorded over the course of some 40 odd years, a few of which we are already familiar with. The Animals’ “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” and MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams”, both of which we remember in their electric glory from Some Enchanted Evening (1978) receive the studio treatment and come off as rather by the numbers. There’s also an acoustic rendition of The Beatles’ “If I Fell”, which if I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought was recorded underneath the stairs of the Hyatt Regency O’Hare on any given mid-August (good luck getting that reference), but I digress.
Many of the songs on here don’t feel like songs per se, but rather jams or sketches of what could’ve been. Whether it be the playful blues of “Late Night Street Fight”, funk flavored “Soul Jive”, or Buck Dharma gone power pop glitz of “Cherry”, all of these feel like rough ideas the band ran through once in the studio before saying, “Alright, let’s do “Godzilla”.” At worst, some cuts like “Shot in the Dark” and “Money Machine” come off as BÖC parodies, falling flat both musically and lyrically. However, one can’t deny the most interesting of these “sketches”, “The Only Thing”, which can only be described as a demo of a ’70s AM pop song in the vein of The Carpenters, albeit with Buck on vocals. Had it been fully fleshed out into something larger, the commercial payday could’ve been huge.
There aren’t many highlights on this collection, but the ones that do fall into this category do so for good reason. Despite its occasionally awkward vocal lines and melodies, “So Supernatural” accurately captures the dark mysticism of the Fire of Unknown Origin era, and is likely the most BÖC-esque cut on here. “Gun” is a monster in its own right, boasting ballsy riffs and equally ballsy lyrics with frantic vocals from I believe Albert Bouchard. Sonically, it sounds just like one of the heavier moments of Agents of Fortune (1976) or Spectres (1977). And then we’ve got the AOR bliss of “Don’t Come Running to Me”, which can only make one scratch their head in bewilderment. How the hell did this get cut off The Revölution by Night in favor of “Let Go” or “Light Years of Love”? Had this been released in ’83, I’m convinced it would’ve been as big as “Burnin’ for You”, if not bigger. You gotta hear it to believe it!
While Ghost Stories is an intriguing glimpse into what could’ve been and what almost was, it is strictly for diehards only. For historical context alone, it does serve a purpose and is of some value, even if most of the “songs” themselves are disappointments. I selfishly hope this isn’t the band’s musical parting gift, as various press releases have hinted, but if it is, hey, at least we got “Don’t Come Running to Me”. Seriously folks, take my word when I tell you this is as memorable as any other ’80s BÖC classic and the strongest “ghost story” told on here.
6 out of 10
Label: Frontiers Records
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: Deep Purple, Lucifer, Ghost