Friday Release for sponsored by Covid-19 # 43
And this time "The Symbol Remains" - the comeback album of "Blue Öyster Cult", the first studio album in two decades.
This is the band's first album since "Curse of the Hidden Mirror" which was released in 2001. Eric Bloom noted that the album's poor sales and the fact that its production costs were high, caused them to take a long break.
Some of the songs on the album were remotely recorded during the Covid-19 lockdowns, using remote-sharing recording technology.
In February 2019 Buck Dharma noted that the band had started working on a new album. The announcement was reinforced at July 2019 when the band signed a contract with the Frontiers Music label and confirmed that they were working on a new album.
In February of this year we were privileged to see a short video posted on Richie Castellano's Facebook page, in which he was seen with Eric Bloom while they both confirm the work on the new album.
The first two singles from the album were released on August 28 - "That Was Me" and "Box in My Head" and initially heralded the band's comeback.
A few days later the band released a video clip for the song "That Was Me". It was surprising to find Albert Bouchard starring in it, tapping there on "Cow Bell". He is one of the band's founders and the one charge (along with his brother) on the band's rhythm section, . After clarification it was understood that Albert is not part of the band but is hosted in one song on the album. The song opens with an intensity of a Metallic album, but then comes a reggae-style bridge that makes us realize that this album is probably going to surprise us.
Indeed, a quick run through the 14 songs on the album reveals, that in terms of the musical line it probably seems to give fans a bit of all the periods the band has gone through during the years.
In September we got another glimpse of how the band looks and sounds today, with the clip for the song "Box in My Head". A lighter song in a rockabilly rhythm that is reminiscent of Buck Dharma's solo album.
The third clip already made us realize that this album is indeed diverse in every way, when we became acquainted with the bluesy ballad "Tainted Blood".
The album title comes from the song "Shadow Of California", which appeared on the album "The Revolution By Night" that the band released in 1983.
Track List:
01. That Was Me 02. Box In My Head 03. Tainted Blood 04. Nightmare Epiphany 05. Edge Of The World 06. The Machine 07. Train True (Lennie's Song) 08. The Return Of St Cecilia 09. Stand And Fight 10. Florida Man 11. The Alchemist 12. Secret Road 13. There's A Crime 14. Fight
For Listening: Spotify