Instant Impressions: 'Ghost Stories' by Blue Öyster Cult

With each passing year, another handful of legendary rock acts call it a career and retire from recording and touring — some artists like Alice Cooper continue to go strong by consistently releasing new material and living on the road throughout the year, but there are also younger groups like Sum 41 that make the decision to retire at the top of their game. Regardless of the reasoning or the timing, it’s always a bittersweet moment to see our favorite artists go.

Blue Öyster Cult has always been a strong touring band, famously having the slogan of being “On Tour Forever.” Their recording output has been a bit sporadic in recent decades, with many fans wondering if the band would ever make another album after 2001’s Curse of the Hidden Mirror. Coming back in the fall of 2020 with one of the best albums in their discography, 2020’s The Symbol Remains, fans were elated at the concept of BÖC recording again and begging for more. The Symbol Remains may have just been a one-off to showcase their current lineup (consisting of founding members Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser and Eric Bloom on vocals and guitars, Richie Castellano on guitar, Danny Miranda on bass, and Jules Radino on drums), but BÖC still managed to release a new album earlier this spring in the form of Ghost Stories, a compilation of revamped demos and recordings from the original lineup from 1978-1983, with the exception being a cover of The Beatles’ “If I Fell,” recorded in 2016.

These recordings were co-produced by Blue Öyster Cult’s original audio engineer, George Geranios, and Castellano and Steve Schenck, the band’s manager, digitally de-mixed and re-mixed the songs into what we hear on the album. Sections that were either incomplete or degraded on the original analog tapes were re-recorded, making for an album that combines the past with the present. Additionally, there’s been an added sense of anticipation with this release due to the fact that the band’s label, Frontiers Music SRL, has marketed this album as Blue Öyster Cult’s final studio album.

Now that the time has come to listen through the full album, feel free to listen along and follow my real-time track-by-track reactions below:

1. Late Night Street Fight (3:26)

• Right off the bat, the first thing that sticks out to me is how much the opening bassline reminds me of “The Revenge of Vera Gemini” from Agents of Fortune (1976)
• I know this isn’t the case, but there’s something about this song that reminds me of their work with the soundtrack to Bad Channels (1992) — I couldn’t begin to explain why, but that’s the feeling I get from listening to this
• Not entirely sure how I feel about the vocal harmonies, but it’s still a catchy song regardless

2. Cherry (2:38)

• Love the dynamic switch-up after the 1-minute mark
• I’d be very surprised to hear that this wasn’t made during the Mirrors (1979) sessions, because it has the same pop-ish feel of that album
• This also would’ve been a great addition to Buck Dharma’s 1982 solo album Flat Out, if there was ever apprehension about releasing this as a BÖC track

3. So Supernatural (5:55)

• Blue Öyster Cult has had many musical identities over the decades, but if you had to pick one specific song to explain the band’s sound to someone who’s never listened to them, this would be a great choice — very fitting to have this as the first single
• For the hardcore fans, the music video for this song is a ton of fun — there are so many references to the band’s previous material, and it’s amusing to pick up on new ones every time you watch it

4. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (3:58)

• As a classic rock fan, it’s cool to hear Blue Öyster Cult’s take on such an iconic song — between this and Alice Cooper’s cover, it’s a funny thought that both of my favorite classic artists have put their own spins on it
• While this is incredibly faithful to The Animals’ original version, it’s nice to hear how BÖC was still able to make it their own, particularly towards the end of the song

5. Soul Jive (2:58)

• The title alone sounds like a jazz chart that I would’ve played in high school
• Love the way the guitars match the vocal melody in the first half of the chorus
• This song is one of those examples of BÖC’s musical versatility — they’ve covered all kinds of genres outside of their familiar hard rock sound, from blues to metal, and this fits into one of those outside categories very well

6. Gun (4:27)

• Part of the fun of an album like this is trying to guess which album cycles these songs were written in, and my guess for this track is sometime between Mirrors and Cultosaurus Erectus (1980)
• One of the things I love most about this band is how every member contributes vocally — they’re great at their individual instruments, but it’s an added bonus to get to hear each of them take the lead on the mic
• Super fun to hear the Bouchard brothers on a Blue Öyster Cult album again — I don’t care if these are old recordings, it’s new to my ears

7. Shot in the Dark (3:26)

• So great to hear Allen Lanier on the keys again, interesting spoken word intro from Eric Bloom too
• I always loved the B-sides from Blue Öyster Cult’s debut self-titled album, and for some reason this song fits right in with those tracks as well — it’s an odd thought considering they’re around 20 years apart, but still

8. The Only Thing (4:04)

• Super solid bassline right at the beginning — love the chord progression once the verse starts too
• Buck Dharma’s vocals fit so many styles, but it’s laid-back songs like this, “Lonely Teardrops,” and “Don’t Turn Your Back” that allows his voice to really shine in my opinion
• Between the organ solo and the delayed backing vocals from Eric Bloom, the second half of the song lets it end on a strong note

9. Kick Out the Jams (2:22)

• Having been a live staple in their set for many years, it’s cool to finally hear a studio version of this cover
• I could’ve sworn I read in a press release somewhere that the band was going to be playing select songs from this album during their live shows this year, and it makes me wonder if this will end up being a show-closer again — they’re not playing anywhere near me and I don’t know what the setlists have looked like this year so far, but that would be a fun idea

10. Money Machine (2:43)

• Considering how long they’ve been out of the band, it really is a treat to have the Bouchard brothers on lead vocals for a good chunk of this album
• Again, the keys from Lanier are such a nice touch to these songs
• Wasn’t expecting the very end of the song to get heavier, but I’m glad it did

11. Don’t Come Running To Me (3:27)

• Eric Bloom is one of my all-time favorite vocalists, and I love songs like this that show off his range
• One of the most amusing things was reading comments that were so surprised by the vocals that they couldn’t believe it was Bloom
• While it’s hard to guess which songs came from which album cycles, this has The Revölution by Night (1983) written all over it — between the tone of the synths to Bloom’s range, I’d be very surprised if this wasn’t from that era

12. If I Fell (2:16)

• I remember hearing in the 2010s that BÖC was planning on releasing an acoustic album, but unfortunately nothing ever came to fruition — while this was recorded during the Agents of Fortune 40th Anniversary shoot in 2016, it makes me wish that acoustic record saw the light of day
• Side-note: I’m so glad Jules Radino played the cajón because it’s such an underutilized instrument for some reason whenever rock bands decide to go acoustic
• Knowing how influential The Beatles were to this group and many others from their time period, it’s cool to hear their take on this song — it’s even more fun for me because this is my favorite Beatles song, but it’s even better as a Blue Öyster Cult song in my (slightly biased) opinion
• If this really is the last Blue Öyster Cult song, sequentially speaking, then this is a really interesting note to end their recording career on, in a good way

As a lifelong Blue Öyster Cult fan, it’s obviously a bittersweet experience to listen through what may be their final album — however, as someone who speculated that The Symbol Remains might have been the end, Ghost Stories is also a welcome surprise. It’s also an added bonus to hear the original lineup together one last time, which isn’t a slight at the band’s stellar current lineup, but for sentiment’s sake, it’s cool to hear contributions from the Bouchard brothers and the late Allen Lanier on a BÖC album again.

Aside from the quality of the songs and thinking about the different album cycles that took place during the years these songs were made, one of the things that stuck out to me the most was the vocals on this album compared to how each member sounds today. It’s fascinating to me that the band’s voices really haven’t changed after all these years — Eric Bloom is a bit of an exception, but he’s still a solid vocalist today, with his vibrato and tonal resonance still strong during live shows today. Buck Dharma and the Bouchard brothers also sound the same now as they did back in the 70s and 80s — look no further than Albert Bouchard’s Re-Imaginos album trilogy and Joe Bouchard’s 2022 solo record American Rocker.

All in all, if this really is the final Blue Öyster Cult album, it’s an interesting way to put an end to their recording career, but an appropriate one nonetheless. It’s upsetting to know the chances of new BÖC music is slim to none, especially with how amazing The Symbol Remains was, but their discography is already rich with epic material that still has yet to go stale all these years later. Here’s to hoping the “On Tour Forever” mantra lasts a little longer — I’m glad to have been able to see them live twice (once in 2015 in Collingswood, New Jersey, then in my hometown of Jacksonville, North Carolina on February 24, 2018), and hopefully there will be at least one more BÖC show in my future.

Blue Öyster Cult currently has shows booked through the end of 2024, with no further performances planned for 2025 (yet). To see the band’s remaining dates, click here.

At this moment, my current top 3 standout tracks from Ghost Stories are:

• Gun
• The Only Thing
• If I Fell

If you listened along and also enjoyed the album, you can buy/stream Ghost Stories here.

To keep up with Blue Öyster Cult, click here.

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