''Club Ninja'' is the tenth studio album by American hard rock band

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed on Long Island in Stony Brook, New York, in 1967, and best known for the singles " (Don't Fear) The Reaper", " Burnin' for You", and "Godzilla". The ba ...

, released on December 10, 1985 in the United Kingdom and on February 11, 1986 in the United States. The album was intended as a comeback for the band, whose previous album ''

The Revölution by Night ''The Revölution by Night'' is the ninth studio album by American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released on November 8, 1983. The album was intended to capitalize on the success of '' Fire of Unknown Origin'' two years prior, hence the ble ...

'' failed to attain

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

status following the success of 1981's '' Fire of Unknown Origin'' and 1982's '' Extraterrestrial Live''. ''Club Ninja'' sold more than 175,000 copies, falling well short of gold status again, and because of its high cost,

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

executives deemed it a commercial failure. The album was re-issued on compact disc on March 10, 2009, by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

-owned reissue label American Beat Records, which had also reissued the band's 1988 album, ''

Imaginos ''Imaginos'' is the eleventh studio album by the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult. It was released in 1988, and was their last recording with their original record label, CBS/Columbia Records. The album took nearly eight years to c ...

''. ''Club Ninja''s first single, "Dancin' in the Ruins", was a minor radio and

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

hit. "When the War Comes" features a brief spoken-word introduction by radio personality

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...

, whose cousin was married to guitarist and vocalist

Eric Bloom Eric Jay Bloom (born December 1, 1944) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-lead vocalist, guitar and keyboard/synthesizer player for the long-running band Blue Öyster Cult, with work on more than 20 albu ...

. The lyrics to "Spy in the House of the Night" were written by

Richard Meltzer Richard Meltzer (born May 10, 1945) is an American rock critic, performer, writer and songwriter. He is considered by some rock historians to be the first to write real analysis of rock and roll and is credited with inventing "rock criticism". B ...

, originally based on his poem "Out of Smokes", which was published in his 1999 book ''Holes''. The album was the band's last studio album with bassist Joe Bouchard. ''Club Ninja'' was the only BÖC studio album not to feature keyboardist

Allen Lanier Allen Glover Lanier (; June 25, 1946 – August 14, 2013) was an American musician who played keyboards and rhythm guitar. He was an original member of Blue Öyster Cult. Lanier wrote several songs for Blue Öyster Cult albums, including "T ...

until his death in 2013. Lanier was replaced temporarily by Tommy Zvoncheck, who'd previously been keyboardist for

Aldo Nova Aldo Nova (born Aldo Caporuscio on November 13, 1956) is a Canadian guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist, and producer. He initially gained fame and popularity with the release of his 1982 debut album '' Aldo Nova'' which peaked to ''Billboards ...

's live band, for a Japanese tour by Public Image Ltd. and had already contributed to the initial recordings of Blue Öyster Cult's 1988

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...

''. The album also features new drummer Jimmy Wilcox, formerly of Rick Derringer and Scandal, who replaced Rick Downey. Wilcox remained with the band until 1987.

Reception

Edwin Pouncey Edwin Pouncey (born June 1951), also known by the ''nom de plume'' Savage Pencil, is an English comics artist, musician, and music journalist. Biography As Savage Pencil and otherwise, Pouncey has contributed to magazines such as ''Sounds'' ...

, reviewing the album for '' Sounds'', gave it a five-star rating, describing it as "a seemingly leaden slab of AOR which suddenly turns into gold in your hands", praising

Sandy Pearlman Samuel Clarke "Sandy" Pearlman (August 5, 1943 – July 26, 2016) was an American music producer, artist manager, music journalist and critic, professor, poet, songwriter, and record company executive. He was best known for founding, writing for, ...

's production. Modern reviews are quite negative, with

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

calling ''Club Ninja'' a testimony of "Blue Öyster Cult's gradual disintegration" and "decline into musical anonymity". Canadian journalist

Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionall ...

judged the album the "least attached to the BÖC body of work, painfully constructed and baffling in its bad taste", showing a band struggling to update their sound to more "commercial avenues" without achieving the expected radio-friendly results.

Track listing

Personnel

;Band members *

– lead vocals, stun guitar *

Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser Donald Roeser (born November 12, 1947), known by his stage name Buck Dharma, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is the sole constant member of hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult since the group's formation in 1967. He wrote and ...

– vocals, lead guitar, keyboards * Joe Bouchard – bass, guitar, vocals *Tommy Zvoncheck – keyboards, background vocals *Jimmy Wilcox – percussion, background vocals ;Additional musicians *

Thommy Price Thommy Price (born December 9, 1956) is an American musician. He has played drums in a number of bands, including Scandal, Billy Idol, Blue Öyster Cult, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and is an in-demand session drummer. History Price was a ...

– drums *Phil Grande – guitars *

Kenny Aaronson Kenny Aaronson (born April 14, 1952 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American bass guitar player. He has recorded or performed with several notable artists such as Bob Dylan, Rick Derringer, Billy Idol, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Foghat, Sammy ...

– bass * David Lucas, Joni Peltz, Dave Immer, Joe Caro – background vocals *

– opening to "When the War Comes" ;Production *

– producer, management *Paul Mandl – engineer, overdubs editor, programming *John Devlin,

Toby Scott Toby Warren Scott is an American record producer, engineer and sound mixer. In addition to serving as an engineer on 18 Bruce Springsteen albums and numerous live performances, Scott has also recorded artists including Bob Dylan, Natalie Merchan ...

– engineers * David Lucas – additional production *Brian McGee – mixing

Charts

Album

Singles

"Dancin' in the Ruins"

References

{{Authority control Blue Öyster Cult albums 1985 albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Sandy Pearlman