Albert Bouchard - Imaginos III: Mutant Reformation
by Kevin Wierzbicki
Bouchard was a founding member of Blue Oyster Cult and their long time drummer; for the past few years he's been reimagining the band's music with his
Imaginos trilogy which comes to its end with this release. The trilogy has been a great boon for B.O.C. fans and here Bouchard covers 17 songs, many of which he co-wrote, rocking hard on some and playing sophisticated grooves on others. On "E.T.I." from the hit
Agents of Fortune album Bouchard sticks pretty close to the original B.O.C. arrangement and has his brother Joe Bouchard, another B.O.C. founding member, guesting on lead vocals while R.J. Ronquillo rips it up on guitar. Appropriately, the song that's about an alien encounter is followed by another with a similar theme, the melodic rocker "Adebaran Alien Take Me Away." More down to earth fantasies play out in "Godzilla," here a little mellower than the original and with guest players Kasim Sultan and Mike Fornatale, and "Mothra & Starfish" with Susie "The Bomb Builder" Loraine on lead vocals. "Transmaniacon" rocks with help from the Dictators; "Career of Evil" is at first unrecognizable from the original but the favorite oldie quickly tunes into the familiar groove first heard on B.O.C.'s
Secret Treaties album. And indeed Bouchard's vocals on the cut ooze malice. Rock journeyman Mike Watt handles the lead vocals on "Curse of the Hidden Mirrors," perhaps the most pop-oriented cut on the album. Everything here very much exudes the Blue Oyster Cult sound overall, but what Bouchard has done is demonstrate how well-written and open to interpretation these songs are. All three of Bouchard's
Imaginos albums make for great additions to the collections of any Blue Oyster Cult fan.
Rating:
