The potted history here is that Imaginos was originally intended as an Albert Bouchard solo album though his departure from Blue Oyster Cult in the early 1980s and a lack of interest from the record company scuppered that and it did see a release as a BOC album in 1988 with the Cult having a much different line-up.
Imaginos was not a success, split fans (I like the abum by the way…..and saw them on the Imaginos tour which was a bit weird seeing only Eric and Buck from the “classic” line-up on stage) and the Cult were dropped by Columbia.
Anyhoo – here we are in late 2020 and Albert’s released his Re-Imaginos, his version of Imaginos and it’s a really interesting project. And a long way from what you may be expecting. It is a proper “re-imaging” and totally different from the BOC version.
The style is what I’d describe as stripped back and basic with overall an acoustic style and slower paced song delivery. It does “rock” in places with some nice understated guitar work. Yet it sort of varies throwing in a bit of swing and country even in places. Groovy in others, folksy and rewards the ears more with each listen as you adjust form the BOC version to Albert’s version here.
The songs are generally recognisable to the BOC version yet completely different. It is a fine effort however Albert’s vocals are not the best.
Here’s In the Presence of Another World. Can you spot the differences?
And we have three songs not on Imaginos. The Girl That Made Love Blind is interesting. Gil Blanco Country an old Stalk Forrest Group song (BOC by any other name) and Black Telescope is a different version of Workshop of the Telescopes from BOC’s debut album.
To add to the diverse approach here on Re-Imaginos, Joe Bouchard turns up on trumpet a time or two. And we have some violin too.
Overall – Re-Imaginos is a fine album and much more than curiosity only value for old BOC fans like myself. It has a lot to offer and is a grower as I mentioned earlier.
If you’re not familiar with the original and coming it to it “clean” then you’ll not have the burden of comparing it with the original and can listen with fresh ears. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, give it a listen anyway.
2020 has been a fine year overall for the Blue Oyster Cult in general. The excellent 45th anniversary DVD celebrating the first album (review here), the storming new studio album the Symbol Remains (review here) and now Albert’s Re-Imaginos.
ALBERT BOUCHARD’S RE-IMAGINOS ON AMAZON HERE
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