Rock lifers and maligned cowbell neutralists Blue Öyster Cult have announced what is poised to be their final album, previewed today by the single "So Supernatural."
Things get spooky with Ghost Stories on April 12 through Frontiers Music. It follows 2020's The Symbol Remains, as well as some anniversary reissues and live LPs the band have released over the last few years. Similarly, the new album isn't exactly conventional: it sees BÖC mine their archives for "lost gems," according to press materials, making it "a fitting finale to the recording legacy of one of rock’s most iconic fixtures from the past 50 years.”
Aside from the 2016 studio track "If I Fell," and what is the only known recorded version of their standard live cover of MC5's "Kick Out the Jams," the record consists of material that originated between 1978 and 1983. Those original masters were exhumed and digitized, then given new life with AI enhancement and new studio tracking by Richie Castellano and remaining original band members Eric Bloom and Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, as well as drummers Albert Bouchard and Rick Downey, with additional overdubs by Joe Bouchard.
MÖC describe the process of prepping old material for Ghost Stories as "de-mixed" and "re-mixed," with producers Castellano and Steve Schenck at the helm. Sam Stauff mastered the LP, and digital transfers were handled by George Geranios.
Based on the YouTube comments on the video for lead single "So Supernatural," this new track is reminding lots of fans of the band's classic Spectres era (but of course, everything has been adorned with slick new studio sheen). Check that out, as well as the album tracklist, below.
Ghost Stories:
1. Late Night Street Fight
2. Cherry
3. So Supernatural
4. We Gotta Get Out of This Place
5. Soul Jive
6. Gun
7. Shot in the Dark
8. The Only Thing
9. Kick Out the Jams
10. Money Machine
11. Don’t Come Running
12. If I Fell
13. Roadhouse Blues [Japanese Bonus Track]
