Blue Öyster Cult-Curse Of The Hidden Mirror (2001)


 

Artist: Blue Öyster Cult

Title: Curse Of The Hidden Mirror

Label: CMC International

Format: CD

Cat: 06076 86304-2

Year of Release: 2001

Country and Year of Edition: US 2001

Sell Price: $24.99 VG+/VG+ 7/12/24

Discogs Last Sold: 6/24/24 VG/VG+ $12.00

Low: $8.00

Median: $19.01

Average: $18.40

High: $27.99

Current low price: $18.38

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 7

Have/Want: 377/95

Where Sold: Bulverde, TX

Time it took to sell: 3 months

Where and When Purchased: Facebook $3 cd lot

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B

Sad To See It Go: No

Despite having seen BÖC at least a half dozen time in the past 25 years, I haven't heard any of their albums released in that time span.  I'm pretty sure when Curse Of The Hidden Mirror came out in 2001, my regular co-attendee Kenny told me this album was pretty good, yet somehow I never got a copy of it to hear it before pages fell off the calendar.  For all intensive purposes this is a new album for me since I just got this copy in a CD lot of decent titles for cheap a few months back  I had a mental note to put this on top of the pile but it took this sale to get it out of the pending listens box.

Original members on this in the guitarist/vocalist Buck Dharma production are of course Eric Bloom and the late Alan Lanier who passed in 2013.  They are joined by Bass/Keyboard player Danny Miranda who first was on1998's Heaven Forbid album as well as stalwart 80's Hard Rock Drummer Bobby Rondinelli who served time in early 80's Rainbow (Difficult To Cure/Straight Between The Eyes) and 90's Black Sabbath (Cross Purposes).

Since the record is produced by guitarist songwriter Buck Dharma, it has a more straightforward hard rock mix than the peak of their commercial success in the late 70's & 80's.   After 4 listens, I find the best songs are punny: "Dance On Stilts" the subject is elevating and with "Eye Of The Hurricane"  the hurricane has an attributed eye.  "One Step Ahead Of The Devil" drives  and is "Pockets" great on the melodic Dharma end and after "Stilts.." is the second most played song on the album.

A solid listen although after 4 listens, even if it is not the most memorable record in a deep catalog.

For Further Review:

The Revolution By Night (1983)

Some Enchanted Evening (1978)

Buck Dharma-Flat Out (1982)

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