Even though BLUE ÖYSTER CULT didn’t get to sculpting a fully fledged concept album during the band’s classic era, there was a common thread running through many of their records: a string of ideas derived from “The Soft Doctrines of Imaginos” – a collection of poems and scripts by Sandy Pearlman who would go to find musicians to bring those to life and, thus, masterminded BÖC and became their manager and producer. And while commercial motives limited the collective’s handling of Pearlman’s mythos, drummer Albert Bouchard – a co-writer of many numbers in the ensemble’s repertoire and composer behind such perennial as “Career Of Evil” – never let it go.
Albert decided to tie all the threads into a single narrative and release the rock opera as his solo debut yet, despite Bouchard’s leaving the band in 1981, “Imaginos” was rejected by the record label only to be recut and come out in 1988 as a BÖC album. Still, Albert returned to his original outline in 2020 to deliver first “Re Imaginos” and then, one year later, “Imaginos II: Bombs Over Germany – Minus Zero And Counting” – with the last installment of the trilogy he envisioned with Sandy to see the light of day on July 28th, 2023. Titled “Imaginos III: Mutant Reformation” and including more tracks than either of its predecessors, this offering seems to be the most daring of all, as it includes more of the ensemble’s evergreens – among them “Godzilla” which was never perceived as part of the concept – and features a few CULT associates: Kasim Sulton, Joe Cerisano, Richie Castellano and Jim Bouchard, plus THE DICTATORS, another collective from Pearlman’s stable for whom Albert drums.
He’s also part, with brother Joe and ALICE COOPER’s Dennis Dunaway, of BLUE COUPE who are currently working on a new record – but that’s the subject for a separate news.
Imaginos III:
Mutant Reformation
1. Welcome To Desdanovaland
2. Flaming Telepaths
3. The Queen’s Graveyard
4. Transmaniacon (feat. THE DICTATORS)
5. Career Of Evil (feat. Steve Conte)
6. St. Cecilia
7. Curse Of The Hidden Mirrors (feat. Mike Watt)
8. Mountain of Madness (feat. Richie Castellano)
9. Redeemed (feat. Joe Cerisano)
10. Mothra & Starfish (feat. Susie Loraine)
11. Godzilla (feat. Kasim Sulton and Mike Fornatale)
12. R.U. Red D. 2
13. Sole Survivor (feat. R.J. Ronquillo)
14. E.T.I. (feat. Joe Bouchard)
15. Aldebaran Alien Take Me Away
16. Arianna Of Earth (feat. Susie Loraine)
17. Heavy Metal / Black And Silver
18. Buddha’s Knee (feat. Jim Bouchard)
