It’s not usually {that a} band releases a full album recorded 40-plus years earlier. However 11 of the 12 cuts on Blue Öyster Cult’s new Ghost Tales are studio or rehearsal recordings comprised of 1978 to ’83, and it’s being touted because the band’s final album. Vocalist/lead guitarist Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser instructed Classic Guitar the way it got here to be.

How did the concept for Ghost Tales come about, and why is it the band’s closing album?
So far as finality, that’s the official plan. So far as actuality, by no means say by no means. Who is aware of? There could also be extra, however definitely after (2020’s) The Image Stays, which we spent a yr and a half doing and was our first studio report in nearly twenty years, we had been on the lookout for one other factor to fulfill our Frontiers recording settlement. We got here up with the concept of going again to those archival recordings that includes the unique members together with (bassist) Joe Bouchard and (drummer) Albert Bouchard, and, after all, (keyboardist) Allen Lanier, who handed away (in 2013). George Geranios, our live-sound mixer for many years, retrieved some multi-track recordings that had been labored up however by no means launched. We went again and, with fashionable instruments, deconstructed the weather; we had been capable of replace the sonics rather well.

Are they songs minimize from albums again then attributable to area limitations on vinyl, or had been they only not “good” sufficient?
We had been constrained to 17 minutes to an LP facet, and for no matter conceptual causes, the songs didn’t match. For Ghost Tales, we made loads of effort to create an album that match a coherent plan. I didn’t hear it till it was mainly completed, aside from chiming in on the weather. However, to my ear, it feels like a misplaced Blue Öyster Cult report, and it’s very nostalgic and rewarding to listen to the unique members taking part in and singing collectively.

The reel-to-reel analog tapes had been transferred to laptop, however hats off to (present BÖC guitarist/keyboardist) Richie Castellano and (supervisor) Steve Schenck for the job they did remixing and producing, and in addition to George Geranios as a result of he initially recorded and tracked it. It’s all actually good-sounding stuff.

Did you do not forget that these songs existed?
No, I needed to mud off some neurons as a result of for me it’s out of ear, out of thoughts.

Was there a want by the band to have these songs launched?
I feel for lots of the bands of our period, followers love to listen to something unrevealed from that point. And once more, my overarching takeaway is that it’s like a brand new BÖC report that one way or the other was undiscovered.

There’s rather a lot to be stated concerning the chemistry and sound of the 5 authentic members collectively, and with drummer Rick Downey, who performs on two songs from the early ’80s.
Yeah, it’s very a lot what BÖC was in these years with (vocalist/rhythm guitarist) Eric Bloom and myself and Joe and Albert and Allen. We don’t play with Joe and Albert recurrently anymore, so to listen to us collectively and put us again into that point, it’s an incredible hear. Rick was essential on some of these items.

Did you report any new vocals or guitar components?
I didn’t. The whole lot you hear from me is because it was executed then.

Do you bear in mind the guitars you used?
The principle guitar was the Giuliano Balestra Vulcan with DiMarzio humbuckers. Its physique was a cross between a Flying V and an Explorer – a really odd-looking guitar.

Since that is being promoted as BÖC’s closing album, is the band contemplating retiring from touring?
2022 was our fiftieth anniversary, and we did one thing like 75 reveals. Final yr, we did about 30, and this yr we’re between 20 and 30. We’ll see what occurs. Affords nonetheless hold coming in, however we’re not likely on the lookout for work at this level. We’ve all obtained households and don’t wish to be on the highway consistently. I’d say if you wish to see Blue Öyster Cult, you must see ’em now.

This text initially appeared in VG’s June 2024 challenge. All copyrights are by the creator and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.