Deko Entertainment [Release date 25.09.26]

The story so far…

In 1981, Albert Bouchard was fired, mid-tour, from Blue Öyster Cult, the band he helped to form back in the 1960s. His immediate response was to hook up with the band’s producer, Sandy Pearlman, to work on his own album. Pearlman was of course more than just BÖC’s producer, having discovered and named the band as well as being a principal source of many of the band’s lyrics, drawn from his unpublished poetry cycle, ‘The Soft Doctrines of Imaginos’. It was these writings that were to be the inspiration for the solo album.

Based around the story of the title character, a time travelling, shape shifting alien, the resulting album, ‘Imaginos’ was summarily dismissed as a solo project by CBS but would eventually surface as a Blue Öyster Cult release, in 1988. As far as Bouchard was concerned it was far from what he had envisaged, with tracks omitted and the narrative derailed but, following Pearlman’s death in 2016 he made the decision to re visit the project, and the ‘Re Imaginos’ album (the title speaks for itself) was the result. Bouchard took the opportunity to add the tracks the BÖC release had omitted, restoring that all important narrative. Two more albums followed to make up what most thought to be a finite trilogy that told the whole story but now, it appears, that is not the case as Bouchard, backed by a stellar cast of guest musicians, has added a fourth chapter, ‘Imaginos IV – Rhyme of the Star Clock’.

Telling the story of the young Imaginos there is a significant difference between this latest offering and that which has gone before. Bouchard, like his old band, has a loyal following but, many were unhappy to find that parts two and three consisted mainly of reworkings of BÖC numbers. While it was true that they all fitted, more or less, into Pearlman’s original vision, by the time volume three hit the streets there was a fair bit of grumbling by those who were hoping for, expecting even, new music rather than the 18 or so BÖC covers that album and its predecessor had included.

Happily, there are no such worries with this new record, as Volume IV features entirely new music. The lyrics are based on further writings from the Pearlman archive that were previously unavailable to use in the original trilogy. Bouchard has molded these into a (relatively) coherent story line which means that ‘Rhyme of the Star Clock’, in effect, introduces the young Imaginos, his fellow protagonists and the locations they inhabit (think Star Wars Episode One).

Opening track, ‘Young Imaginos’ introduces our lead character (‘A very strange and growing boy’) and his mysterious powers as Bouchard narrates the lyrics over a simple riff. ‘Four Winds Bar’ is essentially a Blue Coupe track, the band that features Albert, his brother Joe and Alice Cooper’s original bass player, Dennis Dunaway. Its piratical musical theme and gorgeous guitar leads, presumably the work of Joe make it an early stand out on the album.

‘Crystal Ship Plutonia’ features former Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye’s picked guitar and introduces the multi layered concept of Plutonia that features here very much as a ship but that changes throughout the Imaginos trilogy story, becoming a dream world and a myriad of other things. Confused yet?

In ‘From a Curved Window’ the reference to seven children gazing down from on high refers, almost certainly to the BÖC song ‘7 Screaming Diz-Busters’ while ‘Mirror of Destiny’ appears to be a lyrical reworking/continuation of ‘Magna of Illusion’ which appeared on the original, BÖC version of Imaginos, in which the aforesaid mirror is first found. Would go on to cause a lot of trouble that mirror…so, still plenty of references to previous Cult tracks.

Although ‘Parson Blake’ is a new character in the ever-twisting narrative, those who have listened intently to Pearlman’s lyrics will recognize the name Susan/Susie, another character that has cropped up frequently. The nursery rhyme piano intro and some blinding guitar work from guest R. J. Ronquillo, reprising his appearance on the ‘Re-Imaginos’ album, compliment the shifting story perfectly.

Next up, ‘Plutonia at Last (Slow Blues)’ is exactly as written on the tin, a gorgeous lush bluesy country-tinged shuffle featuring a wonderful vocal from Joe Cerisano, the singer song writer probably best known for his work with Trans Siberian Orchestra, but who also appeared on the original ‘Imaginos’ album.

With its staccato keyboards, ‘Edge of a Knife’ is probably the song most akin to Blue Öyster Cult in sound and tempo. The first of a pair of heavy riffing tracks it also features guitarist, Ross the Boss Friedman who’s superb crunching riffs and a fast fingered solo dominate the middle section. Friedman tragically died earlier this year, but his work here is a brief but fitting tribute to a great player.

The second of those heavy numbers is, ‘Germany Minus Zero’ Vocals are handled by the returning Joe Cerisano, and Sandy Hall. The latter’s voice here is in the vein of Ann Wilson, powerful, clear and a perfect foil to Cerisano. Lyrically this one has a clear lineage back to the similarly titled second album in the Imaginos series and the countdown to the world wars.

‘Sister Celina’ is a short sharp rocker featuring Bouchard’s Dictators band mate, Keith Roth on vocals. No previous reference for this character, a new discovery in the Pearlman writings who is at the very least a ‘weird little girl’. Fits in perfectly to the narrative then!

Final track, ‘Night and Fog’ introduces a final guest in the shape of Jack Rigg, no stranger to the ‘Imaginos’ concept having featured on the original album and the later reimagined ‘Re Imaginos’. His smooth guitar work glides over this majestic finale which at just 3 minutes long is about 10 minutes too short, it’s wonderful!

There’s a line in that last track, ‘it’s time to leave the truth behind’ which quietly sums up the whole concept. The narrative takes you from one extreme to another and, boy, the final release had better include along with the lyric sheet a dramatis personae because, the complicated story deserves to be understood. Having said that, the great thing about ‘Rhyme of the Star Clock’ is it stands on its own as a cracking piece of Sci-Fi fantasy rock with some outstanding musicians delivering from first to last. I’ll certainly be picking up a copy on release and playing it loud! ****

Review by Neil Pudney

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JAMES KENNEDY & THE UNDERDOGS – Revolution (Konic Records)
BLACKLIST UNION Madame Butterfly (BLU Records)
DIAMOND RAIN I Need Love (Pride & Joy Music)

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12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
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