Club Ninja

Club Ninja is the tenth studio album by American hard rock group Blue Öyster Cult, released December 10, 1985 in the United Kingdom and on February 11, 1986 in the United States. The album was intended as a comeback for the band, whose previous album The Revölution by Night failed to attain Gold status following the success of 1981's Fire of Unknown Origin and 1982's Extraterrestrial Live. Club Ninja sold more than 175,000 copies, falling well short of gold status again, and because of its high cost, Columbia Records executives deemed it a commercial failure.[1] The album was re-issued on compact disc on March 10, 2009, by Sony-owned reissue label American Beat Records, which had also reissued the band's 1988 album, Imaginos.

Club Ninja
Studio album by Blue Öyster Cult
Released	December 10, 1985 (1985-12-10)
Recorded	1985
Studio	Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York Boogie Hotel Studios, Port Jefferson, New York Tallysin Studios, Syosset, New York Warehouse Studios, New York City
Genre	Hard rock pop rock heavy metal
Length	44:26
Label	Columbia
Producer	Sandy Pearlman
Blue Öyster Cult chronology
The Revölution by Night (1983) Club Ninja (1985) Imaginos (1988)
Singles from Club Ninja
"Dancin' in the Ruins" / "Shadow Warrior" Released: October 1985 "White Flags" / "Make Rock, Not War" Released: December 1985 "Perfect Water" / "Spy in the House of Night" Released: February 1986

Club Ninja's first single, "Dancin' in the Ruins," was a minor radio and MTV hit. "When the War Comes" features a brief spoken-word introduction by radio personality Howard Stern, whose cousin was married to guitarist and vocalist Eric Bloom. The lyrics to "Spy in the House of the Night" were written by Richard Meltzer, originally based on his poem "Out of Smokes", which was published in his 1999 book Holes. The album was the band's last studio album with bassist Joe Bouchard.

Club Ninja is the only BÖC studio album not to feature keyboardist Allen Lanier. He was replaced temporarily by Tommy Zvoncheck, who'd previously been keyboardist for Aldo Nova's live band, for a Japanese tour by Public Image Ltd. and had already contributed to the initial recordings of Blue Öyster Cult's 1988 concept album Imaginos. The album also features new drummer Jimmy Wilcox, formerly of Rick Derringer and Scandal, who replaced Rick Downey. Wilcox remained with the band until 1987.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	7/10[3]
Sounds	[4]

Edwin Pouncey, reviewing the album for Sounds, gave it a five-star rating, describing it as "a seemingly leaden slab of AOR which suddenly turns into gold in your hands", praising Sandy Pearlman's production.[4] Modern reviews are quite negative, with AllMusic calling Club Ninja a testimony of "Blue Öyster Cult's gradual disintegration" and "decline into musical anonymity".[2] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff judged the album the "least attached to the BÖC body of work, painfully constructed and baffling in its bad taste", showing a band struggling to update their sound to more "commercial avenues" without achieving the expected radio-friendly results.[3]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"White Flags"	Hugh Leggatt, Gordon Leggatt	Eric Bloom	4:41
2.	"Dancin' in the Ruins"	Larry Gottlieb, Jason Scanlon	Donald Roeser	4:00
3.	"Make Rock, Not War"	Bob Halligan, Jr.	Bloom	3:58
4.	"Perfect Water"	Roeser, Jim Carroll	Roeser	5:31
5.	"Spy in the House of the Night"	Roeser, Richard Meltzer	Roeser	4:23

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
6.	"Beat 'Em Up"	Halligan, Jr.	Bloom	3:24
7.	"When the War Comes"	Joe Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman	J. Bouchard, Roeser	6:02
8.	"Shadow Warrior"	Eric Bloom, Roeser, Eric Van Lustbader	Bloom	5:42
9.	"Madness to the Method"	Roeser, Dick Trismen	Roeser	7:25

Personnel

Band members

• Eric Bloom – lead vocals, stun guitar
• Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser – vocals, lead guitar, keyboards
• Joe Bouchard – bass, background vocals
• Tommy Zvoncheck – keyboards, background vocals
• Jimmy Wilcox – percussion, background vocals

Additional musicians

• Thommy Price – drums
• Phil Grande – guitars
• Kenny Aaronson – bass
• David Lucas, Joni Peltz, Dave Immer, Joe Caro – background vocals
• Howard Stern – opening to "When the War Comes"

Production

• Sandy Pearlman – producer, management
• Paul Mandl – engineer, overdubs editor, programming
• John Devlin, Toby Scott – engineers
• David Lucas – additional production
• Brian McGee – mixing

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1986	Billboard 200 (United States)	63[5]
	Swedish Album Chart	41[6]

Singles

Year	Title	Chart	Position
1986	"Dancin' in the Ruins"	Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	9[7]

References

1. Popoff, Martin (March 2009). "Club Ninja". Blue Öyster Cult: Secrets Revealed! (2 ed.). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Power Chord Press. p. 209. ISBN 0-9752807-0-8.
2. Ruhlmann, William. "Blue Öyster Cult - Club Ninja review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
3. Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 55–56. ISBN 978-1894959315.
4. Pouncey, Edwin (14 December 1985). "Blue Oyster Cult: Club Ninja". Sounds. p. 28. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
5. "Club Ninja Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
6. "Blue Öyster Cult – Club Ninja (Album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
7. "Club Ninja Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2012-01-14.