Club Ninja

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Club Ninja
CNINJA.jpg
Studio album by Blue Öyster Cult
Released December 10, 1985 (1985-12-10)
Recorded Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York
Boogie Hotel Studios, Port Jefferson, New York
Tallysin Studios, Syosset, New York
Warehouse Studios, New York City, 1985
Genre Hard rock, heavy metal
Length 44:26
Label Columbia
Producer Sandy Pearlman
Blue Öyster Cult chronology
The Revölution by Night
(1983)The Revölution by Night1983		 Club Ninja
(1985)		 Imaginos
(1988)Imaginos1988
Singles from Club Ninja
  1. "Dancin' in the Ruins / Shadow Warrior"
    Released: October 1985
  2. "White Flags / Make Rock Not War"
    Released: December 1985
  3. "Perfect Water / Spy in the House of Night"
    Released: February 1986

Club Ninja is the tenth studio album by the U.S. hard rock group Blue Öyster Cult, released in December 10, 1985 (see 1985 in music). 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 the Sony-owned reissue label American Beat Records, who had also reissued the band's subsequent 1988 album, Imaginos.

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 Blue Öyster Cult 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 2/5 stars[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 7/10[3]
Sounds 5/5 stars[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]

Track listing

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Lead vocals Length
1. "White Flags"   Leggatt Bros. 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
Total length:
 44:26

Personnel

Band members
Additional musicians
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 (North America)[5] 63
Swedish Album Chart[6] 41

Singles

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

References

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  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Pouncey, Edwin (1985) "Blue Oyster Cult 'Club Ninja'", Sounds, 14 December 1985, p. 28
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