Heaven Forbid by Blue Oyster Cult (CD, Mar-1998, CMC International)

Having heard four of these songs several times, seeing the band at smaller venues across New York, LONG before the CD was released, I knew it was going to be good. I wasn't disappointed. The Eric Bloom songs are a little harder and more straight-forward rock than I was used to, but they balance and blend beautifully with the more gothic and cerebral works by Buck Dharma on this one. This CD was a long time coming, and following up the fantastic work of "Imaginos" was a daunting task I'm sure.

Blue Oyster Cult maintains its iron grip on the essence of hard rock in this comeback album. A must for any Cult fan, as well as any one who likes hard rock wrought with style, depth and talent.

Heaven Forbid - Was noticably off the music and harmonic genre of BOC. One of my favorite groups, but this one needs a pass. These guys are genius, but the songs were dirges and single voice vocals missed the mark of haunting or alternative blues that the groups can do. I didn't find any riffs or extended music to enjoy. I will still buy anything new from this group, in the hopes of some of their former glory.

I bought this album for a friend for Christmas. He heard my copy and really liked it. We both agreed that this album is very reminiscent of the Cults early albums. Outstanding cuts are: See You in Black; Power Underneath Despair; and of course, Harvest Moon! If you had given up on Blue Oyster Cult in the mid to late 80's, you will be very pleasantly surprised with this offering! Worth owning!!!!