SPECTRES

After the mega sales of AOF, BOC did not resist to copy the formula, daring to improve on it slightly. If the previous album had a killer track that sold millions, Spectres duplicates the success with the monstrous (pun intended even if it is too easy) Godzilla, which really stands out as pure pop/rock gem, and is a much more understandable success than reaper was. But it is not all; indeed most of the tracks are simply of a better calibre than the previous effort, even if the whole thing does bear an almost-AOR-ish feel, compared to their earlier albums.

So, outside the opening Godzilla, the album continues with the excellent and complex Leather & Bike anthem of Golden Age, a track that has Judas Priest's Rob Halford drooling all over himself. Not of the same acabit, the hard-rocking Death Valley Nights is the last good song on the first side of Spectres, because after this come two softer songs which give the album its AOR aura: the funky Celine and the Calmer fireworks are just average, limit fillers.

Opening the flipside is one of the cheesiest and shameful attempts at writing a hit: R.U. Ready 2 Rock is not only all too evident and predictable (and a tad effective too), but it came quickly to open most concerts from that moment onwards. It's funny how some tracks should change names, especially when they're the filler-type, the catastrophically-named Going Through The Motions is probably the weaker track of the album. The fact that this song is sandwiched by two average tracks, the unremarkable Celestial Queen and the sleep-inducing Love The Night doesn't help either, but the album ends on a strong, dark, mellotron-filled Nosferatu track

Although most purists would tell you that Spectres is part of the wrong trilogy (the later-70's), I personally have a bit of a weak spot for it, especially when pitted against Agents or the lacklustre (pun intended) and upcoming Mirrors. Four strong songs and a b bunch average tracks, but no duds?. Even if I haven'r heard the bonus tracks of the latest reissue. I like Spectres enough to round it up to the upper star.