THE SYMBOL REMAINS

It's been a long time, I believe 19 years since the last album from BOC. But they are finally back with THE SYMBOL REMAINS. There are 14 songs on this release, and, like most of their recent efforts, it is very hit and miss. I have always been a huge fan of BOC going back to their early "progressive" heavy albums and even through their more commercial albums from the 80's. While they are not all great, there was always enough meaty songs to make up for the ones to skip. Even albums like CLUB NINJA have some great tunes. With this current release the Cult has given us a mixture of excellent tunes, good tunes, and a few that I just can't get myself to find interesting. "Box in my head" is pure Buck Dharma and brings back memories of many earlier Buck tunes. I enjoy "Nightmare Epiphany", and "Tainted Blood" (another vampire BOC song to add to things like "Nosferatu", as well as "The Alchemist". I have issues getting into the more rocky, bluesy numbers like "Florida Man" and "Train True". So, this is not a stellar album like "Imaginos", "Secret Treaties", or "On Your Feet or On Your Knees" but it contains enough gems among the lesser pieces to rate 3 stars. No matter what, it's fantastic to hear something new from a classic band...