CULTÖSAURUS ERECTUS

As for the album itself, this album basically brought them out of their doldrums. Apparently they thought they could jump on the Foreigner / Journey bandwagon, and when that didn't work out, they were smart enough to realize that they needed to travel in a new completely direction or they would sputter out. Although that did sort of happen later in their career, it didn't happen in 1980 thanks to this effort.

A much louder beast than their previous efforts, the album kicks off with a killer track in Black Blade with its wonderfully nightmarish lyrics and musical tension. The actual "Black Blade" speaking towards the song's finale was a nice touch. Monsters is one of the band's "proggiest" songs with its jazz breaks, frequent tempo changes and transitions from heavy guitar riffs to softer passages. The lyrics themselves are quite bizarre and add to the overall effect, making this one of their best songs in my opinion. Divine Wind continues the quality run of tracks with its heavy blues base combined with a bit of space rock. Great guitar playing too. Deadline is somewhat of a prelude to what BOC would become in the 80s with its dancy beat, funky bass and atmospheric synths, not necessarily a good thing, but it does work in this case. The Marshall Plan is hilarious, both intentionally and unintentionally, but either way its a fun track. Hungry Boys and Fallen Angel never did much for me...they are interesting I will admit, but their strange take on new-wave and straight arena rock respectively doesn't gel with me for some reason. Lips In The Hills, despite the awkward song title, is a scorcher, with producer Martin Birch fully displaying his NWOBHM sensabilities here. The album ends on a high note with another good track in the creepy Unknown Tongue.

So, as far as BOC albums are concerned, it may not be the most essential of their works, but I find it to be one of their best, maybe their most enjoyable, and an important album in re- establishing BOC as a band to be reckoned with, at least through the early 80s. For prog- heads not convinced the band belongs here, seriously, listen to Monsters. That's some heavy prog-heaven right there.

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