“Club Ninja” is the tenth studio album by the U.S. hard rock group Blue Öyster Cult, released in 1985. 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.” “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. The album continued in the vein of the radio-friendly, somewhat generic pop sounds of its predecessor, “THE REVOLUTION BY NIGHT”. Fortunately, Pearlman did turn the keyboards down a bit, giving the Eric Bloom/Buck Dharma guitar franchise much more space in the mix, and the album does feature what may be the band’s best-ever thinking person’s party anthem, the inspiringly titled “Make Rock, Not War.” A pivotal album at the time due to the loss of original keyboardist Allen Lanier, “Club Ninja” nevertheless features some of the best material in the band’s catalogue. Tracks such as ‘Dancin’ In The Ruins’, and the sublime ‘Perfect Water’, display why B™C are still regarded as one of the World’s premier Rock outfits.
01. White Flag
(Leggatt Bros.) - 4:41
02. Dancin’ in the Ruins
(Larry Gottlieb, Jason Scanlon) - 4:00
03. Make Rock Not War
(Bob Halligan Jr.) - 3:58
04. Perfect Water
(Donald Roeser, Jim Carroll) - 5:31
05. Spy in the House of the Night
(Roeser, Richard Meltzer) - 4:23
06. Beat ‘em Up
(Bob Halligan Jr.) - 3:24
07. When the War Comes
(Joe Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman) - 6:02
08. Shadow Warrior
(Eric Bloom, Roeser, Eric Van Lustbader) - 5:42
09. Madness to the Method
(Roeser, Dick Trismen) - 7:25
Credits
Eric Bloom – stun guitar, lead vocals
Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser – lead guitar, keyboards, lead vocals
Joe Bouchard – bass, guitar, co-lead vocal
Tommy Zvoncheck – synthesizers, piano, organ
Jimmy Wilcox – percussion, background vocals
Thommy Price – drums
Phil Grande – guitars
Kenny Aaronson – bass
David Lucas, Joni Peltz, Dave Immer, Joe Caro – background vocals
Howard Stern – opening to “When the War Comes”
Sandy Pearlman – producer, management
Paul Mandl – engineer, overdubs editor, programming
John Devlin, Toby Scott – engineers
David Lucas – additional production
Brian McGee – mixing
Notes
Released: December 1985
Recorded at: 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, AOR
Length: 44:26
Producer: Sandy Pearlman
© 1985 Columbia Records
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