Club Ninja

Club Ninja
Studio album by Blue Öyster Cult
Released	January 1986 (1986-01)
Recorded	1985
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Length	45:04
Label	Columbia (US)
Producer	Sandy Pearlman
Blue Öyster Cult chronology
The Revölution by Night (1983) Club Ninja (1986) Imaginos (1988)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
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Club Ninja is the tenth studio album by the U.S. hard rock group Blue Öyster Cult, released in 1986 (see 1986 in music). The album was intended as a comeback for the band, whose previous album The Revölution by Night failed to attain Gold status following the Platinum success of 1981's Fire of Unknown Origin and 1982's Extraterrestrial Live. Club Ninja sold more than 175,000 copies, falling well short of gold status again, and because of its high cost, Columbia Records executives deemed it a commercial failure.^{[citation needed]} The album was re-issued on compact disc on March 10, 2009, by the Sony-owned reissue label American Beat Records, who had also reissued the band's subsequent 1988 album, Imaginos.

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 and for a Japanese tour by Public Image Ltd., and went on to contribute to the Blue Öyster Cult's 1988 concept album Imaginos.

Track listing

Side one

1. "White Flags" (Leggatt Bros.) – 4:41
2. "Dancin' in the Ruins" (Larry Gottlieb, Jason Scanlon) – 4:00
3. "Make Rock Not War" (Bob Halligan Jr.) – 3:58
4. "Perfect Water" (Donald Roeser, Jim Carroll) – 5:31
5. "Spy in the House of the Night" (Roeser, Richard Meltzer) – 4:23

Side two

6. "Beat 'em Up" (Bob Halligan Jr.) – 3:24
7. "When the War Comes" (Joe Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman) – 6:02
8. "Shadow Warrior" (Eric Bloom, Roeser, Eric Van Lustbader) – 5:42
9. "Madness to the Method" (Roeser, Dick Trismen) – 7:25

Personnel

Band

• Eric Bloom – stun guitar, lead vocals on 1,3,6,8
• Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser – lead guitar, keyboards, lead vocals on 2,4,5,9, co-lead vocal on 7
• Joe Bouchard – bass, guitar, co-lead vocal on 7
• Tommy Zvoncheck – synthesizers, piano, organ
• Jimmy Wilcox – drums, background vocals

Others

• Thommy Price – drums
• Phil Grandé – additional guitars
• Kenny Aaronson – additional bass
• David Lucas – background vocals
• Joni Peltz – background vocals
• Dave Immer – background vocals
• Joe Caro – background vocals
• Howard Stern – opening to "When the War Comes"

References

1. ^ Club Ninja at Allmusic