Joe Bouchard – Tales from the Island
www.joebouchard.com

Rating: B

Joe Bouchard is best known as the original bass player for Blue Oyster Cult and the guitarist in Blue Coup, where he plays guitar, while his brother, and BOC alum, Albert, plays drums and Hall of Famer Dennis Dunaway, of the original Alice Cooper group, plays bass. Now, Joe has released a solo album that showcases his many musical talents.

The album shows Bouchard’s creativity is still in top form. The opening track, “1000 Midnights” is a rocker that gets the show started. “Christopher Walken is Walkin’ Her Home” may be the best track, and the funniest, on the album, while “Midnight in a River Town” is just damn good songwriting. “Motel Tropico” has the classic BOC undertone to it.

Joe’s wobbly vocals give the songs a totally unique quality and his multi-instrumental talents lend to his overall creativity. Bouchard is a talented man and fans of Blue Oyster Cult, Bouchard, Dunaway & Smith and Blue Coup will love this release. On a bigger scale, if you’ve not checked out what Joe has done outside of BOC, then this is a great place to start to see what you’ve been missing.

By Jeb Wright