# Club Ninja

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> Source revision: 1292898453
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Club Ninja
| type       = studio
| artist     = [Blue Öyster Cult](/source/Blue_%C3%96yster_Cult)
| cover      = CNINJA.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = {{Start date|1985|12|10}}
| recorded   = 
| studio     = [Bearsville Studios](/source/Bearsville_Studios), [Bearsville, New York](/source/Bearsville%2C_New_York)<br />Boogie Hotel Studios, [Port Jefferson, New York](/source/Port_Jefferson%2C_New_York)<br />Tallysin Studios, [Syosset, New York](/source/Syosset%2C_New_York)<br />Warehouse Studios, [New York City](/source/New_York_City)
| genre      = {{hlist|[Hard rock](/source/Hard_rock)|[pop rock](/source/pop_rock)}}
| length     = 44:26
| label      = [Columbia](/source/Columbia_Records)
| producer   = [Sandy Pearlman](/source/Sandy_Pearlman)
| prev_title = [The Revölution by Night](/source/The_Rev%C3%B6lution_by_Night)
| prev_year  = 1983
| next_title = [Imaginos](/source/Imaginos)
| next_year  = 1988
| misc       = {{Singles
 | name        = Club Ninja
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = White Flags
 | single1date = December 1985 (UK)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Blue+%D6yster+Cult&titel=White+Flags&cat=s|title=Blue Oyster Cult singles}}</ref>
 | single2     = [Dancin' in the Ruins](/source/Dancin'_in_the_Ruins)
 | single2date = March 1986 (US)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Blue+%D6yster+Cult&titel=Dancin%27+In+The+Ruins&cat=s|title=Blue Oyster Cult singles}}</ref>
 | single3     = Perfect Water
 | single3date = July 1986<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Blue+%D6yster+Cult&titel=Perfect+Water&cat=s|title=Blue Oyster Cult singles}}</ref>
 }}
}}

'''''Club Ninja''''' is the tenth studio album by American [rock](/source/Rock_music) band [Blue Öyster Cult](/source/Blue_%C3%96yster_Cult), released on December 10, 1985, in the United Kingdom and on February 11, 1986, in the United States. The album was intended as a comeback for the band, whose previous album ''[The Revölution by Night](/source/The_Rev%C3%B6lution_by_Night)'' failed to attain [Gold](/source/RIAA_certification) status following the success of 1981's ''[Fire of Unknown Origin](/source/Fire_of_Unknown_Origin)'' and 1982's ''[Extraterrestrial Live](/source/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](/source/Columbia_Records) executives deemed it a commercial failure.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Popoff | first1 = Martin | authorlink1 = Martin Popoff | title = Blue Öyster Cult: Secrets Revealed! | chapter = Club Ninja | edition = 2 | publisher = Power Chord Press | date = March 2009 | location = [Toronto](/source/Toronto), Ontario, Canada | pages = 209 | isbn = 978-0-9752807-0-6}}</ref> The album was re-issued on compact disc on March 10, 2009, by [Sony](/source/Sony)-owned reissue label American Beat Records, which had also reissued the band's 1988 album, ''[Imaginos](/source/Imaginos)''.

''Club Ninja''{{'}}s first single, "[Dancin' in the Ruins](/source/Dancin'_in_the_Ruins)," was a minor radio and [MTV](/source/MTV) hit. "When the War Comes" features a brief spoken-word introduction by radio personality [Howard Stern](/source/Howard_Stern), whose cousin was married to guitarist and vocalist [Eric Bloom](/source/Eric_Bloom). The lyrics to "Spy in the House of the Night" were written by [Richard Meltzer](/source/Richard_Meltzer), originally based on his poem "Out of Smokes," which was published in his 1999 book ''Holes''. The album was the band's last studio album with bassist [Joe Bouchard](/source/Joe_Bouchard).

''Club Ninja'' was the only BÖC studio album not to feature keyboardist [Allen Lanier](/source/Allen_Lanier) until his death in 2013. Lanier was replaced temporarily by Tommy Zvoncheck, who'd previously been keyboardist for [Aldo Nova](/source/Aldo_Nova)'s live band, for a Japanese tour by [Public Image Ltd.](/source/Public_Image_Ltd.) and had already contributed to the initial recordings of Blue Öyster Cult's 1988 [concept album](/source/concept_album) ''[Imaginos](/source/Imaginos)''. The album also features drummer Jimmy Wilcox, formerly of [Rick Derringer](/source/Rick_Derringer) and [Scandal](/source/Scandal_(American_band)), who replaced Rick Downey. Wilcox remained with the band until 1987.

==Reception==
{{Album ratings
| rev1 =[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)
| rev1Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web | url= https://www.allmusic.com/album/club-ninja-mw0000189271| title = Blue Öyster Cult - Club Ninja review| accessdate = January 13, 2012 | last = Ruhlmann | first = William |work = [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic) | publisher = [Rovi Corporation](/source/Rovi_Corporation)}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal](/source/Martin_Popoff)''
| rev2Score = 7/10<ref name="martin">{{cite book | last1 = Popoff | first1 = Martin | authorlink1 = Martin Popoff | title = The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties | publisher = [Collector's Guide Publishing](/source/Collector's_Guide_Publishing) | date = November 1, 2005 | location = [Burlington, Ontario](/source/Burlington%2C_Ontario), Canada | pages=55–56|isbn = 978-1894959315}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[Sounds](/source/Sounds_(magazine))''
| rev3score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Pouncey">{{cite magazine |title=Blue Oyster Cult: Club Ninja |magazine=[Sounds](/source/Sounds_(magazine)) |date=December 14, 1985 |last=Pouncey |first=Edwin |authorlink=Edwin Pouncey |page=28 |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/blue-oyster-cult-iclub-ninjai- |accessdate=September 17, 2018 }}</ref>
}}
[Edwin Pouncey](/source/Edwin_Pouncey), reviewing the album for ''[Sounds](/source/Sounds_(magazine))'', gave it a five-star rating, describing it as "a seemingly leaden slab of AOR which suddenly turns into gold in your hands", praising [Sandy Pearlman](/source/Sandy_Pearlman)'s production.<ref name="Pouncey" /> Modern reviews are quite negative, with [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic) calling ''Club Ninja'' a testimony of "Blue Öyster Cult's gradual disintegration" and "decline into musical anonymity".<ref name="allmusic"/> Canadian journalist [Martin Popoff](/source/Martin_Popoff) judged the album the "least attached to the BÖC body of work, painfully constructed and baffling in its bad taste", showing a band struggling to update their sound to more "commercial avenues" without achieving the expected radio-friendly results.<ref name="martin"/>

==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| headline = Side one
| extra_column  = Lead vocals
| title1 = White Flags
| writer1 = Hugh Leggatt, Gordon Leggatt
| extra1 = [Eric Bloom](/source/Eric_Bloom)
| length1 = 4:41
| title2 = [Dancin' in the Ruins](/source/Dancin'_in_the_Ruins)
| writer2 = [Larry Gottlieb](/source/Larry_Gottlieb), Justin Scanlon
| extra2 = [Donald Roeser](/source/Buck_Dharma)
| length2 = 4:00
| title3 = Make Rock, Not War
| writer3 = [Bob Halligan, Jr.](/source/Bob_Halligan%2C_Jr.)
| extra3 = Bloom
| length3 = 3:58
| title4 = Perfect Water
| writer4 = Roeser, [Jim Carroll](/source/Jim_Carroll)
| extra4 = Roeser
| length4 = 5:31
| title5 = Spy in the House of the Night
| writer5 = Roeser, [Richard Meltzer](/source/Richard_Meltzer)
| extra5 = Roeser
| length5 = 4:23
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| extra_column  = Lead vocals
| title6 = Beat 'Em Up
| writer6 = Halligan, Jr.
| extra6 = Bloom
| length6 = 3:24
| title7 = When the War Comes
| writer7 = [Joe Bouchard](/source/Joe_Bouchard), [Sandy Pearlman](/source/Sandy_Pearlman)
| extra7 = Bouchard, Roeser
| length7 = 6:02
| title8 = Shadow Warrior
| writer8 = [Eric Bloom](/source/Eric_Bloom), Roeser, [Eric Van Lustbader](/source/Eric_Van_Lustbader)
| extra8 = Bloom, Roeser
| length8 = 5:42
| title9 = Madness to the Method
| writer9 = Roeser, Dick Trismen
| extra9 = Roeser
| length9 = 7:25
}}

==Personnel==
;Band members
*[Eric Bloom](/source/Eric_Bloom) – lead vocals, "stun" (rhythm) guitar
*[Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser](/source/Buck_Dharma) – lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards
*[Joe Bouchard](/source/Joe_Bouchard) – bass, backing & lead vocals, guitar
*Tommy Zvoncheck – keyboards, organ, piano
*Jimmy Wilcox – backing vocals, percussion

;Additional musicians
*[Thommy Price](/source/Thommy_Price) – drums
*Phil Grande – additional guitar
*[Kenny Aaronson](/source/Kenny_Aaronson) – additional bass
*[David Lucas](/source/David_Lucas_(composer)), Joni Peltz, Dave Immer, Joe Caro – background vocals
*[Howard Stern](/source/Howard_Stern) – "When the War Comes" spoken word

;Production
*[Sandy Pearlman](/source/Sandy_Pearlman) – producer, management
*Paul Mandl – engineer, overdubs editor, programming
*John Devlin, [Toby Scott](/source/Toby_Scott) – engineers
*[David Lucas](/source/David_Lucas_(composer)) – additional production
*Brian McGee – mixing

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Chart (1985)
! Peak<br/>position
|-
! scope="row"| Finnish Albums ([The Official Finnish Charts](/source/The_Official_Finnish_Charts))<ref name=FINI>{{cite book|last=Pennanen|first=Timo|title=Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972|edition=1st|publisher=Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava|location=Helsinki|year=2006|isbn=978-951-1-21053-5 | language= fi}}</ref>
| align="center"| 21
|-
{{Album chart|Sweden|41|artist=Blue Öyster Cult|album=Club Ninja|rowheader=true|accessdate=March 25, 2024}}
|-
{{Album chart|Billboard200|63|artist=Blue Oyster Cult|refname=Billboard 200|rowheader=true|accessdate=March 25, 2024}}
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Blue Öyster Cult}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Blue Öyster Cult albums
Category:1985 albums
Category:Columbia Records albums
Category:Albums produced by Sandy Pearlman

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Club Ninja](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Ninja) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Ninja?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.