New From Blue Öyster Cult: Then and Now (compilation) and A Long Day's Night live CD (and DVD/VHS) The live album has only one Shirley song (Dance on Stilts), but the compilation has Cold Grey Light of Dawn, Damaged, and See You In Black (from Heaven Forbid); One Step Ahead of the Devil, Dance On Stilts, The Old Gods Return, and Pocket (from Curse of the Hidden Mirror). The other four tracks are Burnin' for You, Cities on Flame, Godzilla, and Don't Fear the Reaper. (The newest "best of" BÖC, The Essential Blue OÖster Cult, includes only tunes recorded between 1971 & 1983 (pre-Shirley lyrics).

Blue Öyster Cult's Curse of the Hidden Mirror. BÖC's most daring album yet -- and it features eight(*) of eleven songs with lyrics by John Shirley! Dance On Stilts* Showtime The Old Gods Return* Pocket* One Step Ahead Of The Devil* I Just Like To Be Bad* Here Comes That Feeling Eye Of The Hurricane* Out Of The Darkness* Stones Of Love Good To Feel Hungry* Listen to samples at Amazon

Blue Öyster Cult's Heaven Forbid Eight (*) of the eleven tracks on Heaven Forbid (1998) have lyrics by John Shirley. See You In Black* Harvest Moon Power Underneath Despair* X-Ray Eyes* Hammer Back* Damaged* Cold Gray Light Of Dawn* Real World* Live For Me* Still Burnin' In Thee Listen to samples at Amazon

Music is as much a part of John Shirley's creative compulsion as his prose. He fronted punk bands like SadoNation and Obsession, still performs and records whenever possible, and writes lyrics for Blue Öyster Cult, D.C. Moon, and other bands, as well as for himself. His CD Red Star with the Panther Moderns, "gallops with arsenical brio through vast landscapes of sound like a posse consisting of The Tubes and David Byrne, Devo and Ministry, Mink DeVille and Frank Zappa." "Basically punk music saved my ass," Shirley admits. "It gave me an alternative identity to the tortured and unacceptable one I'd sewn raggedly together." Shirley's lyrics often tell dark stories. When you read his stories and novels, you often hear music: organic, balls-out rock, threads of exotic otherworldy sounds, and desperate urban electric blues. As William Gibson wrote, "Sometimes reading Shirley, I can hear the guitars, like there's some monstrous subliminal wall-o'-sound chewing at the edges of the text." Shirley often employs music metaphorically in his writing, as well. Occasionally music is integral to th story Eclipse -- where the memorable character Rickenharp embodies the spirit of a rock -- or as in short story, "Flaming Telepaths," that reveals that the Devil hates rock'n' roll and that God loves it. RED STAR -- from John Shirley and the Panther Moderns -- is unique, post-punk, neopsychedelic, semi-industrial, definitely listenable music with words veering into prose and the poetic. It offers eleven songs, stories, and rants with John Karr (who did the music) on guitar and keyboards, Mike Derry playing bass and complaining a lot, various people and some machines handling the percussion. (Catch some of the lyrics here on the site.) Unfortunately the CD is currently sold out. If you are interested in being notified when it becomes available again, email jshirley@darkecho.com and we'll put you on the waiting list. ON RED STAR: Buck Dharma, Blue Öyster Cult: John Shirley's knuckleball vocal delivery and images of hip, horror and humor work hand in fist with John Karr's compelling guitar-meets-techno sonic stew to create grooves that you catch like a cold. These tunes grow on you like fingernails. They're relentless, and they scratch that itch! Note4Note Magazine: John Shirley is clearly inspired by Iggy, but a lot of good rock artists have been. The Moderns don't play -- they brood. That is, this isn't good time music, but brooding, unsettling, thought-provoking, punk-derived rock 'n' roll. Not that Red Star suffers from a lack of humor -- the album is, after all, "dedicated to the memory of FZ," and if that isn't Frank Zappa then I'm not short of cash. But tracks like "200,000 Homeless Children," "Hope There's a Hell" and "Mountain of Skullz" go for the dark side. "See You in Black," which has been performed by Blue Öyster Cult...is another good song. The Panther Moderns, in mood, style and content, seem much more in synch with the tenor of the times in which we live than a good 95 per cent of the bands out there. Red Star is a work that deserves to be heard. Black Sheets Magazine: Red Star works influences from classic bands like The Stooges and MC5 together with a tech-heavy, industrial sound. The guitar work by John Karr reminds me of Voidoids-era Robert Quine, but Karr has his own unique edge. Red Star mixes heavy thythms and restless melodic exoprimentation, blending it all together into an acerbic cocktail of noise. (RECOMMENDED) Paul Di Filippo, Asimov's: John Shirley's latest album with The Panther Moderns, Red Star, gallops with arsenical brio through vast landscapes of sound like a posse consisting of The Tubes and David Byrne, Devo and Ministry, Mink DeVille and Frank Zappa. Saddle up now!