The Blue Oyster Cult have long touted themselves as "the thinking man"s heavy-metal band," a notion that must have the members of Spinal Tap scratching their shaggy scalps in envy. On their first album of the new millennium, BOC prove they"re still smart enough to play to their strengths, wearing their 1970s classic-rock heritage like a badge of honor. Indeed, there"s nary a contemporary influence in sight, just the familiar riff- and bass-heavy hard rock of their Me Decade prime, infused with an enviable--if not exactly Rhodes scholarly--economy of purpose and a deceptively easy pop sensibility forged by the core members" (Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, Eric Bloom, and Allen Lanier) three-decade alliance. Given the idiom and its expectations, the subject matter naturally tends toward 2-D nihilism ("I Just Like to Be Bad") and goth-apocalyptic lite ("The Old Gods Return," "One Step Ahead of the Devil"). The band maintains a level of literacy that would at least do Todd McFarlane proud. The Roeser-produced all-digital recording is crisp and showcases the band"s familiar charms with understated clarity. --Jerry McCulley