Best Blue Öyster Cult Album

i may form a religion based on "extraterrestrial live"....seriously godzilla is so fucking nuts on this

On your Feet or On Your Knees is also a v impressive live album imo.
The gatefold image rules, too.
http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth_images//boc_onyourfeet_gatefold.jpg
You can't really see that the audience all have pillowcases over their heads in this img, tho.

I just recently discovered Cultosaurus Erectus, and have to the conclusion that I, along with everyone else at ILM, seriously screwed up by not having in my top ten of the recent 80s Albums poll.

*have come to the conclusion*

listening to cultosaurus erectus for the first time. damn you are right this is a nuts album! black blade! the weird cocktail jazz breakdowns in the middle of monster's AOR goth metal...woah.

"fallen angel" is kinda ELO-ish

Agents of Fortune is the apex of AOR

Fucking BOC forever IMO.

confession time: i do not have a single Blue Oyster Cult album. where should i begin.

Oh fuck dude! I'd say start this way--

1. Secret Treaties (get the remaster)
2. On Your Feet Or On Your Knees (live)
3. Agents Of Fortune (get the remaster)
4. Fire Of Unknown Origin

i know, i know. it's a glaring blind spot. i blame my older brother. but thanks for the reccs, i will check out secret treaties! super cheap on amazon.

fyi - tyranny and mutation has "the red & the black" that the minutemen cover

yeah i think Tyranny is the one album of theirs I've heard in full. Otherwise I just know the hits.

That live album will show u their deadly side, how they 'played like they got knife fight in the alley afterward' to paraphrase patti smith.

(but she said that abt Television live)

i got agents of fortune cuz of dont fear the reaper but the entire thing rawks p fukken hard

this is more once you get to be a super fan, but i really love the totes over the top arena antics of "extraterrestrial live"...

Yeah ETL Live is nice. The two studio records from that era, Cultosaurus Erectus and Fire Of Unknown Origin, are both terrific (and underrated for some reason). Fire Of Unknown Origin in particular is wall-to-wall awesome-- I might actually like it a little more than Agents. Also both these records sound good even in their early CD incarnations (they haven't been remastered yet).

You want a good live introduction to the very early sound of the band? "For the Heavy Metal Kids and the Yardbirds[/i] which was originally done as a promotion, I think, but wound up bootlegged. I'm almost certain it was ripped to the net awhile back. Anyway, four tunes, including tear ass versions of "The Red & The Black," "Buck's Boogie" and "Cities On Flame." Invigorating stuff from 72. Used copy on Amazon asks for 37 bucks, way too dear.

googling!

you should have to pay too much for their later 70s stuff on vinyl either, always see decent copies of a lot of those

Gorge I think those 4 tracks might have been included on the Workshop Of The Telescopes anthology? I feel like they have appeared in one of the Sony Legacy remasters anyway...

No, not all of them. The version of "Cities on Flame" isn't from that. I'm checking with the booklet. Hmm, yeah, you got "The Red & the Black" and "Workshop of the Telescopes" from it on that box. Not bad. And I think you're right, they were put in pieces on the early remasters.

DOMINANCE, submission....

Such little love for Fire of Unknown Origin?

Dude I just said I rate it above Agents of Fortune!

[puts on blue priest garb]

joan crawford video is still one of the most nuts things ever

Agents Of Fortune and Spectres are really of a piece, aren't they? They're right up there with Fly Like An Eagle/Book Of Dreams and Kid A/Amnesiac in my book. (I speak here are 2-album tandems that stand apart from the remainder of the artists' catalogue, in terms of both sound and quality, and were probably also recorded at the same time, even though issued separately).

And fuck that whole "cowbell" thing...it's pretty much all BOC are remembered for these days!

yeah, i mean that and Godzilla are what I think of ... but then Allen Lanier sort of pops up around the edges of the CBGB scene (as Jon alluded to above) so I'm curious to see what these records are like.

(By the by, the demo of "Fire of Unknown Origin" (which was originally to have appeared on Agents of Fortune, and appears as a bonus track on the AoF reissue) is awesome, as is the Allen Lanier track "Dance the Night Away", which reveals him to be a languid crooner in the same vein as Dennis Wilson and (much later) Epic Soundtracks.

I'm tempted to get that Patti Smith book for the two paragraphs or so she writes about Lanier...

Mirrors is another great BOC MOR album. (I like to think of BOC as the Fleetwood Mac of metal, at least from Agents to Fire.) Mirrors has Lanier's best track, "In Thee". (Probably written with Patti Smith in mind. "Maybe you've bought your ticket, going back to Detroit".)

I missed the original poll, and would have contributed another vote for Fire of Unknown Origin. I readily admit it was my first BOC album, and that tour was my first BOC concert, which was also my first rock concert, period. But it's still a fine, fine album.

Oh wait, I see that Naperville show in September, might have to check that one out... of course that means, y'know, having to be in Naperville.

Sorry I didn't see you dude -- but yeah they were great. Kasim Sulton on bass!

alright! so this was a really fun trip!

we left Mpls about 11, took the scenic route and ate lunch at the Rock n' Roll Cafe in Ellsworth Wisconsin, one of those old school 50s themed diners with 45s on the wall and pix of marilyn monroe and elvis and stuff, great burgers...

got to the casino/hotel, checked in and did the aforementioned drinking of glenlivit and dos equis (and some mike's hard lemonade)....the show started EARLY, doors 630, show 7...so we didn't have time to eat...

got the show, and I was expecting it was going to be in some theater, but it was really just a big event room, like where you'd have a manager's conference with chairs set up....my friend james went up and talked to the sound guy -- turns out we were lied to and BOC was not headlining but going on first :(

so it was general admission and we grabbed some decent seats...BOC came out to the Game of Thrones theme song :) :) :)

so it was Eric, Buck, two dorks on guitar/keyboards and drums, then Kasim Sulton....

Kick things off with Red and Black...Buck's playing one of those really dorky Steinbergers with a with a white body type and no headstock (but not the super small 80s steinbergers, has kinda of a strat-ish body)...it also had "craters" that scooped out of the body? kind of like if they scooped out parts of the body...weird, sounds ok though....

sadly, they didn't get to play long...only did R&B, Burnin' for You, Shooting Shark (oddly given the set length), Cities on Flame, Godzilla, and Reaper....they did manage to squeeze in drum and bass solos (LOL)....also they did a weird medley where they introduced Kasim and when they said "You might know him from Joan Jett" they did a bit of I Love Rock n Roll and then so on for Todd Rungren (i don't wanna work) and Meatloaf (paradise by dashboard)....kinda corny....

Bloom is still really goony and did the godzilla rap from extraterrestrial live about godzilla coming to stomp out the Wisconsin Dells! was awesome....

As far as the performance, the new dudes can certainly play...Bloom definitely has to strain a bit at this point, but Buck's voice, maybe because his singing tone is so soft, really sings and plays amazingly still....

There was the vibe of phoning it in a bit but they are such pros it was still good...and there were a few moments where you felt like you were REALLY seeing them, like they jammed out the end of Reaper for a couple minutes and Buck was sublime...

the best part was that you could actually walk up and there was a big area in front of the stage to stand in front of the chairs so I basically got like 12 feet from Buck...like seeing them in a really small club :)

we got fucking wasted basically and were pissed at Kansas for headlining and decided to fuck off their set and go to the sports bar -- a most fortuitous decision!!

we saw the session guitar and drummer sitting down at a table...we thought about saying something but what the fuck do you say to them?

so we ordered beers and burgers and stuff and just started drinking more....then a group of ppl we'd see upfront -- some really oddball older folks with various old tour t-shirts, sat down with the drummer and the guitarist...they seemed to know them...I got the sense they were old fan club ppl or maybe follow BOC around on tour sometimes??

but anyway sure enough BUCK DHARMA WALKS INTO THE SPORTS BAR!!!!! he starts shaking hands with that group and chatting...eventually sits down with them...I was like fuck it, I was totally in the bag and went up to him and said I'm a big fan and would you take a picture with my friend...which he totally agreed to

after that Eric Bloom walks in and also agrees to do a picture!!!

so that pretty much made up for the short set, especially because this is the only venue we could have possibly ever just "ran into" buck and eric after a show....but yeah they weren't super into talking but they were totally gracious and willing to do a picture and autographs....I didn't see either one of them fail to stop and talk to ppl for a second and sign stuff, seemed, again, like total pros.

so yeah I shook Eric and Buck's hands! felt like the culmination of the last year of BOC obsession....

!RIGHTEOUS!

LOL Steinberger.

Please tell me that the current rhythm section is not fonkeh. Can you give me that?

rad. can't believe they were the opener! for KANSAS! i would really think that BOC would be the bigger draw, but I guess these are weird scenes/times.

xpost

nah they were fine! pretty much playing it straight by the book...that bass dude I'm sure could get funky or whatever you wanted, but he was tasteful

Yeah that is weird. Maybe Kansas played the Christ card to get switched to headliner.

xpost

rad. can't believe they were the opener! for KANSAS! i would really think that BOC would be the bigger draw, but I guess these are weird scenes/times.

― tylerw, Tuesday, May 22, 2012 5:07 PM (23 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

we did feel a bit burned, and just a general sense that the world is an unjust place.

one thing i learned there are SUPER HARDCORE KANSAS FANS....like SUPER hardcore....I talked to this really haggard old drunk that had seen them 46 times....he also...(bizarrely given his age)....was a big Tool/Perfect Circle fan

i saw like assloads of ppl wearing all types of kansas t-shirts.

the world is definitely SO unjust!
that's cool that there are hardcore kansas fans, maybe Kansas rock? resisting urge to google "best Kansas bootleg".

I still have time for 'Dust In The Wind'.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/donaldparsley/carryon.jpg

"This is a Kansas casino. Always has been. Always will be."

http://vivalesbootlegs.blogspot.com/search/label/KANSAS

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VIt42ZwDrR4/SVeqCHx9III/AAAAAAAABxE/qMaLTA8U8V4/s400/Kansas+Mayhem+SYmphony+Pittsburgh+76+front.jpg

Awesome! thanks for the report.

yeah my story is way lamer. i went up with my brother-in-law, we ate at the baraboo uno's, got there during 'burnin' for you,' no tickets at the will-call AS I WAS PROMISED, dude hooked us up anyway, rocked out to böc, stayed for kansas who were competent and professional, drove home.

Great show report from upper mississippi sh@kedown there! I only ever saw them back in the 80s, 1984 (great), 1985 (not great) and 1989 (Aldo Nova on 2nd gtr iirc, pfffft). Next time they're in the UK I promise to see them again, even though it's just Buck + Eric + session dudes these days.

*tries to resist Mayhem Symphony*

lol i dunno, dl-ing kansas bootlegs might be the kind of internet k-hole you never wake up from, you know?

still though: MAYHEM SYMPHONY

The way he sings "I'm Burning for You" is almost as delicious as a candy bar.

http://www.odinartcollectables.com/images/BlueOysterCultOnYourFeet.jpg

lol I'm probably the closest thing ILX has to a SUPER-HARDCORE KANSAS FAN.

anyways, m@tt, that whole concert sounded like lots and lots of fun. Sucks they only played 5 songs, but meeting them sounds amazing. I totally should see if they are playing Michigan in the next few months.

http://doublefuneral.tumblr.com/post/81358919620/fuckinrecordreviews-of-all-the-things-weve

http://31.media.tumblr.com/9bb0e83f12c80ef3b8af8b4e1005edec/tumblr_n3bimgsRg21stk2lwo1_400.png

!!!!

Huge