Best Blue Öyster Cult Album

[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.

http://img.amazon.ca/images/I/41hPlFST%2B4L._SS400_.jpg

this can be found for around $15

where? about $25 from a third party seller on amazon ... still a good deal, I guess.

Those don't have the bonus tracks, though, do they? They're worth the couple extra bucks you'd pay for the individual albums.

especially the 'Secret Treaties' ones -- totally essential!!

weird that that set skips past 'Spectres', too. That's the BOC album I've been playing the most over the last year or so

i think those original album classics things do have bonus tracks. at least the Sonny Rollins one I have does ... no liner notes, but a bunch of extra tracks.

all but mirrors have bonus tracks. maybe the price went up in the last few months (i bought it in january on amazon.ca marketplace for yes $15).

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

That's nice, but it still got no votes.

DOMINANCE...submission.

"so I'm curious to see what these records are like."

Do it, you wont be disappointed.

I voted Tyranny in this poll, but could have voted Spectres, which is awesome, but Buck's guitar on Death Valley Nights is a particular hight point.

i'm doing it! BOC!

Seems like there's only really 3 good BOC albums then?

Fire of Unknown Origin got robbed.

tyler you need to become a BOC superfan ASAP so you can start tracking down sweet soft white underbelly and stalk-forest group live boots for me! :)

this ain't the summer of loooooove

haha, well, i've already started digging around for bootlegs: http://soundaboard.blogspot.com/2010/02/blue-oyster-cult-rochester-new-york.html

Seems like there's only really 3 good BOC albums then?

― Is that your Ayrshire bacon? (Tom D.), Tuesday, April 20, 2010 10:56 AM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

No, there's the run of the first 5 that's unimpeachable, then a few scattered through the 80s (Fire, Cultosaurus) that are getting big play here. Not including live stuff, and weird shit like Imaginos.

first album is gettin slept on. great debut and precursor of what's to come while retaining those burnt psychedelic vibes.
has the essential 'Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll' and the sublime dealers' blues of 'Then Came the Last Days of May'.

^agree

I hope the remaster program can crawl along one more notch to Mirrors, which really needs it. Cultosaurus and Fire Of Unknown already sound great, so I won't cry if the major-label-reissue industry perishes before they get to those (though I'd love some liner notes about that period).

On Your Feet... could use it too.

and the sublime dealers' blues of 'Then Came the Last Days of May'.

^ what a fucking great song

stairway to the stars is dope

^this!

Yeah Secret Treaties is head and shoulders above the rest of the catalog but I was definitely raised on Some Enchanted Evening. I remember trying to draw that grim reaper when I was a kid...

I wish the Flaming Lips would have covered the 1st BOC record, rather than (ugh) 'Dark Side...' e.g., "She's as Beautiful as a Foot" seems tailor-made for Coyne & Co.

Haha OTM.

Basically, what we're trying to say is that every BOC album from the debut through Fire of Unknown Origin is freaking great and worth getting. Second on the love for the demo version of "Fire of Unknown Origin!"

Let's not overwhelm tylerw! He has to start somewhere!

Also, look up the BOC-FAQ online, it's pretty damn fun.

He was me. And I was called. FRANK! EN! STEIN!

^^yeahbut if you want to cut to the chase, stick to the first three.

clearly i need someone to make me a career-spanning comp a la those King Crimson comps that were shared on ILM ... :)

every BOC album from the debut through Fire of Unknown Origin is freaking great

St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings by Stalk-Forrest Group is nothing to sneeze at, either.

Yeah, you might just call THAT the debut.

Man, I would love to step up and do a BOC mix... don't know if I'm oyster enough tho...

and The Revolution By Night at least has the great Buck tune "Shooting Shark"

Revolution By Night has three great tunes: that, 'Veins', and that one with 'California' in the title.

Imaginos has a few unmissables too, and is overall so WTF that it's kind of cool.

I have to confess I've never dared listen to Club Ninja though...

I would rank their ouevre thusly :
Secret Treaties
Tyranny & Mutation
Blue Oyster Cult
St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings
Spectres
Agents Of Fortune
Fire Of Unknown Origin
Cultosaurus Erectus
Mirrors

and I haven't heard The Revolution By Night, Club Ninja or Imaginos for years so I can hardly judge. Have never heard The Curse of the Hidden Mirror or Heaven Forbid at all tbh.

Have never heard The Curse of the Hidden Mirror or Heaven Forbid at all tbh.

There are a few fantastic Buck tunes on these, namely 'Harvest Moon', 'Stone', and 'Pocket' if I recall the titles correctly. I believe he had these left over from his abortive early 80s solo career. Well worth cherry picking off itunes or emusic. There is a fair amount of half-baked /embarrasing stuff on there too. But I would still go see them live.

haha, well, i've already started digging around for bootlegs: http://soundaboard.blogspot.com/2010/02/blue-oyster-cult-rochester-new-york.html

========
The above has the "For the Heavy Metal Kids and the Yardbirds" cuts.

Cool, thanks!

In my opinion, the classic run is Secret Treaties, Agents, and Spectres.

clearly i need someone to make me a career-spanning comp a la those King Crimson comps that were shared on ILM ... :)

This is for you people that have not heard BÖC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpCB-0d42-g

and for those who have!

It always made me happy that Current 93 covered "This Ain't The Summer of Love." Their version isn't very good, but it's the principle of the thing.

I also added some umlauts to the thread title bcz they make me happy, too.