They’re OK, the last days of MayBut I’ll be breathin’ dry airI'm leaving soonThe others are already there (all there...)Wouldn’t be interested in coming alongInstead of staying here?It's said the West is nice this time of yearThat's what they say
― Making Plans For Sturgill (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 31 May 2018 15:32 (five years ago) link
when i last saw them play, Buck did a KILLLLERRR solo on that tune
by sheer coincidence, I'm bumping BOC today for the first time in awhile. Cultosaurus Erectus. So fucking good. Them and martin birch were a match made in heaven.
― cheese is the teacher, ham is the preacher (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 31 May 2018 18:22 (five years ago) link
tyranny and mutation is so fucking fast
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Sunday, 11 November 2018 16:15 (five years ago) link
eric was interviewed on his home turf.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAEdzkpN6oo
― Thus Sang Freud, Monday, 14 January 2019 21:42 (five years ago) link
ooh thanks!
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Monday, 14 January 2019 21:46 (five years ago) link
"What is your favorite word: ROCKIN"
― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 9 February 2019 00:57 (five years ago) link
like they even had to ask.
― Thus Sang Freud, Saturday, 9 February 2019 12:30 (five years ago) link
"I Love the Night" is so gorgeous
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 27 June 2019 17:33 (four years ago) link
yes!!! my favorite böc song
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 27 June 2019 18:36 (four years ago) link
I can't decide which is the superior of the two vampire jams on Spectres, this or Nosferatu.
― Zeuhl Idol (Matt #2), Thursday, 27 June 2019 19:18 (four years ago) link
BOC is never really recognized for their harmony singing, but they are so amazing at it, like the "I....I.....I....love the night" stacked harmonies or the beginning of Golden Age of Leather, Beach Boys level
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:25 (four years ago) link
in the mainstream BOC isn't taken seriously or recognized for anything beyond the hits, a couple of which are maybe regarded as borderline novelty songs. But I mean they're no more of a joke band than The Beatles, or any number of other all-time bands, many of which they're considerably better than.
― omar little, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:45 (four years ago) link
tyranny and mutation should be the gold standard of how to play rock music
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:50 (four years ago) link
yeah I listen to these records and I always notice something new they are extraordinary well crafted rock recordsalso Buck is consistently left off greatest guitarist rock lists and seeing him live he is godlike
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:51 (four years ago) link
also they are so strange.... like not in an avant garde way but so quirky and distinctive they go from off the shelf boogie to occult weirdness on a dimelike RU Ready to Rock that odd, mournful round of "I only live to be born again" that comes from nowhere in an arena rocker
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:54 (four years ago) link
I mean they're no more of a joke band than The Beatles
I enjoy me some BOC, but any band that records "Godzilla" is at least one of the greatest joke bands of all time, even if the fans are (?) often in on it.
The band is definitely weird, jumping from boogie butt rock to psychedelic neo-prog to an extent that I've never been able to really wrap my head (as a modest fan) around the love many have for them, save for the fact that there's not much to hate. Which is enough! Like, Lynyrd Skynyrd is an incredible band with incredible songs, objectively better than BOC (imo), but I can see why the band could turn some people off. Same with, I dunno, Rush. But BOC is just so goofy and under the radar, *despite* at least a couple of ubiquitous hits. They're like the best known best kept secret.
Hmm, speaking of Skynyrd, has "more cowbell?" supplanted "Freebird" as the thing dummies yell out?
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 27 June 2019 21:11 (four years ago) link
Agents and Spectres are so wonderfully all over the place..."True Confessions" and "Debby Denise" are basically doo wop, "Celestial the Queen" and "E.T.I." power pop, and "Goin' Through The Motions" is Mott The Hoople circa "Roll Away The Stone" (appropriately co-penned by Ian Hunter)..."Tenderloin" could easily fit in on a Fleetwood Mac album of that era...
― henry s, Thursday, 27 June 2019 21:57 (four years ago) link
They're one of those bands where their signature song is pretty much atypical of their ouevre in general, Focus is another I guess. For some reason I still can't remember a note of Cultosaurus Erectus despite having played it a bunch of times over the last few decades, maybe it's just not for me.
― Zeuhl Idol (Matt #2), Thursday, 27 June 2019 22:10 (four years ago) link
Mirrors was spotty, but Erectus started a run of really bad albums, as far as I'm concerned. It's a long way from "Morning Final" to "The Marshall Plan"!
― henry s, Friday, 28 June 2019 00:10 (four years ago) link
They’re so thrilling at their best. on your feet or on your knees is mad good hard rock
― brimstead, Friday, 28 June 2019 00:27 (four years ago) link
but Erectus started a run of really bad albums, as far as I'm concerned
henry fire of unknown origin is an amazing album
― american bradass (BradNelson), Friday, 28 June 2019 00:32 (four years ago) link
Yeah, "Veteran" is among my favourite BOC songs.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Friday, 28 June 2019 01:01 (four years ago) link
This thread revival has made me put on "The Red and the Black" and I thank you for that.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 28 June 2019 01:29 (four years ago) link
I think I was first introduced to that song via fIREHOSE.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 28 June 2019 01:36 (four years ago) link
I'm listening to Secret Treaties right now and goddamn how did they do this?perfection
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 28 June 2019 04:57 (four years ago) link
also "Deadline" is a great sleeper off Cultoraurus Erectus
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 28 June 2019 04:58 (four years ago) link
Oh man Deadline is my favorite track on that album, brilliant songI came across a copy of The Fireclown at a book fair today and bought it for the insane cover illustration. Consequently had “The Great Sun Jester” stuck in my head the rest of the day. Which is funny cause I had “pret-ty girls can’t look aWAY” stuck in my head this morning after I was thinking about the subject of body dysmorphia. Mirrors is the least of the original 8 record hot streak to me but I guess today was a Mirrors kind of day. BOC are a kind of touchstone for me, such a perfect blend of lame-cool dumb-deep. When I had to fly to MN a few weeks ago to take my mom to the hospital and I thought she might die I put on my lil BOC symbol pendant before going to the airport.
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Sunday, 30 June 2019 02:25 (four years ago) link
i like the live Days of May way better than the studio version - my fave track on the album. Buck's solo is inspired! And his solo at the end of Subhuman burns my ears (in the best way). Some Enchanted Evening is better though in some ways (except for the lousy We Gotta Get Out of This Place) - the live Astronomy is awesome, and their Kick Out the Jams is KILL!
― Ornette is blowing bubblegum spiderwebs (outdoor_miner), Sunday, 30 June 2019 16:47 (four years ago) link
When I saw them live (the anniversary show promoting the box set) last days of may was a big highlight. Buck’s solo was *mwah*
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Sunday, 30 June 2019 17:06 (four years ago) link
yeah Last Days of May is the signature guitar showcase in the set
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 1 July 2019 00:46 (four years ago) link
All the foregoing comments OTM. I was just thinking about *Some Enchanted Evening* the other day. Not their best live album for sure, but super interesting that the two covers are both obviously and deliberately chosen Vietnam songs -- one the most popular for the soldiers in Vietnam (We gotta get out of this place) and the other the signature song of the Chicago 68 protests (Kick Out the Jams)
― stop torturing me ethel (broom air), Monday, 1 July 2019 01:13 (four years ago) link
"lame-cool dumb-deep" as mentioned above is like the best thing classic rock can do, looking forward to diving in beyond the hits
― global tetrahedron, Monday, 1 July 2019 01:51 (four years ago) link
i was at one of the gigs where they recorded "on your feet." 10/5/74 at the academy of music. the opening act was triumverat, sort of an ELP knockoff, though apparently it was originally supposed to have been t rex. that would have been preferable.
― Thus Sang Freud, Monday, 1 July 2019 11:10 (four years ago) link
The older I get, the higher this show goes on my "best shows ever" list...
Somewhere on ILM is a post about one of my favorite concert experiences: fIREHOSE opening up for Blue Oyster Cult at a dead movie theater in Riverside sometime in 1987. Watt babbled about opening up for his heroes and even wore his old Secret Treaties shirt. BOC hadn't released an album in years (Imaginos doesn't really count), there was maybe 30 people in the audience, the Bouchard brothers were long gone, and the soundsystem was mostly crap so the first third of the show was slogging pretty badly until Eric Bloom went on this five minute berserk rant about frustration, UFOs, being "On Tour Forever," paranoia, shitty gigs, etc. etc. that blew up into an AMAZING version of "Take Me Away" that simultaneously blew out the cobwebs and gave them a full tank of rocket fuel because the rest of the gig was the LA Forum in 1975, even if there weren't any lasers.― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, April 3, 2007 1:30 PM (twelve years ago)
BOC hadn't released an album in years (Imaginos doesn't really count), there was maybe 30 people in the audience, the Bouchard brothers were long gone, and the soundsystem was mostly crap so the first third of the show was slogging pretty badly until Eric Bloom went on this five minute berserk rant about frustration, UFOs, being "On Tour Forever," paranoia, shitty gigs, etc. etc. that blew up into an AMAZING version of "Take Me Away" that simultaneously blew out the cobwebs and gave them a full tank of rocket fuel because the rest of the gig was the LA Forum in 1975, even if there weren't any lasers.
― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, April 3, 2007 1:30 PM (twelve years ago)
― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 2 July 2019 02:38 (four years ago) link
damn that sounds good
a perfect blend of lame-cool dumb-deep
this is a great capsule description tbh, whenever i try to explain why BOC is great to people I always run up against a wall there.
― With an Extreme Burning (aka The Tormentor) (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Monday, 29 July 2019 06:44 (four years ago) link
Frontenac Chateau, baby
― a bevy of supermodels, musicians and Lena Dunham (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 5 September 2019 21:43 (four years ago) link
Playing the Big E on 9/15 and Staten Island in October. I am certainly going to one of those.
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 5 September 2019 22:07 (four years ago) link
Saw them a few weeks ago, and they so good that they shamed all the other geezer pleaser bands on the festival bill. They played The Vigil, Dancing in the Ruins, Harvest Moon, Hot Rails to Hell, it just blew my mind. Buck was sublime on guitar.
― A. Begrand, Thursday, 5 September 2019 22:32 (four years ago) link
Hell yes I’m up for some Vigil
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 5 September 2019 23:43 (four years ago) link
Buck's still one of the best guitarists on Earth
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 6 September 2019 03:45 (four years ago) link
been doing a discography run. is every böc album good? i'm on club ninja and it's fantastic
― american bradass (BradNelson), Sunday, 29 September 2019 23:13 (four years ago) link
Club Ninja has some really hokey moments ("Beat 'em Up" is pop metal trip by periodic Judas Priest collaborator Bob Halligan Jr., also recorded by Lee Aaron in 1985) but "Dancing in the Ruins is perfect. One of BÖC's absolute best tracks.
I've been super obsessed with 1998's Heaven Forbid album lately, especially "Harvest Moon", which is one of the best autumn songs I have ever heard.
― A. Begrand, Monday, 30 September 2019 00:54 (four years ago) link
Heaven Forbid has several great tracks but yeah harvest moon is the crown gem
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Monday, 30 September 2019 02:45 (four years ago) link
This thread also illustrates the shameful decline of Photobucket. It was horrible even during its heyday, but it has turned into something worse than death. The picture of Christopher Walken has a massive watermark and covered in blur. It's like Atonement, or the old practice of building churches on top of pagan monuments.
Something remains of the original, but it's distorted and blurred. Perhaps that's what the owners of Photobucket are trying to tell us. Perhaps Photobucket is actually an art project on the theme of transience and the impossibility of history. What's to say that the blurred, watermarked Walken isn't his true form? What if the pristine, non-watermarked Walken of 2007 was the aberration? What did the people of 2007 know, anyway? Why should we let them form the dominant narrative? It's 2019, and the present belongs to us.
― Ashley Pomeroy, Monday, 30 September 2019 17:15 (four years ago) link
I am at the theater in Tarrytown NY waiting for BOC to take the stage. It’s going to be awhile because right now there’s a guy in an old man hat with a funky acoustic guitar and after that there’s UFO who I have never heard nor thought about hearing but anywayFuck yeah BOC
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 22 February 2020 01:22 (four years ago) link
UFO is a fine band.
― a bevy of supermodels, musicians and Lena Dunham (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 22 February 2020 01:34 (four years ago) link
sweet should be awesomeI would like to see UFO
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 22 February 2020 01:42 (four years ago) link
Who is in the current iteration of UFO?
― henry s, Saturday, 22 February 2020 01:47 (four years ago) link
Rob De Luca, Vinnie Moore, Phil Mogg, Neil Carter, Andy Parker(pasted that in from their website)
― empire of the shunned (Matt #2), Saturday, 22 February 2020 01:57 (four years ago) link
Pete Way too unhealthy, Michael Schenker too crazy, Paul Raymond too dead so you only get 2/5 of the classic line-up (unless you think Mechanix is classic-era UFO in which case Neil Carter counts).
― empire of the shunned (Matt #2), Saturday, 22 February 2020 02:00 (four years ago) link