Blue Öyster Cult - Boxset Remasters 2012 *

I have the box set......I have a soft spot for Flat Out....it was quirky and lightweight but tuneful too.......got the remaster CD a few years back I thought it stood up quite well......

 

Yes, it starts with the drum fill, but it's not a remix that I can hear, they just lopped off the music box.

I don't have it, but I remember from looking at the track list that I thought the 2-CD Essential bettered it as a one stop collection as far as selection goes (for example there are some tracks on Don't Fear the Reaper that are missing from Workshop of the Telescopes, I think those are on Essential).

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The promo sampler (for/from the first set of remasters) God Save Blue Öyster Cult From Themselves, had a couple of unique tracks, "John L. Sullivan (demo)" has since been included on the box set, but "Hot Rails To Hell (live)" (from July 5, 1975, same as the live bonus tracks on Tyranny and Mutation) is still unique I think...?

 

Then Flaming Telepaths must be an alternate mix or something, because the music box continues into the drums on the Secret Treaties album version.

I forgot about that sampler. Yes, at the moment the live version of Hot Rails to Hell is still exclusive to that. IIRC, it's from Live in the West, which can be had as a bootleg.

There's also The Columbia Albums Collection Sampler - exclusive to it is a live rendition of The Who's Substitute, recorded in 1980 at The Civic Center in Providence, RI. To be honest, it's really not all that great. Certainly nowhere near their performance of The Beatles' I Want You (She's So Heavy) (which appears on the Rarities Disc).

 

You have point there, the music box is totaly gone, I'll have to do a critical listening. I would think I should have spotted a remix, also the way it goes into "Astronomy" sounds just like usual.

Forgot that other sampler, I was about to do an edit of my post. But if it's no good maybe it's safe to skip hunting that down then? I'd rather not bother...

 

They might have just spliced in the drum intro from the multitracks, that would do it.

Regarding Substitute, I'll leave it up to you... What do you think?

 

That's cool, a bit sloppy, but quite punky, I like it. The vocals are out of tune, but so were the Who's, so that's alright. I wouldn't mind having that, but I think the price and availability of that sampler solves the problem for me...

 

Didn't know the the later albums were that expensive now. Heaven Forbid is a MUST, IMO.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Forbid...=8-12&keywords=blue+oyster+cult+cult+classics

Here's a cheap way to get Heaven Forbid and Cult Classic.

Both are in individual dual cases housed in a slip case.

 

Been listening to the set all day (off and on) and really loving it, but the thing that pisses me off is that in between the time Sony stopped doing the original remasters then decided to start them up again for this set, that it wasn't worth it to them to continue adding the bonus tracks to the individual records. Opting instead to included a rarities disc, which is great, but lets face it - most of those tracks aren't up to the quality of the bonus tracks they added for...say...Agents of Fortune. When I heard that early, but incredibly different version of Fire Of Unknown origin, I nearly lost my sh**. Would have loved to have heard some of the early demos or scrapped material from albums like Mirrors, Fire of Unknown origin, or Cultusaurus Erectus. Bit of a missed opportunity if you ask me.

 

Is it possible the outakes for those albums may be substandard, those "later albums" were not nearly as strong as the first five IMO.

 

Indeed, there are outtakes from Cultösaurus Erectus & The Revölution by Night that have tie-ins to Imaginos. It would have been very nice to have these in the box, along with The Imaginos Demo Tape. Supposedly, Albert Bouchard proposed that some of the outtakes from Imaginos itself (likely finished versions of Gil Blanco County & The Girl That Love Made Blind) be included, but Sony/Columbia were very resistant to the idea & declined (again).

There are also early versions of Showtime & Stone of Love (both of which were re-recorded later for Curse of the Hidden Mirror). IIRC, some of the demos & outtakes appeared on The Buck Dharma Archive Series.

 

Ahem, errr, OK ... Wink wink nudge nudge. This is actually pretty easy to find if you look for it. It's a really nice companion to OYFOOYK.

 

True that! My fave BÖC album in fact.

 

That series is definitely worth getting if you're a certifiable Cult/Buck nut (like I am); not sure if there is a way to still get them though.

Also for the Cult Completist there's "The Red and The Black" trio/album - Buck, Jon Rogers, and Ron Riddle, with at least 2 songs that got covered by BÖC as well (Perfect Water and Harvest Moon). Wait - actually I think that CD was part of the archives releases.

OK, after some googling and looking on Buck's website, he has made the archive stuff available again, you can pick up all 4 CDs via this link, with him autographing one of the CDs - cost is $75:

http://merchtruckshop.bigcartel.com...me-1-2-3-the-red-and-the-black-cd-autographed


Or you can skip the Red/Black CD and just get the first 3 archive releases for a very reasonable $30, no autograph I believe:

http://merchtruckshop.bigcartel.com/product/buck-dharma-archives-volume-1-2-3-cd-s

 

My wallet is cringing, they'll be on the list as soon as I can afford them. Thanks so much for the links.

 

You're welcome.

I haven't listened to this set in a long time but pulled the CDs out to give 'em an airing again. Just listened to The Red & The Black since I remembered NOTHING about it and was psyched to hear Buck in a "power trio". Wondering why I hadn't played this more often....

....OK, now I remember. Nothing powerful about this trio. Pretty wimpy songs with big BIG '80's production making them sound even worse. You can almost smell the mullets and members only jackets (do either of those smell?). Big echoey drum sounds that are pretty bad. If not for the two Buck songs that I already dig (but done better by BÖC - Perfect Water & Harvest Moon) doubt I could sit through it again. Buck only sings a few of the songs and ones sung by Jon Rogers are really weak.

As a completist and Cultoholic I'm glad to have this "lost album" but can't recommend it songwise. I plan on spinning the three archive discs tomorrow; I remember them being hit & miss but the hits are grand slams, love hearing demos/early versions of stuff.

 

I found a few tracks from The Red & The Black floating around online. I think that the biggest problem with the production is actually that the drums are too small in sound, almost like a drum machine (actually probably triggers). Something like the drum sound on Candlemass' Nightfall would work much better IMHO.



Nevertheless, that can't help the weak songs. Oh, sweet what-could-have-been.