Poll: Pick 2 Favorite Blue Oyster Cult Album (Including Live Albums)

1. Cultosaurus Erectus
2. Fire Of Unknown Origin

 

+1

 

I vote the 1st album. I was listening to it the other day. It's unique enough on is own to almost be a different band.

 

I would go in the same order followed by On Your Feet and Agents of Fortune. I jumped off after Fire of Unknown Origin.

 

BOC and Secret Treaties.

 

Tyranny And Mutation
Cultosaurus Erectus

 

Fire and Revolution by Night.

Revolution seems to be a very underrated album and doesn't get much recognition. Is it really that bad? When I have played it for people that are familiar with BOC they are usually surprised that it is pretty good. It seems a lot of people write it off.

 

Spectres is a fantastic album. I love that one.

 

I wonder what the people voting for Agents Of Fortune think about Spectres? I see those two (along with Some Enchanted Evening and possibly Mirrors) as being of one piece and the second of three stages, the melodic/mature period, almost on par with the "Black & White" period but with a different flavour.

The voting for the first five albums mirrors(!) pretty much how I rate them, but the slump that comes in with Spectres is unfortunate because it is really on the same level as Agents Of Fortune, it doesn't have the big hit but it is more even. I had to give it my vote to it, and also to the poor orphan Mirrors which is much better than it's rumour, to better the statistics (sorry for not playing by the rules...).

 

BÖC are one of my fave bands.

My two faves used to be the 1st and Secret Treaties, but Heaven Forbid has jumped to the top of my list, I love that album, so for me now it is HF then the 1st (then ST).

Btw, you left "Cult Classic" off your list. Although it does not contain "new" songs, it is re-recordings of 12 songs (plus 2 without vocals if you dig karaoke I guess). Some people turn up their noses at re-recordings, but it is a release by the band BÖC and considered a "new album" at the time it came out.


Here's my high-archery list of the studio albums, in order of my preference as it stands right now:

Heaven Forbid
Blue Öyster Cult
Secret Treaties
Cult Classic
Cultosaurus Erectus
Fire Of Unknown Origin
Tyranny and Mutation
Spectres
Curse Of the Hidden Mirror
Club Ninja
Agents Of Fortune
Mirrors
The Revolution By Night
Bad Channels

I don't consider Imaginos a BÖC album per se so I do not include it in my list above - it is an album by Albert Bouchard & Sandy Pearlman with many guest musicians that eventually also included some members of BÖC so CBS could put it out as a band album.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginos

Note: Agents of Fortune has two of my favorite Cult songs (Reaper and ETI) but other than those I find this album a total bore, thus it is pretty far down my scale.

 

I was one of those that didn't really appreciate BOC on vinyl (yea, I'm that old). . . . . . . until I saw them live. I have been to a LOT of rock-n-roll shows, and BOC is one of my favorite live bands. For that reason, I also prefer their live recordings to the studio stuff.

 

Secret Treaties and Agents of Fortune.

 

I don't know about including Cult Classic, even if the band considers it a normal studio release. It was a re-recording of their greatest hits so that they'd own them, not Columbia, and could profit from their future use. It's ok, but I don't think any of these versions are better than the originals. Maybe I should give it a re-listen.

I would include the Stalk Forrest Group album though. It's BOC to me, and better than a few of their later albums, IMO.

 

Blue Oyster Cult and Tyranny and Mutation. Secret Treaties is a close third.

 

Went with their Debut and Agents of Fortune

 

I picked Secret Treaties and Fire of Unknown Origin, but almost all their studio albums are good worth listening to.

 

1.Secret Treaties
2.Tyranny and Mutation

 

I concur - with the clarification that I don't think these are the best BOC albums, just my favorites. These were released at a time in my youth where music was everything to me.

 

I've loved the music of BOC since my youth(grew up in the 80's) and have had many a round of listening spurts and phases with them. My favorite era is their first 4 albums(debut up to "On Your Feet") and "Cultosaurus/Origin". "Agents" thru "Mirrors" was an odd, although interesting period with "Spectres" as my favorite of that album run. "Revolution by Night" and "Club Ninja" hear them losing their sense of direction and the quality falls, and while I like most of "Imaginos", it can't be denied that it's a modified and manipulated release, although, it's done deviously well, at least from a presentable recorded form. The latter day releases in "Heaven Forbid" and "Curse of the Hidden Mirror" are mostly dominated by Donald Roeser, offering some good solid material like "Harvest Moon", "Dance on Stilts", "Live for Me" and "Stone of Love", for example, and despite numerous lineup changes since the nineties, they've managed to continue to be a functioning, active band.

Anyhow, my top favorite album is "Tyranny and Mutation" followed by

Secret Treaties
On Your Feet or On Your Knees
Blue Oyster Cult
Fire of Unknown Origin
Cultosaurus Erectus
Spectres

 

Imaginos is an underrated classic in my book.

 

The results are not unexpected, though I rate Spectres as better than Fire of Unknown Origin -I know this is a minority opinion. I also rate Agents of Fortune over their first 2 albums (a very close call).

 

Ah, somebody else!!!!

 

that was tough. I almost went with Secret Treaties and On Your Feet.

But then I'd have to change my avatar. I picked Tyranny and Treaties.

Tyranny is just really weird, some of it sounds almost thrown together and I assume it was. One of Bucks solo's on Mistress of the Salmon Salts sounds like he just ran out of time and ideas and they just let the tape roll. I like it.

 

Secret Treaties and Heaven Forbid

 

I forgot to vote for Treaties/Tyranny