Blue Oyster Cult. Where Did You Come in?

This was a consequence of my Columbia Record House great leap forward. I had quite a few Beatles albums at this time and some stray hit-single-inspired albums like Eric Carmen and The Bee Gees "Main Course."

Ready to roar into the rock era at 16 in the summer of '76, I included "Agents of Fortune" in my 9 selections for a penny entry to the club. I think I'd heard of Don't Fear the Reaper more by reputation than actual air play, so I didn't have any great expectations when I selected AOF. They could be as good or worse than Aerosmith or the Doobie Brothers -- two others on that initial list of nine.

Well . . . never bought another album by those bands, but The Cult quickly seized my imagination. Loved AOF all the way through. Well recall the "sit up and take notice" jolt I got from This Ain't the Summer of Love as I was sunning myself on the back patio.

Probably waited for "Spectres" before I struck again, and then started going backwards. Even sent away for the computer print-out lyrics, once enough albums were acquired.

Saw them play at Jones Beach Theater on New York's Long Island in a rainstorm, with their lasers pierceing through the rain drops. That was some enchanted evening!

Stayed with them with moderate interest after that as the other albums fore and aft didn't quite grab me the way those middle three did.

Astronomy joined Don't Fear (The Reaper) when I compiled my top 40 of all-time in college in 1982 and the three of us spent a long day's journey into night counting them down, rotating among us. I think it had to consume two nights now that I think about it.

Only recently did I learn that so many of the impenetrable early lyrics were the building blocks of a diabolical grand scheme by Sandy Pearlman to tell a non-linear sci-fi story of his through the band's music.

Now that's what I call a rubric scarab!

 

Agents of Fortune was my first BÖC record....

 

Their first Columbia album Loved the first three and the first live album. I was disappointed by Agents

 

The Revolution By Night (still my favourite).

Moved backwards from there.

 

On a friend's recommendation I bought the first album when it dropped in 1972. I really liked the first three albums, and they are still in heavy rotation, but I checked out without buying Agents of Fortune; Don't Fear the Reaper didn't appeal and was so overplayed in 1976. I've heard all the albums, but only the first three did it for me.

 

Have no idea where I came "in", they've just always been around, but after listening to their albums separately, I like their 2nd album best.

 

In the beginning more or less (high school)
Creem was pushing T&M when it came out. Columbia would do whole page ads even the back cover.
(the first album was just dead on arrival)
I bought it without hearing one note. F words cannot capture the feeling of hearing all that in your face music for the first time
I bought the first album soon after, but I will admit it took awhile for much of it to connect except Stairway. Screams, and Cities.

 

I came in on Agents also...I was 17 in the summer of '76. Got Spectres and Mirrors. Didn't like Cultosaurus at the time, but I sure dig it now. Got back on board with Unknown Origin.

....then I went back and got the earlier ones and the live albums. I love BOC.

 

Agents Of Fortune in 1976-77. A favorite among me and my buddies. Spectres soon after. The next albums were On Your Feet Or On Your Knees and Some Enchanted Evening -both probably 1978-79.

 

Started with "Don't Fear The Reaper" - I was 7 or 8 and the music and lyrics transfixed me. Later it was Some Enchanted Evening, I was around 10 then and a friend had the album, I went to his house to listen and the cover freaked me out. Got into them even more with Fire Of Unknown Origin, but became true fanatic through a roommate I had who was a huge BOC fan in the late '90s.

 

I probably heard Burnin' for You on the radio.

 

Club Ninja........probably around the spring of 1986. I remember buying the cassette because I thought the cover looked kinda cool. I had heard of BOC, but knew very little about them. Of course I worked my way backwards through their discography, and Secret Treaties became a favorite very quickly. I know Club Ninja takes a beating for being BOC's worst album, but hey....it was my first.

 

Bought the first album on release, followed that up with a riotous concert at the old Schaefer Music Festival in 1973. It featured a very drunk Richard Meltzer as MC and lots of m-80's being tossed around. Fun times.
First 3 albums are gold for me, Agents of Fortune has moments, and the Stalk Forrest Group St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings is a must have.

 

Freshman year in college (fall 1973) and one of the guys who lived down the hall in my dorm had their S/T first album from 1972. I recall listening to "Cities on Flame With Rock & Roll" and really liking the song, as well as, several other cuts from the album.

 

That's two of us love that album!!

 

`Tyranny And Mutation' - that ad in Rolling Stone with the photo of Buck and Eric with
their `dueling guitars'......I couldn't resist. It is still one of my favourite albums. Saw them
live this past summer and I enjoyed the concert immensely.

 

The Reaper brought me, as was the case for many others, I think.

A great band. The American Black Sabbath? Hmm.....not sure. BOC are a lot stranger than Sabbath.

 

The Cult had a pretty splashy introduction in Rolling Stone as I recall. Not just the ads but the reviews of their first two albums were gushing.

 

I bought the debut album when it first came out and I liked it a lot. But it was 'On Your Feet or On Your Knees' that made me realize how good they were, and I've been a fanatic since.

 

Fire Of Unkown Origin

 

Cultosaurus Erectus. Then backwards, and forwards

 

The Cult were the one band that I liked that Rolling Stone also seemed to like. Could never understand why. Recently I've learned there was a lot of payola going on involving Wenner. Plus Sandy Pearlman was a rock critic. Not hard for me to see where the twain met there.

 

I discovered Tyranny and Mutation in the late 80's and I remember being just instantly blown away by "The Red & the Black".

 

Nice one!

 

I like Club Ninja!