What do you think of Blue Oyster Cult?*

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steveo, Aug 23, 2018.

  1. 905

    905 Senior Member

    Location:
    Midwest USA
    I love Shooting Shark.
    That's my jam as the young people at work would say.
     
  2. bataclan2002

    bataclan2002 All You Need Is Now.

    I love this band. Some random thoughts:
    Favorite albums are Secret Treaties and Fire...
    (And I secretly love The Revolution by Night. Wait! Did I just post that on the internet?)
    I think not having a strong identifiable image during their heyday prevented them from being bigger.
    They are hard rock with imagination and wit. And chops!
    In a better world, In Thee would have been a huge hit in the summer of ‘79.
     
  3. bataclan2002

    bataclan2002 All You Need Is Now.

    +1
    Used to remind me of Billy Idol’s Eyes Without A Face (similar production) which was out about the same time.
     
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  4. moops

    moops Senior Member

    Location:
    Geebung, Australia
    I only had a couple of albums, then luckily picked up the Columbia Albums Collection when it came out and feel for them in a big way.
    I can't put my finger on what it is about them ....... their lyrics are fantastic and I get a weird vibe when I listen to their stuff.
    It's not strictly metal at all, but it's heavy in a sense that there's deeper stuff going on than just rocking out.
    And it's great discovering some of their lesser known albums, Mirrors for instance has become one of my favourites.
    I think I said this in another BOC thread, but once the album has finished it feels like something as messed with your internal building blocks, and somehow things are just a little different.
     
  5. stax o' wax

    stax o' wax Forum Resident

    Location:
    The West
    BOC in the 70's and early 80's was referred to as "the thinking man's heavy metal band"
    A step above many other rock bands of their era.
    Truly one of the great American rock acts.
     
  6. tdcrjeff

    tdcrjeff Senior Member

    Location:
    Hermosa Beach, CA
    Not one of my top favorites, but I enjoy listening to them. Hard to categorize as anything other than "rock music" as some of their songs have a wide range of styles. My favorite song is The Last Days of May. Saw them once in the summer of 1980 with Black Sabbath on the Black&Blue tour.
     
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  7. Steveo

    Steveo Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Coral Springs
    I saw that Tour as well and I Love them !
     
  8. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident

    Location:
    America
    Love me some B.O.C.

    I love all eras. Sure, some albums are better than others, but they managed to be pretty damn consistent when you look at their studio albums from start to finish.
     
  9. Olompali

    Olompali Forum Resident

  10. Doggiedogma

    Doggiedogma "Think this is enough?" "Uhh - nah. Go for broke."

    Location:
    Barony of Lochmere
    Love BOC, great live band then and now. My favorite album is Secret Treaties and I also really enjoy their '80's output of Fire Of Unknown Origin & The Revolution By Night. They band's creativity diminished when Sandy Pearlman left, and was gone when the Bouchards were replaced.
     
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  11. Thievius

    Thievius Blue Oyster Cult-ist

    Location:
    Syracuse, NY
    I can listen to any BOC album and find enjoyment aside from the horrific Club Ninja and about half of Revolution by Night. (Even so, there are a few good tunes on Club Ninja, it just goes off a cliff at one point.)

    I've also come to really love their post Columbia stuff. Curse of the Hidden Mirror and Heaven Forbid are great.

    Favorite album: Mirrors. Yes, Mirrors.
    That and Some Enchanted Evening were my introduction to BOC so they hold a special place in my heart. Though I bought On You Feet/Knees early on as well and Spectres went into heavy rotation in '79.

    I'm also a proud owner of the box set in addition to several of the older Columbia CK releases. The latter can still be found quite cheap, even if the former has skyrocketed in price.

    So yes, I love BOC. I'm a fan.
     
  12. stax o' wax

    stax o' wax Forum Resident

    Location:
    The West

    I don't think they were "chasing dollars on the novelty bus" at all on Spectres the album made after Agents Of Fortune.
    I guess you could make that allegation about Mirrors - because it was mellow and had a slick production?....another discussion for another day.
    In fact I would say Spectres was a quintessential BOC effort up to that point and could be considered the sister album to Agents.
    It had a couple FM radio accessible tunes such as the power chord monster - Godzilla, and R U ready to rock (a song written to open up their live shows with).
    But mostly Spectres is a thoughtful and artistic statement from the Oyster boys and has some of their finest material on it - Death Valley Nights, Golden Age Of Leather, I love The Night, Fireworks, Nosferatu.
    It wasn't a commercial album at all and it's only crime seems to be that it didn't use boc's hard rocking template from the first three albums, also the album was too brainy and esoteric for the average Joe metal head....and that was the real problem if you can call that a problem.
    I personally think Spectres continued the BOC stretch of innovative album statements that started back with the debut.
     
  13. tinnox

    tinnox Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    Decided to put on some classic B.O.C. vinyl due to this thread


    [​IMG]
     
  14. stax o' wax

    stax o' wax Forum Resident

    Location:
    The West
    That's a damn fine album in the grand tradition of BOC's strange universe.
     
  15. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Wasn't thinking Spectres specifically, more Mirrors, Cultasaurus Erectus, Fire of Unknown Origin, Club Ninja. Not all bad albums but much more commercial than what came before, and some really silly stuff like "Joan Crawford."
     
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  16. Dave 81828384

    Dave 81828384 Unremarkable Member

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Could use that as a slogan for October 17th (legalization day in Canada) :laugh:
     
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  17. Olompali

    Olompali Forum Resident

    Initially that was my reaction...egads!
    But then when one considers the oeurve of their repertoire which is a rock n roll band reveling in an upgrade of drive-in B movie themes like hot rods, UFOs, magic, bikers, spies and monsters, Joan Crawford fits right in. Whatever happened to Baby Jane anyway?:yikes:
    More camp than silly but hey it's over in 3 or so minutes.
    :cool:

    Now, don't get me started on Don Kirshner and the Marshall Plan.:hurl:
     
  18. aroney

    aroney Who really gives a...?

    Quick update - Just saw 'em (again for the 13th time) and they were great (as usual). Shooting Shark was a nice surprise and Richie C. once again pushed Buck to even greater heights.

    Buck carries more of the vocal load (and sounds great) these days, but when Eric did his thing he was spot on too!

    Love BOC! Raise your CAN OF BEER ON HIGH!
     
  19. Diamond Dog

    Diamond Dog Cautionary Example

    I saw them last week. The last time I saw them was in 1980 - 38 years ago nearly to the day. They laid a beating on Ted Nugent's dumb-arsed Guitar Army under the hot sun of that August aftenoon. At that time, they already had 9 albums under their belts. They were about to have one of the biggest singles of their career ( of evil ). Let that simmer in your brainpan for a minute...

    OK then.... They are surprisingly entertaining even at this stage : tight, vocally strong with a great rhythm section and Buck Dharma continues to amaze with his effortless-looking wizardry. I have to admit that I approached this show with some trepidation but ended up really enjoying it. And no, Dharma still hasn't bothered to figure out a way to transition from that arpeggio part to the main body of the solo in Don't Fear The Reaper and he still flubs it in the same adorable way he did on that old live album from years ago. Buck don't care. Me neither.

    D.D.
     
  20. LandHorses

    LandHorses I contain multitudes

    Location:
    New Joisey
    I like them a bit. I saw them a few times in the early 80s arounf Fire Of Unknown Origin/ETL..........then later saw the 40th reunion in 2012. As others said, the 1st 3 albums are my favorite, then Agents and Cultosaurus. Mirrors is underrated. Revolution By Night is the first one I didn't like (save for "Shooting Shark"), and not crazy about their albums afterwards.

    Lots of great contributing songwriters.......especially "The Revenge of Vera Gemini," "Baby Ice Dog," "Career of Evil," "Debbie Denise," "Fire of Unknown Origin," and "Shooting Shark."
     
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  21. GregM

    GregM The expanding man

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    It's like asking, "what do you think of rock n roll?"

    They epitomize what rock is all about. Burnin for You, the quintessential hit. Perfect riff, perfect lyrics, perfect guitar solo.

     
  22. Joseph Sipocz

    Joseph Sipocz Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    Yes - Spectres is my favorite BOC album. There is a variety of styles, well-skewed tales, well sung and played. "I Love the Night" makes me feel like I did when I used to cruise with friends all hours of the night, and reminds me of the Dark Shadows tv show that was being rerun out of the Chicago around that time.

    I dropped out with Mirrors but enjoyed most of Fire of Unknown Origin and finally saw them live in 1983 at Purdue University. If they came to town, I'd definitely go.
     
  23. 99thfloor

    99thfloor Senior Member

    Location:
    Sweden
    Absolutely agree, it is an excellent album (those songs mentioned especially), and I don't understand how anyone can like Agents and dismiss Spectres, they are as you say sister albums, the only difference is Spectres is better i.m.o., because it is more consitent. (I also like Mirrors, it has a softer production, but I don't see it as especially "commercial", or whatever, many of the songs are way too complex to be called that.)

    :winkgrin:
     
  24. gregorya

    gregorya I approve of this message

    Hey, no problem... thanks for changing it! :)
     
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  25. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    The thing is, on the first three albums they weren't B-movie at all - they were deep, dark, H.P. Lovecraft territory. They were like a good Stephen King novel scored as a musical. To me it seemed like they started with a real dark and foreboding vibe but later on decided that they were going to push the B-movie direction.
     
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