01 - The subhuman 
02 - Harvester of soul 
03 - Hot rails to hell 
04 - The red and the black 
05 - Seven screaming diz-busters 
06 - Buck's boogie 
07 - (Then came the) Last days of May 
08 - Cities on flame 
09 - ME 262 
10 - Before the Kiss (A redcap) 
11 - Maserati GT (I ain't got you) 
12 - Born to be wild

Musicians:
Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser - lead guitar, vocals 
Allen Lanier - rhythm guitar, keyboards
Joe Bouchard - bass,  vocals 
Albert Bouchard - drums, guitar, vocals 

On Your Feet Or On Your Knees, Blue Öyster Cult's first live album (there would be two more), was also their first to peak inside the Top 40 best-sellers, which is more of an indication of the audience the group was building up through extensive touring than of its quality. Songs that had a tight, concentrated impact on studio albums got elongated here, and that impact was dissipated. And the song selection left a great deal to be desired if this was to be a fitting summation of the band's career so far. Perhaps by their 1974 tour, BÖC had dropped such classics from their first album as "Transmaniacon MC," "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep," and "Stairway to the Stars," but the less impressive material from the third album was no substitute. The album did mark the first commercial release of a version of "Buck's Boogie" as well as covers of The Yardbirds' "I Ain't Got You" and Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild." --- William Ruhlmann, Rovi

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   01 Godzilla                 play
   02 Golden Age Of Leather
   03 Death Valley Nights
   04 Searchin' For Celine
   05 Fireworks                play
   06 R.U. Ready 2 Rock
   07 Celestial The Queen
   08 Goin' Through The Motions
   09 I Love The Night
   10 Nosferatu

Personnel:
* Eric Bloom—vocals, guitar; lead vocals on 2,4,6,8
* Joe Bouchard—bass guitar, vocals, guitar; lead vocals on 7,10
* Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser—lead and rhythm guitars, vocals; lead vocals on 1,2,9
* Albert Bouchard—drums, vocals, harmonica; lead vocals on 3,5
* Allen Lanier—keyboards, guitar
* Newark Boys Chorus—vocals (on "Golden Age of Leather")

Blue Öyster Cult scored big with Agents of Fortune and its now-classic rock hit, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." It took the album into the stratosphere and the band's profile with it; it put them in the visible pop space they'd tried for years to get to. But upon arrival, they found that kind of success difficult to respond to. Not only did the Cult want to respond, they wanted to cement their place. Spectres is not the masterpiece that Agents of Fortune is, but it didn't need to be. However, upon hearing Spectres again, the album offers proof that the commercial and creative bent of Agents of Fortune was still in place at certain moments, and the band laid out a major single in the opening cut, "Godzilla," a tune -- however silly it may be -- that is every bit as memorable as "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." It's not the only big number here either: "Goin' Through the Motions" and the truly spooky "I Love the Night" by Buck Dharma also scored. The former track is a wonderful blend of Tommy James & the Shondells, Boston, and Mott the Hoople's roots rock glam attack. Written by Eric Bloom and Ian Hunter, it's a stunning single. It sounds less like the Cult than anything they'd recorded, but as a classic rock & roll single it succeeds in spades. And "I Love the Night" (with its guitar part resembling "Reaper" for a moment) is one of rock & roll's truly strange and seductive love songs. There is more spook and darkness here, of course, in the album's closer, "Nosferatu." As a closer, "I Love the Night" may have been a better choice, but this track has all those layered harmonies, a reverbed piano, Dharma's power chords, and lyric fills that never lose their sense of menace and once more, a story. BOC were the only band in their league, walking the line between AOR rock and metal, and offering such detailed narratives. Spectres also contains tunes that were ready-made for touring, which is what the Cult did immediately after, resulting in the wildly successful live album Some Enchanted Evening. In sum, the only reason Spectres is not regarded as a classic is because it followed Agents of Fortune. Other than the false funk of "Searchin' for Celine," it's flawless as a finely tuned tome that begins with sci-fi humor and ends with gothic horror -- all of which can be hummed to. --Thom Jurek, allmusic.com

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1. That Was Me
2. Box In My Head
3. Tainted Blood
4. Nightmare Epiphany
5. Edge Of The World
6. The Machine
7. Train True (Lennie's Song)
8. The Return Of St. Cecilia
9. Stand And Fight
10. Florida Man
11. The Alchemist
12. Secret Road
13. There's A Crime
14. Fight

Eric Bloom - vocals
Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser - lead guitar
Richie Castellano - keyboards, rhythm guitar
Danny Miranda - bass
Jules Radino - drums

Indulge me, will you? Blue Oyster Cult has been part of my personal musical history since high school. Yeah, I mean the early to mid-Seventies. Blue Oyster Cult (1972), my favorite Tyranny And Mutation (1973), Secret Treaties (1974) and, of course, their chart topping Agents Of Fortune, which brought them mainstream success, were in constant rotation on my record player. BOC, as they are affectionately known, toured relentlessly and became one of the first bands to pioneer the use of laser effects in their shows. In 1977 or 1978 (my recollection is fuzzy), I saw my first laser-guided BOC show at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. It was pretty mind blowing.

As fate would have it, I lost interest with the releases Mirrors (1979) and the lackluster Cultosaurus Erectus (1980). Advancing some 25 years forward, my last encounter with BOC was in 2004 at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, outside of Philadelphia. (This was four years after the release of Curse Of The Hidden Mirror which, at the time, I never heard of. Apparently, according to some, the album didn't fare well.) I was there to see UFO who opened for them, but stuck around for a few songs. What struck me funny about that BOC show was that either Buck Dharma or Eric Bloom, not sure, one of them, took the stage wearing pressed jeans and a button-down white Oxford shirt. Had the once daring BOC, which inspired so many bands over the years, been domesticated?

Well, so much for some personal history and reflection, and on to what's new and next. With Dharma and Bloom now in their Seventies, Blue Oyster Cult now returns with their fifteenth studio album, The Symbol Remains. Frankly, it's hard not to review this album without listening to it through the ears of BOC's fabled early career. Those early albums with creative, imaginative and, quite honestly, quite ground breaking recordings. It's best, perhaps, if you can as a fan, not to judge this album by those legends.

Nevertheless, with The Symbol Remains, there is some quintessential BOC happening here. Not the least of which is Blue Oyster Cult's strong, twin guitar, melodic hard rock infused with some proto-metal edge, solid groove, and catchy hooks in melody, vocal harmony and refrains. These things rise large in such tunes as The Machine, That Was Me, Box In My Head, and Edge Of The World with it's fine vocal harmony. Additionally, BOC can still surprise with some novelty. Nightmare Epiphany has this interesting beat and groove that sounds like Sixties upbeat pop music while the riffs and guitar lines add to the rhythmic motion. For Train True, BOC drops in some harmonica and develops a bit of blues groove for this speedy number. Later, once again showing their musical versatility, BOC offers Florida Man and ventures into latent Southern rock territory. Alternatively, the band gets into their heavy metal groove with Stand And Fight with its thick riffs and beefy rhythm section where both bass and drums thunder along. It may be the heaviest song on the album. All in all, I found Blue Oyster Cult's The Symbol Remains to be interesting, entertaining, and sometimes a smidgen provocative, as Blue Oyster Cult should be. Long time fans, taking time to absorb all things, should enjoy this album. Recommended. ---Craig Hartranft, dangerdog.com

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  01 This Ain't the Summer of Love             play
  02 True Confessions
  03 (Don't Fear) The Reaper
  04 E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)
  05 The Revenge of Vera Gemini
  06 Sinful Love
  07 Tattoo Vampire
  08 Morning Final
  09 Tenderloin
  10 Debbie Denise
  11 Fire of Unknown Origin
  12 Sally (Demo Version)
  13 (Don't Fear) The Reaper (Demo Version)
  14 Dance the Night Away (Demo Version)      play

Personnel: 
Allen Lanier (vocals, guitar, keyboards); 
Donald Roeser (vocals, guitar, synthesizer, percussion); 
Eric Bloom (vocals, guitar, percussion); 
Albert Bouchard (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, drums, percussion); 
Joe Bouchard (vocals, piano); 
Patti Smith (vocals); 
Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker (horns).

If ever there were a manifesto for 1970s rock, one that prefigured both the decadence of the decade's burgeoning heavy metal and prog rock excesses and the rage of punk rock, "This Ain't the Summer of Love," the opening track from Agents of Fortune, Blue Öyster Cult's fourth album, was it. The irony was that while the cut itself came down firmly on the hard rock side of the fence, most of the rest of the album didn't. Agents of Fortune was co-produced by longtime Cult record boss Sandy Pearlman, Murray Krugman, and newcomer David Lucas, and in addition, the band's lyric writing was being done internally with help from poet-cum-rocker Patti Smith (who also sings on "The Revenge of Vera Gemini"). Pearlman, a major contributor to the band's songwriting output, received a solitary credit while critic Richard Meltzer, whose words were prevalent on the Cult's previous outings, was absent. The album yielded the band's biggest single with "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," a multi-textured, deeply melodic soft rock song with psychedelic overtones, written by guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser. The rest of the album is ambitious in that it all but tosses aside the Cult's proto-metal stance and instead recontextualizes their entire stance. It's still dark, mysterious, and creepy, and perhaps even more so, it's still rooted in rock posturing and excess, but gone is the nihilistic biker boogie in favor of a more tempered -- indeed, nearly pop arena rock -- sound that gave Allen Lanier's keyboards parity with Dharma's guitar roar, as evidenced by "E.T.I.," "Debbie Denise," and "True Confessions." This is not to say that the Cult abandoned their adrenaline rock sound entirely. Cuts like "Tattoo Vampire" and "Sinful Love" have plenty of feral wail in them. Ultimately, Agents of Fortune is a solid record, albeit a startling one for fans of the band's earlier sound. It also sounds like one of restless inspiration, which is, in fact, what it turned out to be given the recordings that came after. It turned out to be the Cult's last consistent effort until they released Fire of Unknown Origin in 1981. ---Thom Jurek, AllMusic Review

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1. R.U. Ready 2 Rock - 6:07
2. E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) - 5:16
3. Astronomy - 8:27
4. Kick Out The Jams (MC5 cover) - 3:07
5. Godzilla - 4:08
6. (Don't Fear) The Reaper - 6:09
7. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (The Animals cover) - 4:38

Tracks 1-4 recorded 13.04.78, Atlanta, GA
Tracks 5 & 7 recorded 1.06.78, Newcastle, England
Track 6 recorded 9.04.78, Little Rock, AR

Personnel:
- Eric Bloom - lead vocals, stun guitar
- Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser - lead guitar, vocals
- Allen Lanier - keyboards, guitar
- Joe Bouchard - bass, vocals
- Albert Bouchard - drums, vocals

Formed in 1969 and initially heralded as potential U.S. rivals to Ozzy Osbourne’s legendary Black Sabbath, Long Island’s Blue Oyster Cult’s early releases delivered the kind of ear-splittingly intense combination of tight, frenetic guitar noise and apocalyptic lyrical imagery guaranteed to delight heavy metal diehards everywhere. The band’s fiery, occult-influenced stage presence and hedonistic lifestyle quickly helped them build a devoted following, although (strongly refuted) allegations of neo-Naziism were hardly conducive to more mainstream acceptance.

Fast-forward to1977, and the Cult’s sixth album Spectres, while hardly pastoral folk, palpably lacks the raw-boned fury of the five-piece’s hell raising youth. The previous year’s Agents of Fortune, with a hit single, '‘(Don’t Fear) The Reaper’', which featured on the soundtrack of John Carpenter’s classic horror flick Halloween, had brought the group widespread success for the first time, and this seemed to encourage them to soften their sound into something approaching radio-friendly adult rock.

Reissued in 2007 with four bonus tracks, Spectres keeps singer Eric Bloom’s preposterous sci-fi/fantasy-influenced lyrical posturing resolutely to the fore, but the musical backing mixes trademark power-riffing with slower, psychedelic passages and slick vocal harmonies which bring to mind vintage King Crimson, or even Pink Floyd, at their best and the likes of Chicago and REO Speedwagon at their worst. The highlight is original album closer ‘'Nosferatu'’, a brooding slice of epic progressive rock which marries the band’s sinister roots to their newfound melodic sensibilities with winning effect. Unfortunately, heavier numbers such as ‘'Godzilla'’ and the lamentable ‘'R.U. Ready to Rock'’ are no more subtle than their titles suggest, displaying the kind of asinine self-parody on which The Darkness later built an entire (and, it now appears, mercifully brief) career, and the additional songs, including a gut-wrenchingly awful version of The Ronettes’ ‘'Be My Baby'’ will appeal to nobody bar the most obsessive completists.

1978’s live opus Some Enchanted Evening is a greatest hits collection in all but name, with Bloom and his cohorts on typically overblown form as they blast their way through established Cult favourites such as '‘Astronomy'’ and the aforementioned ‘'(Don’t Fear) The Reaper'’. Though sometimes shamelessly self-indulgent, the band’s quality of musicianship is evident throughout the set, and fans will enjoy bonus versions of ‘'Summer of Love'’ and Steppenwolf’s ‘'Born To Be Wild'’. This legacy edition also includes a live DVD, and overall offers a better-value package and a more accurate representation of Blue Oyster Cult’s appeal than the polished but safe Spectres. ---Chris White, BBC Review

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01. The Red & The Black (Albert Bouchard, Eric Bloom, Sandy Pearlman) – 4:24
02. O.D.'d On Life Itself (Bloom, A.Bouchard, Joe Bouchard, Pearlman) – 4:47
03. Hot Rails To Hell (J.Bouchard) – 5:11
04. 7 Screaming Diz-Busters (A.Bouchard, J.Bouchard, Donald Roeser, Pearlman) – 6:59
Side two - The Red
05. Baby Ice Dog (A.Bouchard, Bloom, Patti Smith) – 3:28
06. Wings Wetted Down (A.Bouchard, J.Bouchard) – 4:12
07. Teen Archer (Roeser, Bloom, Richard Meltzer) – 3:57
08. Mistress Of The Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl) (A.Bouchard, Pearlman) – 5:05
2001 CD reissue Bonus Tracks:
09. Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll (Live) (Pearlman, Roeser, A.Bouchard) – 4:41
10. Buck's Boogie (Studio Version) (Pearlman, Bloom, A.Bouchard) – 5:19
11. 7 Screaming Diz-Busters (Live) (A.Bouchard, J.Bouchard, Roeser, Pearlman) – 14:00
12. O.D.'d On Life Itself (Live) (Bloom, A.Bouchard, J.Bouchard, Pearlman) – 4:51

Personnel:
- Donald Buck Dharma Roeser - guitar, vocals
- Eric Bloom - vocals, stun guitar and all synthesizers
- Joe Bouchard - bass, keyboards, and lead vocals on Hot Rails To Hell and Wings Wetted Down
- Albert Bouchard - drums, vocals
- Allen Lanier - keyboards, rhythm guitar

On Tyranny and Mutation, the Blue Öyster Cult achieved the seemingly impossible: They brightened their sound and deepened their mystique. The band picked up its tempos considerably on this sophomore effort, and producers Sandy Pearlman and Murray Krugman added a lightning bolt of high-end sonics to their frequency range. Add to this the starling lyrical contributions of Pearlman, rock critic Richard Meltzer, and poet cum rocker Patti Smith (who was keyboardist Allen Lanier's girlfriend at the time), the split imagery of Side One's thematic, The Red and Side Two's The Black, and the flip-to-wig-city, dark conspiracy of Gawlik's cover art, and an entire concept was not only born and executed, it was received. The Red side of Tyranny and Mutation is its reliance on speed, punched-up big guitars, and throbbing riffs such as in "The Red and the Black," "O.D'd on Life Itself," "Hot Rails to Hell," and "7 Screaming Diz-Busters," all of which showcased the biker boogie taken to a dizzyingly extreme boundary; one where everything flies by in a dark blur, and the articulations of that worldview are informed as much by atmosphere as idea. This is screaming, methamphetamine-fueled rock and roll that was all about attitude, mystery, and a sense of nihilistic humor that was deep in the cuff. Here was the crossroads: the middle of rock's Bermuda triangle where BÖC marked the black cross of the intersection between New York's other reigning kings of mystery theater and absurd excess: the Velvet Underground and Kiss -- two years before their first album -- and the " 'it's all F#$&%* so who gives a rat's ass" attitude that embodied the City's punk chic half-a-decade later. On the Red Side, beginning with the syncopated striations of "Baby Ice Dog," in which Allen Lanier's piano was as important as Buck Dharma's guitar throb, elements of ambiguity and bluesy swagger enter into the mix. Eric Bloom was the perfect frontman: he twirled the words around in his mouth before spitting them out with requisite piss-and-vinegar, and a sense of decadent dandy that underscored the music's elegance, as well as its power. He was at ease whether the topic was necromancy, S&M, apocalyptic warfare, or cultural dissolution. By the LP's end, on "Mistress of the Salmon Salt," Bloom was being covered over by a kind of aggressively architected psychedelia that kept the '60s at bay while embracing the more aggressive, tenser nature of the times. While BÖC's Secret Treaties is widely recognized as the Cult's classic album, one would do well to consider Tyranny and Mutation in the same light. ---Thom Jurek, Rovi

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