Blue Öyster Cult -
Blue Öyster Cult (us 1972)
Formed: 1967, Stony Brook, Long Island, NY, United States
Members:
*Eric Bloom (vocals, guitar),
*Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (lead guitar, vocals),
*Allen Lanier (rhythm guitar, keyboards, bass),
*Albert Bouchard (drums, guitar, vocals, 1967-81),
*Joe Bouchard (bass, vocals, 1970-86),
*Rick Downey (drums, 1973-85),
*Les Bronstein (vocals),
*John Wiesenthal (keyboards),
*Andy Winters (bass),
*Tommy Price (drums).
Also Known As: Soft White Underbelly, B.O.C.
Genres: Hard Rock, Rock
Tracks:
01. Transmaniacon MC 3:20
02. I'm on the Lamb but I Ain't No Sheep 3:09
03.Then Came the Last Days of May 3:29
04. Stairway to the Stars 3:42
05. Before the Kiss, a Redcap 4:57
06. Screams 3:09
07. She's as Beautiful as a Foot 2:56
08. Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll 4:04
09. Workshop of the Telescopes 3:50
10. Redeemed 4:01
Two years before Kiss roared out of Long Island with its self-titled debut, Blue Öyster Cult, the latest incarnation of a band assembled by guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser and drummer Albert Bouchard in 1967, issued its dark, eponymously-titled heavy rock monolith. Managed and produced by the astronomically minded and conspiratorially haunted Sandy Pearlman, BOC rode the hot, hellbound rails of blistering hard rock as pioneered by Steppenwolf, fierce mutated biker blues, and a kind of dark psychedelia that could have only come out New York. The band's debut relied heavily on the lyrics of Pearlman and rock critic Richard Meltzer, as well as Pearlman's pioneering production that layered guitars in staggered sheets of sound over a muddy mix that kept Eric Bloom's delivery in the middle of the mix and made it tough to decipher. This was on purpose -- to draw the listener into the songs cryptically and ambiguously. From the opener, "Transmaniacon MC," the listener knew something very different was afoot. This is dark, amphetamine-fueled occult music that relied on not one, but three guitars -- Bloom and keyboardist Allen Lanier added their own parts to Roeser's incessant riffing: a barely audible upright piano keeping the changes rooted in early rock and the blues, and a rhythm attack by Bouchard and his brother Joe on bass that was barely contained inside the tune's time signature. From the next track on "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep," elliptical lyrics talked about "the red and the black," while darkening themselves with stunning riffs and crescendos that were as theatrical as they were musical, and insured the Cult notice among the other acts bursting out of the seams of post-'60's rock. Other standouts include the cosmic "Stairway to the Stars," the boogie rave-up "Before the Kiss, a Redcap," that sounded like a mutant Savoy Brown meeting Canned Heat at Altamont. But it is on "Cities on Flame With Rock & Roll," that the Cult's sinister plan for world domination is best displayed. From its knotty, overdriven riff to its rhythm guitar vamp, Vox organ shimmer, its crash cymbal ride and plodding bass and drum slog through the changes -- not to mention its title -- it is the ultimate in early metal anthems. Add to this the swirling quizzicality of "Workshop of the Telescopes" that lent the band some of its image cred. [The 2001 remastered edition by Legacy gives punters four bonus tracks in the form of demos recorded by the band's first incarnation as Soft White Underbelly. These are not merely throwaways: it is readily apparent that by 1969, BOC was well on their way to creating something new and menacingly different. The only questionable item is the last track: a cover version of Bobby Freeman's "Betty Lou's Got a New Pair of Shoes," that is utterly devoid of interest.]
~ by: Thom Jurek, All Music Guide.
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They saw themselves as the American Black Sabbath, made it cool to have a hit single all about death, and can probably trace their commercial decline in the UK to a broken mirror. Yep, it’s been a convoluted path for Blue Oyster Cult, easily one of the most fascinating and intelligent metal bands ever. And one that may have started out as a psychedelically inspired heavy rock crew, but subsequently paid homage to pomp and AOR. In the process they’ve worked with mysterious guru/producer Sandy Pearlman and SF sage Michael Moorcock. Moreover, the lyrics from their most famous song, (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, were quoted in the Stephen King novel The Stand, while Metallica covered Astronomy, another BOC classic.
The band started out in Long Island during the late 1960s, originally called Soft White Underbelly (the name inspired by a Winston Churchill speech), before changing to the Stalk Forrest Group, and by 1970 finally becoming the Blue Oyster Cult. The name has several possible origins, the most exotic being that it came from Pearlman’s term for a secret, fictional collective of aliens who guide the Earth’s destiny.
The classic Blue Öyster Cult line-up – vocalist/guitarist Eric Bloom, guitarist Donald ‘Buck Dharma’ Roeser, keyboard player/guitarist Allen Lanier, bassist Joe Bouchard and drummer Albert Bouchard – recorded a string of big-selling albums between 1970 and ’81.
Just before BOC’s appearance at the Monsters Of Rock in 1981 the drumming Bouchard brother quit, leaving the rest of the band to scramble through a disjointed set at Donington with drum roadie Rick Downey filling in. Infamously, Bloom publicly jumped up and down on the commemorative plaque given to the band that day, and in many respects that metaphorically signaled a downturn in the band’s fortunes fromwhich they’ve never recovered.
During the past 25 years BOC have soldiered on in various guises, occasionally hinting at past glories but rarely threatening a return to those peaks of old. Yet such is the potency of their first decade or so together that they still remain a major influence on the metal scene; there’s little doubt that, at their best, Blue Öyster Cult were among the metal elite. Indeed such is their importance to generations of Americans that they were affectionately parodied in a Saturday Night Live sketch in 2000. And let’s not forget that BOC use the alchemical symbol for lead in their logo – now that’s heavy metal!
~ by: Malcolm Dome.
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"Then Came The Last Days Of May"
Parched land no desert sand, sun was just a dot
And a little bit of water goes a long way, 'cause it's hot
Three good buddies were laughing and smoking in the back
Of a rented ford
They couldn't know they weren't going far
Each one with the money in his pocket
Could go out and buy himself a brand new car
But they all had the money they had
Money they hoped would take them very far
The sky was bright, a traffic light, now and then a truck
And they hadn't seen a cop around all day
They brought everything they needed
bags and scales to weigh the stuff
The driver said the border's just over the bluff
It wasn't until the car suddenly stopped
In the middle of a cold and barren place
And the other guy turned and spilled
Three boys blood, did they know a trap had been lain?
They're ok the last days of may, I'll be breathing dry air
I'm leaving soon, the others are already there
You wouldn't be interested in coming along, instead of staying here
They say the west is nice this time of year.
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Blue Oyster Cult - Blue Oyster Cult (us 1972).rar (50.39 MB)
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Lizard - Bad Companions (Australia 1973, Harvest SHVL-610)
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