I'm not all that enamored with Blue Öyster Cult. When I was a teenager, they filled a role. They had guitars, lots of them, and their songs, for the first couple LPs anyway, had enough hard licks to turn the head of any guitar nut that was tired of blues rock. Punk rock was still a few years away.
The first Blue Öyster Cult song I heard was "Buck's Boogie" from a budget compilation called Guitars That Destroyed the World, a album title that worked. How could a teenage guitar freak possibly pass on a compilation with that title, particularly when it cost just a couple dollars? Shortly after my brothers and I (and half our friends) devoured that compilation, my younger brother stepped up and bought their second LP, Tyranny and Mutation. Question marks all around. The title, the cover art, the song titles...what the fuck was this? It rocked. That was enough.
Alas, as often happens with bands with a meaty guitar sound, in search of a hit they pulled back. Fucking "Don't Fear the Reaper". Done. It was the quintessential shark jump. I have not gone back.
The first Blue Öyster Cult song I heard was "Buck's Boogie" from a budget compilation called Guitars That Destroyed the World, a album title that worked. How could a teenage guitar freak possibly pass on a compilation with that title, particularly when it cost just a couple dollars? Shortly after my brothers and I (and half our friends) devoured that compilation, my younger brother stepped up and bought their second LP, Tyranny and Mutation. Question marks all around. The title, the cover art, the song titles...what the fuck was this? It rocked. That was enough.
Alas, as often happens with bands with a meaty guitar sound, in search of a hit they pulled back. Fucking "Don't Fear the Reaper". Done. It was the quintessential shark jump. I have not gone back.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:Blue Öyster Cult - The Red and the Black mp3 at Internet Archive
Blue Öyster Cult - Cities on Flame With Rock 'n' Roll mp3 at ATumblr
Blue Öyster Cult - Tyranny and Mutation (full LP) (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
Unsung: Julian Cope’s Album of the Month at Head Heritage The first three LPs and the shark jump(s).
6 comments:
We saw them play a couple of years ago for my husband's birthday (he loves them, mostly the earlier stuff too but he gives them more leeway for the later stuff), and I was blown away by Buck Dharma's guitar playing! He did NOT phone it it - and it's clear that he's been keeping up with modern music. Dude can still shred, obviously really enjoys it, and had a really creative approach to most of his solos.
It's the little thinks. Guitar licks, live, tell you all about whether the player is engaged or not. Oh, if you think I was overly harsh in my post-Reaper assessment, you would not have wanted me around when Aerosmith's "Dream On" or Rod Stewart's "Do You Think I'm Sexy" or ZZ Top's "Legs" were hits. Not coddling in this house.
Little THINGS
oh man... i agree with the vast majority of your tastes/posts but will have to agree to disagree on BOC. They never were about 'just guitars', always about the songwriting and a pop-rock band at heart. I've always considered them one of the most egregiously underrated bands ever. First 8 albums (minus misstep Cultasaurus) solid, with first two classics AND Agents of Fortune their best of all. Don't Fear the Reaper jumping the shark? That hurts my heart.:-)
(I think we're probably about the same age - they were my second concert in '76, with Rush opening for them. I thought those lasers lights were spiders chasing me...
Well, Shayne, we'll have to agree to disagree on this one, but I do appreciate you piping in. The fact that you've even checked out other posts and agree on some of them tells me our tastes are similar. Maybe next time! And, again, thanks for commenting.
and you were the guy that rehooked me on the Roman's Last Days at the Ranch a couple months ago. That was such a great rediscovery for me. Still trying to convince my friends was an incredible album that was.
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