Come and join the Öyster cult

[idunnosomename]

... the CaB Öyster Cult

anyway. I saw the Boards of Canada mix-up in the hyped bands thread and thought, why not big up the OG BÖC, as they are one of my absolute favourite bands. are they cool? I never really know. always feel they might be too soft for metalheads, yet too straightforward for hairy old prog dudes. However I saw them draw a big crowd early 2019 at Manchester Academy 1 (previously saw them in the tiny Academy 3 2006, alas the late Allen Lanier was not there).

got into them, if I'm honest, because of the Metallica Astronomy cover that came out in 1998, heard the Imaginos version via Napster and was like, hmm okay this is brilliant and then bought up all the remasters of the first four studio albums that came out in 2001. The rest of the discography I ended up buying on vinyl, Imaginos was the last I managed to track down, funnily enough.

Always drawn to them because there's such a genuine proto-heavy metal vibe to all their early stuff. Obvs in the 80s they fell behind the crowd a fair bit, but I can't call any of the albums from then rubbish (even Club Ninja has some top songs on it) and then their 1998 comeback Heaven Forbid has some lovely stuff on it too. but also there's always this weird - as said - essentially hauntological stuff with a weird world conspiracy running through their lyrics involving Adolf Hitler, John Dee and load of other crazy shit from the pen of the late Sandy Pearlman.

A band I think are much better than their hits (Don't Fear the Reaper, Burnin' for You, In Thee... uh going by single performance that's it, but also Godzilla, Last Days of May) but with the added bonus all their hits are great and I'm always glad to hear them live.

Although they've been touring pretty much non-stop forever since, they hadn't released a studio album since 2001's Curse of the Hidden Mirror until 2020's The Symbol Remains. And it is a really great piece of work imo

Also the Bouchard Brothers are touring the UK and are down the road from me next week. ought to get a ticket, should be interesting.

[Video Game Fan 2000]

I love their boogie rock songs. I'm On The Lamb But I Ain't Sheep and especially OD'd On Life Itself. Fucking nerd song titles I love them. OD'd On Life is so good, maybe my favourite BOC song.

Some of their fucking Michael Moorcock shit from the later albums is good too, Veteran of Psychic Wars and Black Blade, but all those songs have corny bits spoiling the proto-metal and moody radio rock. Harvester of Eyes deserves a shout too, one of the songs where they wanted to be Games Workshop Steely Dan. Its weird this band existed before D&D and Warhammer and all that stuff.

[idunnosomename]

ME-262 is basically a boogie rock song too. and it's about a Luftwaffe jet plane for some reason. bonkers

[Video Game Fan 2000]

doesnt that one have "hitlers on the phone from berlin, saying BABY ILL MAKE YOU A STAR"

the idea of Hitler phoning luftwaffe jet fighters in the middle of the mission to talk like a Hollywood agent tickles me, I hope that's what they were going for with that song

[idunnosomename]

Yeah. there's a ME-262 on the cover of Secret Treaties
I think it was based on this mid 1960s "Blazing Combat" comic tbh now I look at it.

[kngen]

A band I've always meant to explore more, because I like almost everything I've heard, so thanks for the nudge, idunnosomename - and also for the revelation that Radio Birdman got the title of their first album from a BOC lyric!

[the science eel]

'Dominance and Submission' is one of the greatest rock songs ever.

[The Mollusk]

Best album to start with?

[the science eel]

Best album to start with?

Secret Treaties

[buzby]

Yeah. there's a ME-262 on the cover of Secret Treaties
I think it was based on this mid 1960s "Blazing Combat" comic tbh now I look at it.

I don't think the cover art has anything to do with that comic, and the lyrics don't either. The lyrics are complete fiction anyway - Hitler wanted the Me-262 to be a bomber, not a fighter. It also describes the Me-262 attacking a squadron of English bombers - The RAF generally bombed Germany at night, and the Me-262 was not a night fighter. It's short career as a bomber interceptor was almost exclusively against the USAAF, who flew the day bombing raids.

The front and rear sleeve art for Secret Treaties were Ron Lesser's pencil sketches for the full colour paintings that wound up being used on the inner sleeve instead. Lesser was a popular illustrator for pulp paperback covers, movie posters and advertising art at the time, and was commissioned by the band's label, CBS.



As Lesser mainly worked from photo references, the front cover looks to be based on a photo of an Me262 captured by the allies at the end of the war. In fact, it seems to be based on this photo of the first example to fall into Allied hands when it's test pilot defected and landed at the the USAAF airbase at Frankfurt in March 1945. It was subsequently transported back to the US for evaluation:


The aircraft on the rear cover carries the markings 'PL-01' which means it was based on this photo of an Avia S92, which were Me262s assembled in the Czech Republic after the war from leftover parts (Avia had been a major subcontractor for wartime Me262 production):


In the full-colour paintings used on the inner sleeve, the setting seems to be Mexico based on the presence of sombrero-wearing pistoleros in the background and the colour pallette used (at the time, Lesser was mainly known for working on sleeves for cowboy novels and posters for Westerns).



The depiction of Eric Bloom wearing a black cape and holding the leashes of 4 Alsatians (which have been killed on the rear sleeve) is apparently a reference to the Scientology offshoot The Process Church Of The Final Judgement, who wore similar cloaks and kept Alsatians, which were allegedly used in ritual sacrifices. They also set up a commune in the Yucatan penisula of Mexico in the mid-60s. The band's manager/writer/producer Sandy Pearlman was fond of putting cultish references into the band's visuals and lyrics.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

I know he's a prickly pear but I always enjoyed Copey's take on BÖC:
https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/blue-oyster-cult-in-your-dreams-or-in-my-hole

[idunnosomename]

Secret Treaties

definitely it's the best. I'd also suggest Fire Of Unknown Origin as the best later one that gives a sense of the later poppier style while also being very consistent.

Agents of Fortune, their only platinum record off the back of Don't Fear the Reaper, is a bit of a curate's egg really.

Thanks buzby for the cover thing. I meant the song lyrics as a strange ode to a Nazi warplane seem to be in the spirit of that comic. There was a version on the internet that had its text replaced with the lyrics. Darned if I'll ever find it again

[Pauline Walnuts]

https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/blue-oyster-cult-in-your-dreams-or-in-my-hole

TL;DR

Secret Treaties

That's how you do it.

[BlodwynPig]

Their live double "On Your Feet or On Your Knees" is a corker. One of my favourite live albums and album covers

[dontpaintyourteeth]

TL;DR

That's how you do it.

ok

[Head Gardener]

they do have one of the best guitars, ever!

[Video Game Fan 2000]

did Roger Waters nick "rock gig as nazi rally" from the sound effects at the end of ME-262

definitely it's the best. I'd also suggest Fire Of Unknown Origin as the best later one that gives a sense of the later poppier style while also being very consistent.

Agents of Fortune, their only platinum record off the back of Don't Fear the Reaper, is a bit of a curate's egg really.

Thanks buzby for the cover thing. I meant the song lyrics as a strange ode to a Nazi warplane seem to be in the spirit of that comic. There was a version on the internet that had its text replaced with the lyrics. Darned if I'll ever find it again

I want to give their debut a nod because although its different and kind of a slowpoke psychedelic record, its also one of the first thematically "metal" hard rock albums without much blue influence. An interesting bit of rock music history because at the time that sort of subject matter and image was considered literary and smart, not something for nerdy dorks. can't be missed if someone wants to check out the earliest metal records. and Cities On Flame is brilliant

but Secret Treaties has the lot. even a fucking Patti Smith song

[Pauline Walnuts]

ok

Copey, not U. Silly!

[idunnosomename]

did Roger Waters nick "rock gig as nazi rally" from the sound effects at the end of ME-262

I want to give their debut a nod because although its different and kind of a slowpoke psychedelic record, its also one of the first thematically "metal" hard rock albums without much blue influence. An interesting bit of rock music history because at the time that sort of subject matter and image was considered literary and smart, not something for nerdy dorks. can't be missed if someone wants to check out the earliest metal records. and Cities On Flame is brilliant

but Secret Treaties has the lot. even a fucking Patti Smith song

i think the thing is that Blue Öyster Cult themselves were far more oldtimey rock 'n' roll than blues. that's why you've got all that shuffle boogie stuff, but also the themes of the dark side of camp Americana after the end of summer of love with Altamont that run so much of their stuff.

This just slots in quite well with Sandy Pearlman's bonkers story of aliens visiting the pre-colonial Americas or whatever that's about. it's a subversive take on US culture. but I also like the idea half the time the band have no idea what they're singing precisely about either

interesting to note none of the lyrics on Secret Treaties were written by the band. Patti Smith also duets with Albert Bouchard on "The Revenge of Vera Gemini" on Agentsand wrote the lyrics for "Shooting Shark" (The Revölution By Night - tbh i was very annoyed the audience at Manchester 2019 chose Harvest Moon over this. but only because I'd seen them play Harvest Moon before).

And again an important point how they often gave over their lyric writing to others that keeps them fresh. Jim Carroll also came to the band via Patti Smith I think for the superb Donald Roeser song "Perfect Water" from otherwise bargain-bin Club Ninja (although like a lot of things in a bargain bin, there's stuff to enjoy on it). But also Richard Meltzer, Michael Moorcock and John Shirley.

And of course there is the fun thing of rotating lead vocals. Eric Bloom is the main voice, but Donald Roeser sings the poppier hits, and each of the Bouchards take a fair few tracks too.
Am I right Allen Lanier's only lead was "True Confessions"? See why they keep that in the set now.
Really glad they gave Richie Castellano some leads on the new album too. "Tainted Blood" is a great vampire banger and he really pulls off the camp imo.

[Endicott]

Blue Öyster Cult are a bit of a blind spot for me, weird really, so I gave Secret Treaties a spin and it's consistently good all the way through.

But mainly I wanted to say

'Dominance and Submission' is one of the greatest rock songs ever.

48 years since this was released and I never knew it existed till now. Fuck me it's an absolute banger!

[bgmnts]

Spectres is one of my favourite albums of all time so they're top tier in my book. And that album doesn't even have their best song on it.

Still; Nosferatu, Golden Age of Leather and of course Go Go Gojira!

[wrec]

Great band, love the first three albums especially. Saw them in Dublin 6 years ago. They were playing Agents of Fortune in its entirety which meant that Reaper was out of the way three songs in.

The riff in Dominance and Submission always made me laugh, it's a very straight hard rock riff and then there's that last, unexpected and complex-sounding chord (even though it's probably just a 7th or something).

I might be regurgitating something Cope said here but I think of their schtick as being a band originating in psychedelia but that's curdled into something sinister and malevolent. Yay!

[idunnosomename]

just getting back from the Bouchard Brothers in Blackpool. great stuff, even better than I expected. it's just them with amped acoustic guitars and effects pedals, and Joan Levy Hepburn on third guitar. no drums. but sounded top throughout. Played Burnin' For You and Reaper for some reason (didn't really need to imo) but also deep cuts like Shadow of California and The Revenge of Vera Gemini.

great opening act too, a folk trio from New Jersey with a lad who plays his guitar upside down.

Playing the Underworld in Camden tomorrow, so if you're about that London I do recommend it.

also bonus Bouchards: interview here with Albert and Joe from last year, inside the chapel north of NYC that's on the cover of On Your Feet Or On Your Knees

oh yeah also that chord in dominance and submission. I always played this

x4345x

which is weird as i guess it's a C# with yes the 7th but also both the major and the minor thirds in it