Track Listing: 1. Girls & Boys 2.Tracy Jacks 3. End of a Century 4. Parklife 5. Bank Holiday 6. Badhead 7. The Debt Collector 8. Far Out 9. To the End 10. London Loves 11. Trouble in the Message Centre 12. Clover Over Dover 13. Magic America 14. Jubilee 15. This is a Low 16.Lot 105
Man, I haven't heard this album in a looong time...I think I over-listened to it back in the day and probably sold my old copy or whatever...But recently I was listening to their 1997 self-titled record and had a hankering for some "Parklife," so I ventured out to the Zia Records in Tempe and found a used $2.00 CD copy...
The album plays like a 90's version of "The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society"...
..with Ian Hunter on vocals...
God, it took me forever to realize it, but Damon Albarn sounds like Ian Hunter...The music doesn't bear any similarity to Mott the Hoople, but the vocals sure do...Sort of an arch yelp...But anyway, similar to "Village Green Preservation Society," each song is a little vignette of ordinary (and a few extraordinary) citizens, that taken in its entirety, tells the bigger story of British society at the end of the Century (which ends up being "nothing special")...
Musically, its most distinctive feature is its eclecticism...From club
disco ("Girls & Boys") New Wave ("Tracy Jacks," "Trouble in the
Message Centre), punk ("Bank Holiday), soft rock ("Badhead," "To the
End"), to polka ("The Debt Collector"). They utilize whatever musical
genre best tells the story, which gives the album its grand sweep...You
really do feel like you're going from house to house, soaking up the
feel and life stories of the record's various inhabitants...
There's the story of the civil servant who one day loses his mind and
decides to bulldoze his house, and the charming tale of Bill Barret who
dreams about one day visiting America, where there are "Buildings in the
sky and the air is sugar free"...Hell, we even get to drop off to Syd
Barrett's psychedelic pad on "Far Out"...
"Parklife" was a game-changing smash in England, I'm told, but it wasn't much more than a cult curio here in the States...I'm not sure why this didn't go over bigger here...Maybe it was a bit too ironic...Sophisticated...
Actually, I think the main obstacle was that it was probably a bit too pop and not rock enough for
our taste at the time...People that listened to "pop" music generally don't like
guitars and American rock (especially during 1994) was all about
LOUD GUITARS and catharsis...and there's not a lot of that here...Well,
not in any of the obvious ways that it's usually presented to us...I
mean, tell me "This is a Low" isn't cathartic in its own way...
Our loss...It really was a great little record that had a lot to offer...So let's check out "This is a Low" by Blur...
Track Listing: 1. Soul Finger/Funky Broadway 2. Who's Making Love 3. Do You Love Me/Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me) 4. Guilty 5. Perry Mason Theme 6. Riot in Cell Block No. 9. 7. Green Onions 8. I Ain't Got You 9. From the Bottom 10. Going Back to Miami
Another fun live performance from the Blues Brothers...This one wasn't quite the runaway hit their previous albums and film (released earlier the same year) had been...
Listening to this back to back with "Briefcase Full of Blues" there's a few things that stand out that were probably seen as detrimental...Despite kicking off with the high-voltage "Who's Making Love." this album has a slightly slower overall tempo...John Belushi is also noticeably silent...Which is surprising, because he previously acted as the historian, letting us know where all their songs came from, but here, he really doesn't say anything at all...This gives Dan Aykroyrd to completely steal the show with his endlessly. entertaining monlogues...
There's an interesting interconnecting suite of songs that comprise most of side one, where "Joilet" Jake/Belushi sings a surprisingly moving version of Randy Newman's "Guilty" (whose lyrics concerning cocaine and booze carry extra weight in light of Belushi's untimely demise a couple of years later...), which ends in Elwood/Aykroyd proclaiming him guilty, which leads to a cover of the theme song from Perry Mason, who apparently loses the case, because the next track is "Riot in Cell Block No. 9."
Side two isn't quite as action-packed as side one, but it does kick off with a version of "Green Onions" during which Elwood gives a speech where he predicts that one day Booker T & the MG's will be viewed as the American version of classical music...And he's probably not far off...
"Made in America" ended up being the end of "Joilet" Jake, and I like to pretend all the other stuff after this never happened...
No Blue Brothers 2000...
No Jim Belushi...
Just one last, sweaty, coked-out performance on vinyl by John...So here's "Who's Making Love" by the Blues Brothers...Enjoy...
Track Listing: 1. Opening: I Can't Turn You Loose 2. Hey Bartender 3. Messin' With the Kid 4. (I Got Everything I Need) Almost 5. Rubber Biscuit 6. Shot Gun Blues 7. Groove Me 8. I Don't Know 9. Soul Man 10. 'B' Movie Box Car Blues 11. Flip, Flop & Fly 12. Closing: I Can't Turn You Loose
Nowadays the mere thought of turning a Saturday Night Live skit into a movie is enough to make me consider turning my back on society completely and living out the rest of my days as a monk in the foothills of Tibet...
(Yea, this doesn't look so bad...Solitudinous, yet centrally located...Spacious and charming...Easy access to the beach...I'll take it!)
But believe it or not, back in 1980, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi did turn a four minute sketch into a two hour film and the result was awesome...I can still remember watching this movie back in the 80's...It was my introduction to the concept, and was very likely the first time I ever heard soul or blues music...
"I hate Illinois Nazis!"
But "Briefcase of Blues" was released two years before the film...The SNL sketch was so popular that the two comedians took their bluesman shtick on the road and recorded this live album, and think about this...It's a record recorded by actors and by some divine miracle it doesn't suck even one tiny bit...Look at the sad history of actors putting out suck-ass albums (and I'm not even re-posting the dozen others that I've already discussed on this site, so far)...
Brian Austin Green: One Stop Carnival
The Touch of Leonard Nimoy...
Corey Feldman: Former Child Actor
Steven Seagal: Songs from the Crystal Cave
Brent Spiner: Ol' Yellow Eyes is Back
Lisa Whelchel: Ol' Blair Eyes is Back
But no such worries with "Briefcase Full of Blues"...It's fun and funny and even though they're comedians they seem to have a deep reverence and knowledge of their subject...Of course it doesn't hurt that they had a highly skilled backing band; featuring members of he Saturday Night Live band, soul giant's Booker T & the MG's, and Blood, Sweat & Tears....
If I had to pick a favorite member, I'm going to go with Donald "Duck" Dunn...He always looked so cool smoking his pipe while grooving on the bass...
..Oh yea, I like Paul Shaffer too...
You can invariably find this album for a buck in the comedy section at any respectable record dealer....And in the end it transcends the comedy tag and winds up being an enjoyable R&B record... I bet I'm not alone when I say that most of the soul/blues records I own are a direct result of watching/listening to these guys ...
So let's check out "Soul Man" by the Blues Brothers...Enjoy...
Track Listing: 1. Summertime Blues 2. Rock Me Baby 3. Doctor Please 4. Out of Focus 5. Parchment Farm 6. Second Time Around
California-based Blue Cheer's 1968 debut is often hailed as a proto-metal/punk landmark...Proto-punk for its amateurish recklessness and proto-metal for its skull-crunching heaviness...Listening to this, I get the opinion they were aiming to outweigh Cream in the blues-rock density department and thanks to the sheer, deafening volume ended up in MC5 territory...Although this record predates "Kick Out the Jams" by a full year...
I love it when 60's bands get all heavy....It works so well with the tones and recording technology of the time...Buzzy, bottom heavy guitars and extreme Stereo panning... When you toss this on you're greeted to a thunderous version of "Summertime Blues"...If you thought the Who's "Live at Leeds" take on this was the most ass-kickin, fire breathing version possible, then you haven't heard this yet...The guitars just melt your brain while the bass and drums pummel away in the background as Leigh Stephens screams in your goddamn ear... They might be right...There might not be a cure for this...
I can only guess how calamitous "Doctor Please" must have sounded in '68...All feedback, fuzz and relentless pleading for drugs... The lyrics to "Parchement Farm" seem pretty scandalous too, for the time:
"I'm done picking that cotton in a leather foot sack, A goddamn shotgun at my back! I been sitting over here on Parchment Farm, All I did was shoot my arm..."
Hard to believe only three guys were able to kick up this much racket...So gnarly, noisy and glorious there's no way it's not going to live forever...As rock n' roll seems to grow safer and more mannered with each passing year, "Vincebus Eruptus" just keeps sounding better and better...
We're gonna need some stronger drugs, Mr. Nixon....Let's check out "Doctor Please" by Blue Cheer...
Track Listing: 1. I Am the One You Warned Me Of 2. Les Invisibles 3. In the Presence of Another World 4..Del Rio's Song 5.The Siege and Investiture of Baron von Frankenstein's Castle at Weisseria 6. Astronomy 7. Magna of Illusion 8. Blue Öyster Cult 9. Imaginos
I'd give you the background of this album, but it's so labyrinthine that I'm not even sure I understand it...I think this started out as an Albert Bouchard solo album, with a couple guest spots from a Blue Oyster Cult member or two, but then the record company was only interested if they could call it a BOC album or something...So after an eight-year recording span, "Imaginos" was released, featuring over twenty different musicians, but cleverly packaged to appear as if it was just a new Blue Oyster Cult album featuring the orginal line-up...
I bought this at the FYE in Tempe, AZ, and I remember coming home from work on Thanksgiving eve (I don't know if that's the right word for that or not...Perhaps "Pie Day?") and playing the record that night...
I made it as far as the godawful "The Siege and Investiture of Baron von Frankenstein's Castle at Weisseria" (which should be the most amazing song ever, based on the title alone, but no,...It's Z-grade Dio...) and took the record off the turntable, having no desire whatsoever to go any further...
I eventually listened to the rest of it about a year later...During this second listen I pretty much spent my time staring at my watch, biding my time, waiting for the generic 80's metal to end...
(No wonder the album sounded so lackluster! Buck shaved off his mustache! I knew there was something missing!)
Well, the time had finally come where I'd have to do the dreaded "Imaginos" post and force myself to really listen to the record..And now that I've done just that I don't know what to think...Against all my expectations, I actually found myself enjoying it quite a bit... Del Rio's Song" is truly great...Its chunky guitar riff and Buck's catchy vocal line would fit nicely on a greatest hits record next to "Shooting Shark" and "Dancin' in the Ruins."....And opener " I Am the One You Warned Me Of" would have been a sure standout on "The Revolution By Night."
The record does definitely have its flaws, however...The uber 80's production and the unending shredding of about 20 guitarists can be distracting at times, and The Siege and Investiture of Baron von Frankenstein's Castle
at Weisseria" is still so grueling that I seriously thought about
taking the record off again and giving up on this blog altogether... But whenever Buck Dharma or Eric Bloom handle lead vocals, the album sound fine....
Oh yea, did I mention that two of the songs aren't even sung by the regular Blue Oyster Cult members? The singer on "The Seige and Investiture..." is Joe Cerisano,who was the singer for some band called "Silver Condor" that I've never heard of...
Here, let me go to youtube real quick...I'll check them out...
It's sounds like late 70's/Early 80's AOR...Relentlessly radio ready...Waitaminute...This is the same guy?!! Hard to believe...His vocals on the the "Imaginos" album are such over-the-top cheeze-metal and the Silver Condor vocals are very easygoing...If he sang "The Siege and Investiture..." in the same manner as the Silver Condor song (and chopped off the endless, boring outro) I'd probably like the song...I think I've said this before, but what makes Blue Oyster Cult so special was that they never sang the songs like they were "Heavy Metal"...Their vocals were usually so much more understated than what you normally get in their genre of music...I think on one hand, it's why they're not as popular....Because restraint rarely sells, but once you're into them you realize that it's also what makes them so effective...Vocally, they give the impression that they're creeping up on you...Or they're genuinely hiding some sinister secret...
The title track (and album closer") is sung by Jon Rogers, who joined the album around this time, but hadn't recorded with them yet...He actually sounds more in line with what you'd expect to hear on a BOC album...A little hammier, than say Eric or Buck, but not bad...
One thing that's kind of interesting is that the band re-recorded two versions of songs from "Secret Treaties" that were apparently necessary to the "Imaginos" concept (not that you'll be able to really figure out the story anyway...Even with the copious liner notes...) but the versions are radical departures from the original takes...
Their re-do of "Astronomy" opens side two and it's almost admirable in its sheer blasphemy...They turn the band's finest moment into...a dance rock song that sounds like it could have been written by Desmond Child or something?!?!? Imagine if you will, Buck Dharma (and not Eric) smoothly crooning the lyrics to "Astronomy" over a dance beat, while a funky-wunky bass pops and slaps away in the foreground...It's such a stupid and ballsy move that I have no choice but to award it 100 ball-bucks...
Those are supposed to be balls, but they came out so poorly, that it kind of looks like a cat's face, so, here...Let me fix it a bit...
...There, I just awarded them 100 Cat Bucks instead...Don't spend 'em all in one place...
The remake of "The Subhuman" (here re-titled as "Blue Oyster Cult") fares a bit better...It's an interesting counterpoint to the original...Is it better? No.no.no.no...But it's interesting..Much more of a theatrical rock piece than its dark, jazzy counterpoint...I'm glad I heard it...
All in all, I'd say if you do pick this up, give it a couple spins before you think you have it figured out...The first listen or two you're going to be blinded by the sheer 80's metal-ness and the deviances from the band's original sound (after all...This is essentially an Albert Bouchard and Sandy Pearlman album more than an actual Blue Oyster Cult Record), but stick with it...It has its own charms...
Track Listing: 1. Take Me Away 2. Eyes on Fire 3. Shooting Shark 4. Veins 5. Shadow of California 6. Feel the Thunder 7. Let Go 8. Dragon Lady 9. Light Years of Love
Eek! Despite a few great songs, this is a huge step-down from "Fire of Unknown Origin." That album sounded so right...The production was slick, yet it still maintained the hard rock crunch...The songwriting was spirited and they sounded so vital...
The sound on "The Revölution by Night" sounds greatly neutered in comparison...Which is odd, because Sandy Pearlman, who produced all their early metal classics is again at the helm, but they seem to be trapped inside some thick 80's gloss...Interestingly enough when Buck's singing, his smooth and even voice sounds right at home...But Eric gets mostly lost among all the gated reverb and Miami Voice syndrums...
See Eric's got a cool, raspy voice that sounds best when backed by real, gritty, rock n' roll...and there's not much of that here...He sounds really good on 80's rock opener "Take Me Away" which is a collaboration with early 80's MTV rocker Aldo Nova...
It's got a big, soaring chorus and a chunky guitar riff...If they could have given him some more stuff like this, the record could have worked, but instead he ambles around the echoing canyons of "Feel the Thunder" and the bland "Eyes on Fire."
On the upside, this album has "Shooting Shark"...If you catch me on the right day, I just might proclaim this to be their best song...It sounds odd when you first hear it...It's basically a funky, yet shadowy soft rock song...Full of finger-poppin bass guitar (courtesy of America Idol's Randy Jackson, no less) and smooth sax...But when that chorus hits it's just so damn perfect that it seriously makes me wince...It's hard to believe the song is over 7 minutes long...The time flies right by and I always want to hear the chorus one more time...They probably should have gone all prog/krautrock on that one and just made it fill up an album side...I also enjoy "Veins," which has some cool hooks and an intriguing "Did I kill somebody?" premise..
Side one of the album mostly works for me, I think if they could have held up the same quality for the second side, I would have likely been praising the album, but there's really not much here that grabs me... "Dragon Lady" and "Let Go" at least have some energy, but the lyrics on the latter are a real hindrance...Now think about this...It took some real balls to toss these "You got the power, we got the key! BOC!" lyrics on the same album as the gorgeously lyrical "Shooting Shark."
Did Albert's departure from the band really hurt them this bad? It's somewhat unbelievable...If you're a die-hard fan of the band, you'll learn to enjoy it like I did, but even I can't pretend this is anywhere near the high-standard they'd set for themselves...
Amway, the cover is very cool...I tried to emulate the mysterious, late-night,, street-light vibe (although in a much more cartoonish (and amateurish) manner) for the inside lyric sheet of my band's 2012 album "TA-80 Will Bury You."
After this album they put out 1985's "Club Ninja" which I cannot find a copy of for some reason...I've searched high and low in every record store across the country but can't seem to get my hand's on it...I've listened to it online, and I can't say it's much of an improvement on this, but it does have "Dancin' In the Ruins" which I'm obsessed with...
.
Man, what an incredible album cover...But I didn't invite you here to drag you through my feverish fantasies about eventually scoring a copy of "Club Ninja." I invited you here to drink a couple beers and rock out to "The Revölution by Night." So let's check out "Shooting Shark, by Blue Oyster Cult...
Oh yea, what kind of beer do you drink while listening to Blue Oyster Cult?
Why, Cully Stout Beer, of course...Except there's one problem...I can't find even a single shred of evidence that Cully Stout Beer ever existed...So we're running a contest! Whoever is able to provide evidence of Cully Stout Beer's existence wins the kingly privilege of giving me a ride into work tomorrow...
So let's check out "Shooting Shark, by Blue Oyster Cult...
Track Listing: 1. Dominance and Submission 2. Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll 3. Dr. Music 4. The Red and the Black 5. Joan Crawford 6. Burnin' for You 7. Roadhouse Blues 8. Black Blade 9. Hot Rails to Hell 10. Godzilla 11. Veteran of the Psychic Wars 12. . E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) 13. (Don't Fear) The Reaper
The front cover of this is alright I guess...A Blue Oyster Monk... A couple dogs...Kinds cool, but a little bland...But when you open that big, fat gatefold, you're greeted with this glorious sight...
Oh my God! I think this changed my life a little bit! O, the glory! O, the splendour!
I don't understand the album title, though...I think it might be a joke or pun or something I don't get...I know they have a song called "E.T.I. (Extraterrestrial Intelligence)" but that was an old song at this point...And if they wanted to name a live album after one of their old songs, there's several other titles on this album alone that would have worked better..."Cities on Flame Live" or something...Is it maybe a reference to the film "E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial" that was also released in 1982?
Ahhh, who cares...This is BOC's best live album...
(To be fair I haven't had the chance to check out 2002's "A Long Day's Night"...
So maybe that tops this...I wouldn't know...But if it does, please someone let me know, cos I'll buy 10 copies of it immediately!)
I love everything about "Extraterrestrial Live." I consider it to be one of my favorite live albums...Almost a perfect example of the form...Excellent song selection from an advantageous point in their discography...Energetic performances, that don't drag on too long...There's a few extended tracks, but they're such a blast that they fly right by, no 10 minute drum solos or 5 minute audience participation bits....Just enough to let you know that there' is an audience there, but not enough to bore you out of your mind when you're listening to it alone in your bedroom...
Great moments include Eric's genuinely great mid-song storytelling during their cover of the Doors' "Roadhouse Blues" (featuring Robby Krieger from the freakin' Doors no less...)...I also have to go with Buck Dharma's guitar solo on "Veteran of the Psychic Wars." It's one of my go-to BOC tracks anyway, but man, Buck lays down the shred here...Technical and fun to listen to...They also include a scorching version of "Dominance and Submission" that whoops every ass ever...
"Extraterrestrial Live" is so enjoyable for me, I seriously wish it was a triple record... I know I should be saying something like, "It'd be better if all the songs were form a single show, or if Albert drummed on all of the tracks," and I think those are valid criticisms, but I can 100% tell you when I play this, I don't care about all that shit...I just want to listen to these guys play forever...
So let's check out "Dominance and Submission" by Blue Oyster Cult...
Track Listing:1. Fire of Unknown Origin 2. Burnin' For You 3. Veteran of the Psychic Wars 4. Sole Survivor 5. Heavy Metal: the Black and Silver 6. Vengeance (The Pact) 7. After Dark 8. Joan Crawford 9. Don't Turn Your Back
Another beautiful album cover...Although all of their album covers were great...At least up until the "Cult Classics" album...Then I don't know if they ever had another cool one...
1998's "Heaven Forbid" in particular was an eyesore...Even the guy on the cover had sores on his eyes...
But let's not dwell on their ugly future...Let us instead revel in their glorious past...1981's Fire of Unknown Origin." I grew up with the cassette version, which looked like this...
If nothing else, pick this up for the cover...I don't think I've ever had to pay more than two dollars for a Blue Oyster Cult Record, and you're always guaranteed an interesting listening experience, as long as you don't go any further than this...I'm calling "Fire of Unknown Origin" the last truly great BOC record...I don't know where they got all these awesome songs...
This album kicks off w/ three of my favorites..The title track is ominous disco/rock..Damn, Joe and Albert Bouchard were an incredible rhythm section, and I love Eric's keening vocals here:
"Death comes driving down the highway
In it's Sunday best..."
Something about it makes me wanna sing it at the top of your lungs in the shower, for some reason...But I'm kind of too rock n' roll to bathe, so I'll probably never get my chance...
The second track is the mighty "Burnin' For You" which you can probably hear right this moment on your favorite FM station...Out of all the songs I love that get repeated mercilessly on the radio, this one still holds up the best for me...I'm not even remotely tired of it...It's so slick, catchy and well-constructed it...Man, I'm doing it...I'm presenting the "Perfect Song" award to this track...
There...Suitable for framing...actually I might keep it for myself...It would look good on my wall next to my college diploma...
What a handsome document...Feel free to print off you own copy of my diploma to hang on your wall at home...It really seems to spruce up even the dullest of Doctor's Offices...Sure you have a Doctorate of Medicine, but I studied the Martial Arts for 8 years, man...These hands would be deadly weapons if I didn't have carpal tunnel from typing this blog everyday...
Anyway, the third track of the perfect trifecta of opening numbers is the band's third joint with Michael Moorcok, "Veteran of the Psychic Wars," which I briefly mentioned once or twice before whilst discussing the "Heavy Metal" soundtrack...
(I've already included photos of the cassette and vinyl versions of this album, so for the sake of completeness, here's the 8-track...)
This is one of those songs that's been burned in my memory since early childhood...I found the otherworldly synths, martial drumming and the war-torn lyrics so compelling, even then...I could perfectly envision the epic battle on the astral plane and its devastated aftermath...
"You see me now a veteran of a thousand psychic wars
My energy is spent at last, and my armor is destroyed
I have used up all my weapons, and I'm helpless and bereaved
Wounds are all I'm made of
Did I hear you say that this is victory?"
This was BOC's only song on the soundtrack but a few of the others were intended for the album, most notably the so-so "Heavy Metal The Black and Silver" and "Vengeance (The Pact)" which explicitly addresses some of the film's plot-points...Apparently, it gave away too mcuh cos it got cut...
The middle of the album sags a bit, but they finish in fine style..."Joan Crawford" is just monumental...Both sinister and freaking hilarious, it outlines the story of Joan Crawford returning from the grave to enact vengeance on Christine, whom she presumably hunts down and kills with a wire hanger...
This song , to me, is what the band was all about; a mix of darkness and absurdity, played beautifully and somehow not out of place when played next to Styx and Journey on hard rock radio...
"Don't Turn Your Back" closes the album and I can't help but get choked up when I hear it...I kind of consider it the final Blue Oyster Cult song...It was the last one with the original line-up, after this they would slowly lose band member's (starting with Albert's departure immediately following this album) and they would rapidly lose their way musically too...After this, no other album even approached the high quality presented here..."Don't Turn Your Back" is the sound of a band totally in control and self-assured... Sure, they had quite a few songs I enjoyed after "Fire of Unknown Origins" but what's the drop-dead classic after this? Besides the live album? But we'll get to that tomorrow...
For now, we'll check out "Veteran of the Psychic Wars"...
