Blue Oyster Cult: Agents of Fortune

Blue Oyster Cult: Agents of Fortune

1976

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. This Ain't the Summer of Love  2. True Confessions  3. (Don't Fear) The Reaper  4. E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)  5. The Revenge of Vera Gemini  6. Sinful Love  7. Tattoo Vampire  8. Morning Final  9. Tenderloin  10. Debbie Denise

CD Bonus Tracks: 11. Fire of Unknown Origin (original Version)  12. Sally  13. (Don't Fear) The Reaper (demo version)  14. Dance the Night Away



 

The Magician on the cover always reminds me of Freddy Mercury for some reason...

I think I might be in the minority again, but this is one of my least favorite Blue Oyster Cult albums...I mean, it's pretty cool and there's a handful of truly great songs on it, but overall it's spotty as hell and seems to be a noticeable drop in quality compared to the consistent butt-kicking of their first three records...

For starters, I don't think "This Ain't the Summer of Love" is on par with the Earth-shaking openers of BOC past...It's  a perfectly fine song and all but it's not a home run like "Career of Evil" or "Transmaniacon MC" was...It seems like it should sound meaner or nastier... Maybe the next track will give us the ol' menace and magic...

Uh...no..."True Confessions" sounds like Billy Joel or something,...And it has a Saturday Night Live-soundin' slutty sax solo...Maybe if it had a killer hook it might work, but it feels so slight...

Okay...Next is "(Don't Fear) The Reaper"...Now this rocks...Although, in a very Byrds-ian manner...You all know this one...Creepy suicide lyrics which Buck Dharma sings in an unnervingly angelic manner...And the part where all the music drops out and that guitar arpeggio comes in that sounds like the Grim Reaper flying around in your room...

You know the part...

Then it suddenly rocks so much that you can't stand it...This seems like one of those songs that I can't believe Classic Rock radio hasn't ruined for me yet (despite their best efforts). True, I rarely play the song voluntarily that much anymore, but I'm still always pleased to hear it...I think what makes it work so well, is that they never overplay their hand, vocally...Most bands that do heavy metal tend to overdo it with the vocals...But they never do an evil death voice, or a banshee wail...They sing about death in the same manner that other singer's would sing about a boat or their children or something...It makes the ubiquity of death sound that much more matter of fact and real...Death is not some roaring monster...It's just there everyday...

Although, I do think that the song casts too large a shadow on the rest of their discography...It's nowhere near their best song...



For instance I like "E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)" every bit as much as "Reaper"...But they never play it on the radio...That catchy chorus would sound so good pumping through a set of car radio speakers...

But outside of "ETI" and "Reaper" the only other five-star song on the record is the eerie, funk-rocker "Tenderloin,"...The rest I could kind of take or leave...

I guess "Debbie Denise" is alright...It's a big overblown power-ballad...The kind Foreigner would do...But this is Blue Oyster Cult we're talking about, and the lyrics defy a straight interpretation...It kind of gives me the impression that it's a parody of the old "Rockstar leaving his Girlfriend while he's on the road" bit...I guess what gives me that impression is that it seems overly misogynistic and cruel to the poor girl:

"I never realized, she was so undone, 
  I didn't suspect she had no life of her own, 
 She was so true but she was a she, 
  She was just there, 
 I would just come Stumbling in, 
 She'd show me she'd care, 
 I didn't care cause she was just there..."

But wait a second...Check out the lyric sheet...These lyrics were written by Patti Smith...

Surely, she can't be a misogynist...And then there's the odd shift in the final lines...

"When I come to her, 
she'd pin back my hair,
 And out past the fields, 
 out the window I'd stare, 
Where I was out rolling with my band..."

Is the narrator Debbie Denise? Why is he in her place now? Who knows...This is Blue Oyster Cult, we're talking about...

Anyway, "Agents of Fortune" is  a good record...Lots of good songs, but everyone acts like it's the be-all, end-all of the Blue Oyster Cult discography...When in reality, they have many worthy releases...Don't just pick this one up because it has "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" on it...Go exploring, my man...

 The CD version comes with four bonus tracks..The most startling of which is an early version of "Fire of Unknown Origin." Who knew they wrote that song back in 1976?!?!  And it's not the groovy 1981 disco-metal version I know and love, but a soulful piano-ballad...

Okay, I'm done talking about "Agents of Fortune" today...Let's check out "E.T.I." by Blue Oyster Cult...