Blue Oyster Cult: Blue Oyster Cult

Blue Oyster Cult: Blue Oyster Cult

1972

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact disc

Track Listing: 1. Transmaniacon MC  2. I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep  3. Then Came the Last Days of May  4. Stairway to the Stars  5. Before the Kiss, a Redcap  6. Screams  7.She's as Beautiful as a Foot  8. Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll  9. Workshop of the Telescopes  10. Redeemed  Bonus Tracks (on CD version) 11.Donovan's Monkey  12. What is Quicksand  13. A Fact About Sneakers  14. Betty Lou's Got a New Pair of Shoes


A lot of people I talk to seem to be put off by the fact that Blue Oyster Cult is one of my all-time favorite bands..They usually think I'm joking and make some kind of "More Cowbell!" joke...

Man, fuck "More Cowbell!' Blue Oyster Cult deserves better than that...I'm calling them one of the most underrated bands of all-time and I think they have one of the greatest discographies ever... Hell, look up at the song titles listed above...Don't you just have to know what "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" sounds like? And how can you live your life without ever hearing "She's As Beautiful As A Foot"?

There's nothing like sitting down in front of your turntable, putting the needle down on that big, black slab of wax, and hearing the spiraling riff of "Transmaniacon MC"  just oozes pure, biker menace out of your speakers while you stare deep into that enigmatic album cover...

"With Satan's hog no pig at all, and the weather getting dry,
We'll head south from Altamont in a cold blooded traveled trance,
So clear the road my bully boys and let some thunder pass,
We're pain, we're steel, a plot of knives,
We're Transmaniacon MC..."

Eric Bloom hisses the lyrics coolly...You just know he's wearing mirrored shades...

It represent everything I love about rock music...It's mysterious, it's humorous, it's dark, it's fun, it's unknowable...

"I'm On the Lamb..." comes next, and it's a bruising boogie that covers that most tried and true of Heavy Metal lyrical concerns...

....Mounties? 

Okay, I'll roll with it...And "Hornswoop me bungo pony, dogsled on Ice..." is just one of the most bizarre lines ever used in a song...And things get even better on the next song...

"Then Came The Last Days of May" is a menacing soft rock track that's as beautiful as it is unnerving...This is also our introduction to guitar hero's Buck Dharma's vocal stylings...He has such a smooth, soothing voice...Perfect for outlining the bloodthirsty tale of a drug deal gone bad...Just a bad, bad trip, man...This ain't the summer of love, indeed...Everything is weird here...When "She's As Beautiful Foot" emerges from the ashes of "Screams" and reveals itself to be a menacing piece of pitch-black Middle-Eastern psychedelia it just gives off this unsettling vibe...But Allen Lanier's chirping organ momentarily takes you out of the horror and suddenly it could almost be The Carpenters...Just unbalanced stuff, and like the cover, all detailed in stark shades of black and white...

And there's no way I can't rave about "Cities on Flame With Rock N' Roll." With one of the best heavy metal riffs ever, it evokes nothing less than a lumbering, stoned brontosaurus lazily laying waste to a city in search of a bag of Doritos...

And to top it all off, after we eventually emerge from the labyrinth that is "Workshop of the Telescopes" we're rewarded to the laid back country rock of "Redeemed." Huh? It's so straightforward...and nice...But wait...What's up with those lyrics?  Just what in the hell is "Sir Rastus Bear"? 

In addition to the vinyl, I also have a CD version of this that has 4 bonus tracks...It shows the band in their embryonic form, they had a bit of a different sound...It seems to have a more pronounced Doors influence, as well as a 60's garage rock vibe...Very much worth checking out... 

Let's freak out and listen to "Transmaniacon MC" by Blue Oyster Cult...Enjoy...