Blue Oyster Cult: Fire of Unknown Origin

Blue Oyster Cult: Fire of Unknown Origin

1981

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Comapct Disc

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"...