Blue Oyster Cult: Tyranny and Mutation

Blue Oyster Cult: Tyranny and Mutation

1973

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. The Red and the Black  2. O.D.'d on Life Itself  3. Hot Rails to Hell  4. 7 Screaming Diz-Busters  5. Baby Ice Dog  6. Wings Wetted Down  7. Teen Archer  8. Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)

CD Bonus Tracks: 9. Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll (Live)  10. Buck's Boogie  11. 7 Screaming Diz-Busters (Live)  12. O.D.'d on Life Itself (Live)


The Black and White era continues with the band's second album "Tyranny and Mutation." I flip back and forth over whether I prefer the first album or this one...The band loses the murk and emerge as a hard rock powerhouse, albeit the strangest, jazziest Hard Rock Powerhouse in memory...

 The production is clear, the guitars and drums are beefed up and the songs are more intricately arranged...They also flesh out the bizarre mythology a bit more...There's this elaborate story that threads though the Blue Oyster Cult albums...Something about a shape-shifter named Desdinova who alters the course of history over a couple hundred years...Who knows...Just nod your head knowingly at all the cool-sounding, arcane lyrics...

The album is split into two distinct sides...We'll start with Side One...which is ominously titled: "The Black"...

(See? Cos the labels black...Who says I'm not paying attention!?!?!)

This is the rock side...Every single kicks ass in a big way...If the album opener "The Red and the Black" sounds familiar, it's because it's just a souped-up version of "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" from last album...But I think the "Red and the Black" version is the clear winner...A big, sweating boogie, it manages to make Mounties sound like the most bad-ass people that ever existed...

The real centerpiece of Side One though, is the mighty, 7 and a half minute "7 Screaming Diz-Busters", which alternates between jazzy sections and the leanest, tightest riffing you've ever heard...After hearing this you still won't know what a Diz-Buster is, but you'll walk away with the knowledge that whatever it is, it can't be good...

Side Two is titled "The Red"...

This side is much moodier, mysterious, and altogether spookier than Side One...On the whole I like Side One better, but if this side has the album's  best song, which is Joe Bouchard's "Wings Wetted Down." It's a haunting rocker with a convincingly menacing atmosphere...When Joe moans "In the Ennnnnd.." he sounds like some sort of ghost trapped inside the cold, black vinyl...Hooray for "Wings Wetter Down"!

The 2001 CD version also has four bonus tracks, 3 of which are recorded live (check out the smokin' 14 minute version of  "7 Screaming Diz-Busters"), but probably the most interesting thing in the extras is the studio version of live favorite "Buck's Boogie." 

So let's check out "Wings Wetted Down" by Blue Oyster Cult." Enjoy...