Buck Dharma: Flat Out

Buck Dharma: Flat Out

1982

Portrait Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Born to Rock  2. That Summer Night  3. Cold Wind  4. Your Loving Heart  5. Five Thirty-Five  6. Wind Weather and Storm  7. All Tied Up  8. Anwar's Theme / Gnop Gnip  9. Come Softly to Me



Man, the CD version has a bonus track called "Gamera Is Missing"...Why don't I have that version?! Gahhh!!!!

This is the one-and-only solo album by Blue Oyster Cult guitarist Buck Dharma, who is probably the voice most people associate with the band since he handled lead vocals on most of their biggest hits ("Don't Fear the Reaper," "Godzilla," "Burnin' For You"). In fact, "Burnin' For You" was written for this record,but Buck was convinced to use it for BOC's 'Fire of Unknown Origin" instead...This album actually sounds exactly like a less-weird, more radio-friendly version of "Fire of Unknown Origin," where Buck handles all the vocals...Slick, tight, catchy MOR...The only bit of weirdness is the exceedingly bizarre "Your Loving Heart" which is a cold, clinical chunk of 80's rock about death and heart transplants...This song is so fucking weird that I can't believe it was released as a single/video, but goddammit, I'm watching the video on youtube as we speak, so it must be true...

I guess the backwards ping-pong match is pretty weird too... I did the whole "spin the record backwards with my finger" thing but I still can't really tell what they're talking about...I think I heard something about "I buried Eric Bloom" but I'm not sure...

 

There's some excellent pop-rock on this thing...The title track is one of those tongue-in-cheek "rock songs about rock" that BOC always wrote, although this might be the best one (excepting "Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll" of course...), Just super fun, super catchy stuff, that makes me nostalgic, although I didn't hear this song until 2015...It's just so immediately familiar for whatever reason..Maybe because the talk about Thunderbirds and Beauty Queens pegs it as such an early 80's fantasy that I can't help but be swept back to that earlier era when I hear it...Yea, if you're into early 80's BOC or Trans Am radio rock, don't miss it...And the video is fucking awesome, although all the section about his parent's fucking creeps me out, although anything BOC-related should creep you out, I guess...

"All Tied Up" is another favorite of mine...It's got that hazy, moody, early-MTV vibe that I love so much...The chorus sounds like the sort of thing Todd Rundgren would come up with when he was feeling like putting on a skinny tie...This album also reveals that Buck has a soft-spot for doo-wop..."Come Softly to Me" is perfectly preformed 50's doo-wop and I would consider "Wind Weather and Storm" to be a hard-rock/doo-wop hybrid...Huh. It's an influence I can't really recall hearing too much in BOC...

In the end, there's nothing too revelatory or revolutionary about the album...It just sorta confirms that Buck was the pop center of Blue Oyster Cult, but fans of early 80's BOC should definitely check this out...I'm sad knowing that I went so many years without hearing "Fire of Unknown Origins" sister album...And rock fans that found BOC to be a little too odd for their tastes might actually be into this...I'm one of those people who consider Blue Oyster Cult to be one of the most underestimated bands in Rock & Roll history...They put out so much smart, well-written, well preformed music and Buck's solo album is no exception...It's maybe a bit more slight than the surrounding BOC albums but no less interesting...

Here's "All Tied Up" by Buck Dharma...Enjoy...

Blue Oyster Cult: Club Ninja

Blue Oyster Cult: Club Ninja

1985

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl & Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. White Flags  2. Dancin' in the Ruins  3. Make Rock Not War  4. Perfect Water  5. Spy in the House of the Night  6. Beat 'em Up  7. When the War Comes  8. Shadow Warrior  9. Madness to the Method


I've looked for a copy of "Club Ninja" for a good decade now, so my opinion can't help but be colored by the glorious acquisition of the album, so even if this was a suckwad album I probaly wouldn't be able to see it. And by all accounts, "Club Ninja" just so happens to gets cited as an example of a "suckwad" album in most critical circles...

It's a good thing I'm not a critic, then...I happen to really  like this album. But I'll admit it's got quite a bit going against it...

 

1. It follows the commercial (and critical) disappointment "The Revolution by Night." I covered "Revolution..." awhile back, and yea, it's a defnite step down from "Fire of Unknown Origin."

2. With the departure of keyboardist Allen Lanier we're down to only three original members...

3. BIG 80's PRODUCTION!! Oh boy, does this have it all...The echoey gated drum sound. Glossy, soft-edged guitars, and cheesy synths that are so far removed from Allen Lanier's usual tasteful keyboard style. This aspect will probably be the biggest turn-off for most people, but as I've said many times before, I grew up with 80's production so it doesn't bother me. I'll listen to "Asylum" by Kiss, for example, and it doesn't phase me much. Sure, I'd prefer a return to the harder-edged 70's style, but there was no way that was gonna happen in 1985...But yea, we're a long way from the Black & White period. That much is for sure...

 4. Take a look at the songwriting credits! Outside songwriters!!! Hey, waitasecond...Isn't every Blue Oyster Cult album full of outside songwriters? Well yea, but these are different ones...There's no Patti Smith or Sandy Pearlman, or Michael Moorcock here...I mean Richard Meltzer turns in "Spy in the House of the Night" but that's it...The rest of it was written by folks like Bob Halligan Jr. (who also wrote songs for Judas Priest in the 80's) and country songwriter Larry Gottlieb.  Surprisingly, these guys turn in some of the albums best songs...

5. Drawback Number Five...and this is a big one...They actually record a song called "Make Rock Not War"!!!! And it's exactly as cheesy as you're imagining! Especially that "tough" gang-chant chorus! I have to hand it to this song though, the part in the pre-chorus that goes, "So don't wait no more!" is pretty cool. They should have just developed that melody a bit more and made that the chorus...

Alright, so I named some drawbacks, which I believe are all fair criticisms. Now for the good points...



1. THE ARTWORK!!! Maybe my favorite BOC album cover! I love that spacestation shaped like their logo...So great...Take a moment to soak in the beauty...

...the back cover rules too! There's a robot samurai thingy that kind of reminds me of the Silver Samurai from the old Wolverine comics...

 2. "Dancin' in the Ruins." Man, is this an amazing song, featuring one of their most expertly executed choruses...It just soars suddenly...On the first listen or two this song steals the show so successfully that the rest of the album's subtler, spacier material  just kind of goes in one ear and out the other...Plus, this song has one of my favorite videos ever! A post-apocalyptic teenager wasteland clip with the band sporting their new Japanese-inspired look...Mainly, I watch this video so much because of the scene that occurs at around the one-minute mark where the guy does a skateboard-dance...ROFLMAO...You just have to see it...I have posted the video directly below...I think you'll be glad you took a couple minutes out of your day for this...

3. Oh yea, that subtler, spacier material! This album seems to be remembered as a bloated 80's metal self-parody. And that element does certainly exist here but I was surprised to find that most of the album features a dense, mysterious, futuristic sound...Songs like "Perfect Water," "Spy in the House of Night" and  "Madness to the Method" are sleek yet somehow hazy and spongy... I guess the closest comparison I can come up with is "Shooting Shark" from the band's previous album, only not as great as that track was...Anyway, it's not a style you can find anywhere else except for maybe other BOC albums of this era...

4. Radio funnyfuck Howard Stern is on this album! He does the spoken word intro on the beyond bizarre "When the War Comes." I've listened to this album a dozen times now and I still can't make heads or tails of this song. It appears to be the type of  uber-serious after-the-war song that you'd get  in the 80's but this one happens to be punctuated by those comedic "ooga chaka ooga chaka's" from "Hooked on a Feeling"? Wha-?! Even if those backing vocals and Howard Stern weren't there, it would still be a weird song...Nonsensical interlocking vocals and a dense, creepy and cheesy mood permeates...One of the weirdest BOC songs, hands down...Right up there with "She's As Beautiful As a Foot" in the weird department...Do I love it or hate it? I don't know...

5. This is probably the most important one actually...It's a Blue Oyster Cult album I haven't heard a krillion times! If I was you I'd take the same path I did...Buy all the other album first, wait ten years and then buy this one...It's like finding a whole new wing of your same, old house! A very 80's wing, though, so again, if you have an aversion to that generic 80's sound, I'm recommend avoiding this altogether.  But I swear to you, this album grows in stature every time I hear it...I would say it's on par with "Revolution by Night" and it surpasses "Imaginos" and that's not bad company if you think about it...



Oh, and it's waaaay better than Bad Company...


Anyway, let's kick off this weekend, right. Maybe throw an 80's flashback themed Friday Night Record Party...Here's "White Flags" by Blue Oyster Cult...Enjoy...

Blue Öyster Cult: Imaginos

Blue Öyster Cult: Imaginos

1988

	Columbia/Sony Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

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...

Let's check out "Del Rio's Song"...

Blue Öyster Cult: The Revölution by Night

 Blue Öyster Cult: The Revölution by Night

1983

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

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...

Blue Öyster Cult Extraterrestrial Live

Blue Öyster Cult Extraterrestrial Live

1982

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

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...

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"...

Blue Oyster Cult: Cultösaurus Erectus

Camels can down 30 gallons (113 liters) of water in just 13 minutes. The water is stored in the camel bloodstream, while the fatty hump  Rather than being stored in its fatty hump serves as a source of nourishment when food is scarce. - See more at: http://www.livescience.com/28170-25-fun-facts.html#sthash.X117I2wP.dpuf

Camels can down 30 gallons (113 liters) of water in just 13 minutes. The water is stored in the camel bloodstream, while the fatty hump  Rather than being stored in its fatty hump serves as a source of nourishment when food is scarce. - See more at: http://www.livescience.com/28170-25-fun-facts.html#sthash.X117I2wP.dpuf

Blue Oyster Cult: Cultösaurus Erectus

1980

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Black Blade  2. Monsters  3. Divine Wind  4. Deadline  5. The Marshall Plan  6. Hungry Boys  7. Fallen Angel  8. Lips in the Hills  9. Unknown Tongue



Now that's an album cover!! I love that big weird dinosaur...

 And check out the Cultosaurus' slug-like body and long neck on the back cover!  Back when I had the CD version I could never find the hidden logo, but when I finally got the Vinyl version, it was  easy to spot (It's written on the tiny spaceship flying by the monster's head)...The facts underneath the photos are really great by the way...A bunch of references to Blue Oyster Cult lore...For example, who knew the Cultosaurus Erectus was a distant relative of the Horn-Swooped Bungo Pony?  That's the kind of thing they just don't teach in schools anymore...

As for the music, this record finds the band stepping away from the pop-rock sound from their last few albums and getting heavy on us again, and  manage to summon the supernatural feel that they had largely lost since "Agents of Fortune." Maybe, it's due to the fact that Eric seems to have been restored as lead singer..He actually provides vocals for the majority of the tracks...

The only real throwback to the Agents of Fortune-Spectres era is "The Marshall Plan" which you kind of have to hear to believe..It's your standard "Johnny" song...Y'know, the kind Foreigner or Bad Company would write...It's about this kid named Johnny, who decides to aid post-war Europe...

Nahhhh..It's actually about a kid deciding to become a rock star or something...But they take it so much further...As far as I can tell, Johnny takes his girl, Susie, to the Rock Show and she ends up banging the band, so Johnny gets sick of it and decides to become a rock star to get her back...And he actually ends up a successful musician...The process of which takes us from the "Smoke on the Water" riff through a guest appearance by none other than Don Kirshner himself...

(giving one of his trademark electrifying performances....)

...But in the end he still doesn't get Susie...Well,  that 's how it goes at these Rock N' Roll shows...

I find the song so hilarious and entertaining for some reason... But really, it's not very representative of the rest of the album...Like I said before, it's mostly surreal hard rock...Like album-opener "Black Blade," which rocks so much..Another collaboration with Michael Moorcock, it tells the story of some living sword, and the band plays it up to the hilt..."BLACK BLADE...ADE...ADe...Ade...ade.."
 I especially love the outro, where the "Reading Rainbow" type keyboard sequence gives way to a pissy robot...

I'd always heard the rumor that the robot or living sword or whatever drops an F-bomb at the end, but I'd never noticed it...So I decided this time around I'd put on some decent headphones and crank up the fadeout good and loud, and lo and behold, I actually heard it!  Bigger than shit, it says, "You Poor Fucking Humanzzzzzz...." So there you go...No longer a myth... Again, they don't teach you this in school, therefore, I am officially re-branding The Friday Night Record Party blog as an educational website...Here...

Holy shit, is that official!

Here are some educational facts you probably didn't know:

1. In 200 BC, when the Greek city of Sparta was at the height of its power, it was incredibly hard to get a table at the Olive Garden...

2. Ev,er,y, syll,a,ble, in, the, En,glish, lang,uage, must, have, a, com,ma,

3. Only three English words in current use end in "-gry". They are "angry,"  "hungry," and "lonegry."

4. The shortest complete sentence in English is the following: "Sheeeyyyiiiit..."

5. Camels can drink 30 gallons of Monster Energy Drink in 30 seconds, which they can then store in their fatty lady humps in case of an emergency skydive...

6. Want to lose 175 pounds the easy way? Move to the Moon!

7. Ending a list on an odd number gives you an itchy feeling!

And look! Here's our old friend Mr. Bookworm! He's here to remind us to keep reading this summer!  And not just the spank magazines you hide under your mattress! But real books too! Books without staples! Like "50 Shades of Grey"....

Okay, that's enough learning for today...Let's  check out"Monsters" by Blue Oyster Cult...

When a woman gets pregnant, she's not only growing a baby — - See more at: http://www.livescience.com/28170-25-fun-facts.html#sthash.X117I2wP.dpuf

can down 30 gallons (113 liters) of water in just 13 minutes. The water is stored in the camel bloodstream, while the fatty hump  Rather than being stored in its fatty hump serves as a source of nourishment when food is scarce - See more at: http://www.livescience.com/28170-25-fun-facts.html#sthash.X117I2wP.dpuf

Camels can down 30 gallons (113 liters) of water in just 13 minutes. The water is stored in the camel bloodstream, while the fatty hump  Rather than being stored in its fatty hump serves as a source of nourishment when food is scarce. - See more at: http://www.livescience.com/28170-25-fun-facts.html#sthash.X117I2wP.dpuf

Blue Oyster Cult: Mirrors

Blue Oyster Cult: Mirrors

1979

Columbia Records

Format I own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Dr. Music  2. The Great Sun Jester  3. In Thee  4. Mirrors  5. Moon Crazy  6. The Vigil  7. I Am the Storm  8. You're Not the One (I Was Looking for)  9. Lonely Teardrops


People crying "sell out" at "Spectres" must have flipped their purist whigs when this one came out...They ditch longtime producer/songwriter/manager Sandy Pearlman, and brought in slickster producer Tom Werman for a whole album of radio-ready rock...Problem is, radio didn't play it and the fans turned their back on it...

I personally don't think it's a bad album at all...It's not "Secret Treaties" or anything, but a few songs on here on my short list for mt favorite BOC tracks...

I always felt that if they switched Side One and Side Two, this album would have been better received...Because as it stands, it takes about 4 tracks to hear a song that sounds like Blue Oyster Cult...The album starts with the sucky "Dr. Music" which is a cheap KISS knock-off that features incredibly irritating backing vocals from Night Court's Ellen Foley...

 Ugh...Maybe they should have gotten Bull Shannon to do the vocals instead...

That song makes me want to shut off the album as soon as it starts...The next song "The Great Sun Jester" isn't one of my favorites either, but it's definitely not a bad song at all...It's the band's first collabo with elfy, swordy fantasy author Michael Moorcock...



...The third track is where the album really hits its stride...I love "In Thee" so much...It's not hard rock at all, it's a beautifully harmonized folk-pop/soft rock song...I swear, if it wasn't by a band called Blue Oyster Cult, it probably would have been all over AM radio...I'm also a big fan of the infectious title track...A nice, solid pop-rocker that features the always great Buck Dharma's humorous take on vanity...One of their best, and most unjustly forgotten singles...

 But as soon as you flip the record over (after the catchy, Doors-ish "Moon Crazy) and hear that glorious wind-swept riff, you know "The Vigil" should have opened the album...The song is just pure Blue Oyster Cult and that part when they drop out all the other instruments and Buck plays those horror-film arpeggios is just the coolest shit ever...

I also love "You're Not the One (I Was Looking for)" so much that my band just recorded a cover of it recently...It still needs a bit of mixing, but as soon as we're done with it, I'll post it here...The song is just so awesome and sounds so uncharacteristic of the band, especially being sequenced after the heavy metal maelstrom of "I am the Storm." But you've got to check this song out if you haven't heard it..It's Blue Oyster Cult doing a spot-on imitation of...gasp...The Cars... And if that's not enough the album closes with "Lonely Teardrops" which comes off as cross between Stevie Wonder and Led Zeppelin...

So in the end, what we have is an incredibly diverse album that never found the wide-audience it deserved...They try out wildly different styles on every track and master just about all of them...It plays like some alternate realty FM radio playlist from 1979...It shows these guys at their most restless and it's a shame the album has been lost to time...Don't let that happen...Run down to your local record store and pick up a used vinyl copy of "Mirrors", but make sure you skip "Dr. Music"...Actually, do what I said earlier, and just toss on Side Two first...

In the meantime, let's check out "You're Not the One (I Was Looking for)" by Blue Oyster Cult...