Deep Dives: Blue Öyster Cult Part V: Spectres (1977)

Spectres reached #60 in the UK and #43 in the US, where it was certified Gold. The album had 3 singles.

Members:

Buck Dharma: vocals, lead guitar

Eric Bloom: guitar, vocals

Joe Bouchard: bass, keyboards, vocals

Allen Lanier: keyboards, rhythm guitar, vocals

Albert Bouchard: drums, harmonica, percussion, vocals

The Tracks:

1. “Godzilla”: BÖC’s ode to Japan’s most famous kaiju citizen. Love the fuzzy guitars on this.
2. “Golden Age of Leather”: Songwriter Bruce Abbot wrote this song because he thought motorcycles were going to be extinct. He was wrong, of course. This has a great rhythm, and another fuzzy riff with a cool bass.
3. “Death Valley Nights”: Richard Meltzer wrote this ballad about his love life. Nice mournful keyboard on this.
4. “Searchin’ For Celine”: The Celine is Louis Ferdinand Celine, a narcoleptic French writer. Joe has a nice bass at the start.
5. “Fireworks”: This is the only song written entirely by Albert, about a girl he was dating. Bruce Springsteen loved it. I like the guitars on this, very nice solo.
6. “R U Ready to Rock”: This is a great anthem that in my opinion should have been a hit. Great piano and drumming. My second favorite song.
7. “Celestial the Queen”: Nice keyboard and drumming. I don’t really like Joe’s vocals, though.
8. “Goin’ Through the Motions”: At the time this album was being recorded, Allen had broken up with Patti Smith. This has a good keyboard riff. This song was covered by Bonnie Tyler.
9. “I Love the Night”: A spooky little tune about a white lady in the night. Genius speculated that the lady in white could be a cocaine reference or a vampire. I think it should be the latter. Very pretty tune.
10. “Nosferatu”: Another cool spooky piano on this song about the titular vampire. Another one of my favorites.

Final Verdict: Very nice album, although I didn’t enjoy it as much as its predecessor. Some of the songs didn’t land for me, but it’s still good.

Grade: B

Deep Dives: Blue Öyster Cult Part IV: Agents of Fortune (1976)

Agents of Fortune is one of Blue Öyster Cult’s most famous albums, mostly due to a certain song. It had two singles, and reached 29 in the US (reaching Platinum), and #26 in the UK. Sandy Pearlman and Murray Krugman were the production team again, along with David Lucas. This is the only album to have at least one vocal performance from each member, and no songs by Eric Bloom, although the 2020 remaster changed that for “E.T.I.”.

Members:

Buck Dharma: Vocals, lead guitar

Eric Bloom: guitar, vocals, keyboards, percussion

Allen Lanier: keyboards, rhythm guitar, bass on “Morning Final”, vocals

Joe Bouchard: bass, piano on “Morning Final”, vocals

Albert Bouchard: drums, percussion, vocals, acoustic guitar

The Tracks:

1. “This Ain’t The Summer of Love”: The opening song is a reference to the summer of 1967, the highlight of the hippie movement. Good drumming on this. This song inspired the Green River song “Swallow My Pride”. (Green River was one of the earliest grunge bands, and the first band for Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard before Mother Lovebone)
2. “True Confessions”: Allen Lanier sings lead on this song about his relationship with Patti Smith. Excellent keyboard on this. It’s the first time he sings lead.
3. “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”: This is the biggest single from the album, and one of my favorite songs. It’s not known who really did the cowbell, for the record. I’ve always liked the song’s message.
4. “E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)”: This song makes references to the Magi’s visit to Jesus’s birth. Another one of my favorites.
5. “The Revenge of Vera Gemini”: Patti Smith wrote this with Lanier about their relationship. She has beautiful vocals on this with Lanier, and it has a killer bass.
6. “Sinful Love”: I like the piano and guitar on this song. Not too keen on the lyrics on this.
7. “Tattoo Vampire”: The guitar and drumming on this is great!
8. “Morning Final”: This song is about a murder Joe saw. I like the trilling piano and keyboards.
9. “Tenderloin”: This is a song about cocaine, by the way. Good bass and drumming.
10. “Debbie Denise”: I’m not a fan of this one. The lyrics are all right, but the melody doesn’t work.

Final Verdict: This album is a true classic and deserves its platinum status! Even though I don’t like all of the songs, I love this album overall.

Grade: A

Deep Dives: Blue Öyster Cult Part III: Secret Treaties (1974)

Secret Treaties was produced by Sandy Pearlman and Murray Krugman. This is the only album that doesn’t feature Buck Dharma on lead vocals, nor did the band write any lyrics. Instead, the lyrics were written by Pearlman, critic Richard Meltzer, and Patti Smith. Most of the songs focus on the “Imaginos” cycle. The album charted at 53 on the Billboard 200.

Members:

Buck Dharma: lead guitar

Eric Bloom: vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards

Allen Lanier: keyboards, rhythm guitar, synthesizers

Joe Bouchard: bass, vocals

Albert Bouchard: drums, vocals

1. “Career of Evil”: This has a cool bass hook. It’s based on Patti Smith’s poem “Poem of Isadore Ducasse”, named after the real name of Comte de Lautreamont, writer of Les Chantes de Maldoror, which is where the title originates. It describes the alien Desdinova’s interventions.
2. “Subhuman”: This eerie tune is about the Blue Öyster Cult rescuing Desdinova after he is left on the shore. It was originally going to be called “Blue Öyster Cult”, but Pearlman didn’t like the idea. One of my favorite songs.
3. “Dominance and Submission”: This is a nice thrasher. It explores music’s impact on higher consciousness.
4. “ME 262″: This is kind of a title track, as it’s named after the airplane on the cover, the ME-262 Bomber, (aka ” Messerschmidt”), which was used by the Nazis. Another cool thrasher.
5. “Cagey Cretins”: Albert’s got a good rhythm on this. The titular cretins are asylum inmates breaking out. Meltzer was bored when he wrote this one. I kinda like it.
6. “Harvester of Eyes”: The guitar and bass are nice. It’s about Supreme Court justice Abe Fortas, who served under President Lyndon Johnson.
7. “Flaming Telepaths”: The keyboard on this is great, and it’s got another great rhythm. The meaning is ambiguous, with some suspecting the mind control experiments the Nazi scientists performed.
8. “Astronomy”: Desdinova reveals itself to humanity. This is a nice eerie track. I personally think it should’ve been the second song.

Final Verdict: While I don’t like the arrangement of the songs, this is a good album.

Grade: B

Deep Dives: Blue Öyster Cult Part II: Tyranny and Mutation (1973)

Tyranny and Mutation was the second album produced by Murray Krugman and Sandy Pearlman. The album reached #122 in the US.

Members:

Buck Dharma: lead guitar, vocals

Eric Bloom: rhythm guitar, synthesizers, vocals

Allen Lanier: keyboards, rhythm guitar

Joe Bouchard: bass, keyboards, vocals

Albert Bouchard: drums, vocals

The Tracks:

1. “The Red & the Black”: this is a rewrite of ” I’m on the Lamb But I Ain’t No Sheep”. Nice drumming at the start.
2. “OD’d on Life Itself “: This song is about a woman Pearlman met. It’s got a riff that sounds like “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress” by The Hollies.
3. “Hot Rails to Hell”: This song was inspired by a subway ride Joe took with the album’s cover artist, Bill Gawlick, who was a bit of a loner, according to genius.com. I really love the rhythm guitar on this one. My favorite song.
4. “7 Screaming Diz-Busters”: While I like the music on this one fine, I didn’t much care for the lyrics, once I figured out what “diz” means.
5. “Baby Ice Dog”: This is a murder ballad taking place in Mongolia. The guitar and drums are great.
6. “Wings Wetted Down”: This is based on poems by Nobel Prize winning-poet Pablo Neruda. This has a good bass groove.
7. “Teen Archer “: Albert does some excellent drumming on this.
8. “Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)”: This is a song about a serial killer who turns her victims into fertilizer. This is another song with a good groove.

Final Verdict: Another nice and heavy album. It’s a shame these albums before the big one didn’t chart.

Grade: B