Here's a well known and storied band that I've only recently really gotten into.

I'd known Fire of Unknown Origin for years and had heard their hits - but it wasn't until recently that I started to dig into their actual full lengths. And slowly I guess I've become obssessed.

They've got such a weird idiosyncratic freedom to the sound. So many juxtaposed qualities - from the esoteric lyricism and odd sci-fi-esque soundscapes, they also have a shitload of really super poppy choruses that work very well. It's an interesting blend. On Spectres or Agents of Fortune there are moments that sound like nothing but radio hits at first. But on further listens you hear the constructions of these songs, how they sound so dreamy and ethereal aside from the pop sensibilities of the choruses.

Their early work too is just so out-there and fucking bizarre. Tyranny and Mutation doesn't sound like anything of the Earth. My favorite of theirs, Secret Treaties, is just this jamboree of frenetic, melodic grooves and solos and licks and it's like everything I ever wanted from a 70s act.

Any thoughts, favorite albums/songs, etc?

You’re so right about their early stuff! Nobody does that totally bizarre blend of upbeat sound with full-on morbid lyrics quite like Blue Oyster Cult. I mean, “Harvester of Eyes” is absolutely pop-rock in structure, but the words are super disturbing.

More cowbell!

Very distinctive band. Astronomy is just an amazing piece of songwriting.

(thoughts below copied from some older posts of mine, to save me typing them out again)

I've long thought that BOC should really be included on the Archives as one of the 'exceptions to the rule' bands for their influence on metal (much in the same way that Rush are). They are clearly a hard rock band, but I'd argue their influence on the metal genre is large and undervalued. I know we can't add every single 70s hard rock band that wrote one or two metal songs in their career to the Archives otherwise we'd be flooded with tons of obscure acts who wouldn't really qualify, so a filter has to be applied, but BOC are different in that (like Deep Purple, Rush, and Thin Lizzy) there is a direct line from them to a lot of bands on the Archives in terms of influence, ambience/atmosphere, and style. Ghost are an obvious example of their influence, I'd also argue Saint Vitus are another (the creepy vibe of the Reagers material owes a lot to prime BOC).

BOC's best work has a certain darkness/eerieness/mystery to it that has I think pretty widely permeated through the metal scene over the decades. Unlike Deep Purple/Rush/Thin Lizzy, it's not so much in terms of instrumental technique and approach or song arrangements but in the vibe and aura of their overall sound, which is a bit less easier to quantify as it's a more subtle influence in general. Once one thinks about it one definitely notices it more though. I'd say that qualifies them as a fairly crucial piece of the jigsaw that is heavy metal's foundations.

Honest question, what would you say is their darkest album? I always loved (Don't Fear) The Reaper but none of their other songs I've heard have stuck with me.

I'm not familiar with a lot of their discography after 1975 but I would say the debut has a fairly dark/gloomy/mysterious thing going on. Someone once tried to argue for their inclusion on the basis of 1988's 'Imaginos' album (a record apparently praised by Metallica), but I've not heard that one.

BOC's vibe is not so much dark as unnerving/eerie/strange, but as mentioned I think a lot of metal bands took that on board over the years.

I'm not really sure much of it is "dark" in the way of metal acts. It's just mysterious and odd. They had a kind of whimsical air to them and songs like "Subhuman" or "Cagey Cretins" were just kinda out of this world and weird. It wasn't Black Sabbath dark but they had a strange and arcane nature. Even later songs like "Vera Gemini" or especially "Veterans of the Psychic Wars" were fantastical and trippy - who else was doing that kind of shit?

Arcane is another good description.

I'm listening to Manilla Road's 'Open The Gates' album as I type this and quite a few songs have a similar vibe going on, mysterious/weird/arcane etc., mostly in the intros but also in the lyrics and vibe - 'Astronomica' being a pretty good example. That song seems like a blend of BOC and 70s Priest with a few other things added to the mix.

The strangeness in BOC extends to the lyrics (particularly so) and the cover art - the first two albums especially. Also the band's symbol.

Extraterrestrial Live is one of the best live albums of all time, and especially the version of Godzilla on the album, their studio cuts do little to no justice. Blue Oyster Cult is the most metal non-metal band out there

This looks like a checklist of almost all their best songs... will have to try it.

As much as I love their early stuff (specially Agens of Fortune) my favorite album by theirs is Imaginos. Perfect, haunting album.

Amazing band and one of my favorites. For some of their stuff, it helps to remember that they have roots as a 60s psychedelic band. So much of their lighter stuff sounds like a darker version of the Byrds. Their metal status is to be seen through the lens of how fluid the term was in the 70s.

I love me some BOC. Those first three albums and Fire Of Unknown Origin are their best albums with Secret Treaties in particular being a perfect release in my eyes. I'm not sure if I'd consider them metal but their contributions to the genre are pretty undeniable.

Also, their newest album has no right to be as great as it is. While there are a couple too many tracks, the energy and songwriting is multi-faceted and surprisingly engaging. While AC/DC, Ozzy, and Deep Purple were getting their asses kissed for still existing, BOC is out there making legitimately quality work.

Well both the new AC/DC and Purple albums were good too - though Purple's was a slight step down from the previous two. But even that one had an amazing song in "Man Alive" - a true genuine epic.

But yeah the new BOC was probably the best of these older bands doing albums last year; there was just something more heartfelt and creative in its writing that pushed it over the edge. "Box in My Head" is catchy as fuck. "The Alchemist" and "Florida Man" show very different but brilliant sides of the band.

I've been a fan for a long time, my quick rundown:

debut: reverb madness makes it sound like space rock, which works wonders on the mellow tracks. The atmosphere of "Then Came the Last Days of May" is amazing, and "She's as Beautiful as a Foot" is eerie.

Tyranny and Mutation: My favorite. Great occult rock, and the opener is a barnburner. I dig every song, love the dirgy part of "Quicklime Girl" and the lyrics.

Secret Treaties: Lots of great songs, especially the last three

Agents of Fortune: E.T.I. rules. I also like some of the sleazier city stuff on side B ("Tattoo Vampire", "Tenderloin"). And everyone loves Reaper.

Spectres: The first two and last two songs are great, especially "I Love the Night", which is one of the more haunting yet gorgeous vampire songs out there. Some iffy stuff in the middle though.

Mirrors: Lots of corny AOR with better-than-average guitar solos, but "The Vigil" is epic and legit awesome.

Cultasaurus Erectus: One of my favs. Despite the goofy name, "Lips in the Hills" is killer, and pretty damn heavy. "Monsters" is like heavy prog, and the opener has those fantastic lyrics.

Fire of Unknown Origin: Lots of sci-fi themes and great songs. "Joan Crawford" is hilarious, but that creepy "CRRISTEEEENA" section used to give me the willies when I was a kid. Love the weird jazziness of "Don't Turn Your Back", and everyone loves Veteran.

The Revolution by Night: Mixed bag, but I do like the opener and a couple of others. 80's tropes creeping in.

Club Ninja: I remember the last time I played it I thought it really sucked, just drenched in 80's pop-rock cheese. Maybe I should give it another try someday, but I can't imagine I was that wrong...

Imaginos: Much heavier, though I definitely prefer the earlier version of "Astronomy". Some good songs, and way better than their prior couple, but not a favorite.

Haven't checked out anything since, though I should listen to the new one soon.

Probably one of the 10 most fascinating albums for me, regardless of genre.

BÖC. One of my favourite bands. I don't know where to begin. If you don't know where to begin you're in danger of saying everything at the same time, so I won't even try to begin to sing them praises. Maybe later.

The new album... as good as it is, as typical of BÖC as it is - and every fan should get it - I can only rank it last, not because there's anything wrong with it but because the others were even more consistent or were more interesting or had brighter highlights, e.g. there's not a track as great as "Harvest Moon" or "Live for Me."

I don't know where (or how) to end. If you don't know where to end etc. etc.

For anyone who's interested the BÖCFAQ is highly recommended:

http://www.hotrails.co.uk/bocfaq/

An article about "Imaginos":

https://thequietus.com/articles/12881-b ... nniversary

An interesting series of articles exploring some of BÖC's and Sandy Pearlman's darker and controversial aspects, namely their use of Nazi imagery and occult elements:

http://visupview.blogspot.com/2016/09/t ... art-i.html
http://visupview.blogspot.com/2016/10/t ... -part.html
http://visupview.blogspot.com/2016/10/t ... art_9.html
http://visupview.blogspot.com/2016/10/t ... rt_15.html
http://visupview.blogspot.com/2016/10/t ... art-v.html

Taken seriously, Pearlman's counterfactual alternative history is bullshit of the highest order as it shifts the blame for the World Wars away from humans to magic and aliens and is, thus, cast in the same mould as every right-wing conspiracy theory in existence.

Taken as artistic trolling or provocation, it can probably be interpreted as an invitation to a temporary holiday in a tunnel of horror where the listener is made to 'think' something outrageous and forbidden before returning to the facts.

Personally, I prefer that second route since BÖC's entire discography is laced with bizarre humour, irony and B-movie eye teeth, but I think a thread about the band is not complete without hinting at the controversial stuff. New listeners should be aware of the possibility that what they've just discovered could well be the skid mark from hell.

With this framing, I'm now wondering how much of the concept was ripped off for Iced Earth's Something Wicked saga. Schaffer is a noted BOC fan so it's certainly plausible, even if he has subsequently gone down the first route.

Pretty weird stuff for sure. I didn't finish it all yet. At the least Pearlman had some seriously wacky ideas. Surprised I never heard about this before.

Blue Oyster Cult is one of those bands that I didn't know I loved - when I got into their material, I heard a lot of songs I already knew but didn't know they wrote. Instantly fell in love.

Fire Of Unknown Origin can stand toe to toe with the classic albums from Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd in terms of quality. Absolutely underrated masterpiece. Veteran is one of my favourite psychedelic rock songs, and is a picture perfect example of how to do the "We Will Rock You" beat while writing a way fucking better song. Listening to the live version of it right now, I'm seeing I need to fucking buy Extraterrestrial Live as this is phenomenal!

Secret Treaties isn't that far behind, and has a vibe all its own. If the whole album was as top notch as Flaming Telepaths and Astronomy, it would sure as hell be revered just as highly (plus the way they trick the listener with "and the joke's on you!" at the end of Flaming Telepaths before the abrupt cut to Astronomy is cheeky and brilliant)!

Spectres was hit and miss for me. Some great tunes, some that I didn't care to go back to. Same with the self titled, but a bit less so. When BOC indulge in their nerdiness instead of trying to "fit in" with the sex, drugs and Rock n Roll vibe or writing goofy songs, they're at their best.

Agents of Fortune is awesome too, and not just (Don't Fear) The Reaper. E.T.I. is fantastic as someone stated above, as are many other tunes on that record. The newest one (The Symbol Remains) is solid too - more modern, but still has that signature vibe the band's known for. The Alchemist was very dark for them, but sure as hell welcome.

Still a lot of albums I have to get around to, but I intend to! Definitely interested in Cultosaurus Erectus, Imaginos and Tyranny and Mutation. Super underrated and ridiculously talented! Love Blue Oyster Cult!

Oddly this is a very similar story to mine, timing and all. They've always been on the edge of my radar, at least partially due to the covers of "Astronomy" by Metallica and "Burnin' For You" by Iced Earth. The original of the latter has one of my favorite harmony guitar bits, killer rhythm tone, and some nice keyboards sprinkled in here and there. For awhile I disliked "Don't Fear the Reaper", possibly due to SNL making a joke out of it. I did like the middle section though, and the song overall has grown on me a bit. But just recently I started working through their discography to finally hear the full-lengths and have been enjoying it. I did a similar thing with Thin Lizzy earlier this year, another band I've loved the best of I've had for a long time but never really dug deeper before then.

I absolutely love BOC. I think my interest in them probably sparked in much the same way as OP.

They're very unique, neither contemporary or newer bands sound exactly like them. Of course FOUO is my favourite, but the old stuff and even some of their newer albums are also great.

It's also weird how they're a super well-known band with a set of hits that people know (at least peripherally), but I don't meet many BOC fans out in the real world.

I've never explored them outside of Fire of Unknown Origin and some of the hits but this might prompt me to. I actually did check out their new album last year and for the most part it was pretty good.

For real. I remember pre-COVID I bought a couple records at my local record store and wanted to order a few more, and the guy behind the counter was a huge BOC fan - it felt like talking to a new species of human.

I'm a huge fan of Martin Popoff, though, fair warning, his views on what is metal and what isn't may throw you off at first, but the man was there and has highly original views and his insight is always valuable, because he thinks about all this stuff very thoroughly and he backs up his opinions in such a solid way every time I'm reading or listening to him.

Anyway, he's written a book (or more? not sure) about Blue Oyster Cult, but even if you can't find that, you can do a search on him on YouTube and find him talking about the band on various channels. For anyone looking to learn more about this band and immerse themselves in their discography, you can't do better than choose Martin as your guide.

Just YouTube the man, you won't regret it.

Yeah, Martin Popoff is very knowledgeable and insightful about rock and the first couple decades of metal. He definitely doesn't use our definition for metal though.

I'm getting into BOC via a slightly odd route - essentially I'm working on a collection of 'stuff that Michael Moorcock had a hand in' - so lots of Hawkwind, BOC, pretty sure there's a Deep Purple album he influenced too, couple of NWOBHM bands that took inspiration from his books, and so on.

I've bought Cultosarus & Fire of Unknown Origin so far as part of this quest, and actually enjoy the albums in themself too !

Stormbringer, and then only for the cool title and used without permission. He was not too happy about it.

I'm a huge fan of the band, and am glad to have made them my first show of the year - last Friday in Oshkosh, WI. Nothing from the new album, but I'm sure that will change once they get back in the groove of playing regular shows. To me, it's one of the most enjoyable albums they've ever done. The Alchemist stands up well against any of the classic songs, and there's just a solid mix of catchy and rocking stuff throughout. But overall, it was a great show and people actually seemed excited just to be able to wait in line for something - I sure was.

The version of Then Came the Last Days of May that they've been doing live is an improvement on the album version, which I would not have thought was possible until hearing it.

All credit to Metallica - it was their cover of Astronomy that caused me to look beyond the 3 biggest hits. I picked up a copy of Secret Treaties, and worked in no particular order after that.

Now those 3 hits are all great songs, but for those so inclined, there's a lot more out there that you might enjoy.