Blue Oyster Cult - Blue Oyster Cult Tyranny Mutation Secret Treaties 3CD (26 tracks) +Album Reviews

Tyranny or on your knees

07/26/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"la plus grande trilogie du heavy-metal qui allait tout bouleverser dans l'ésotérisme métallique. Et quelles harmonies ! Il fallait s'appeler Fougeray pour ne pas percevoir la grandiosité de ces opus en Black Sabbath majeur. C'est toujours un bonheur que d'entendre "cities on flame with rnr". Quant à "the last days of may", si vous n'comprenez pas après çà qu'elle ne reviendra plus jamais, cette salope, allez vous faire pendre ailleurs !"

A masterpiece of American Heavy Metal

04/19/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The "Tyranny" CD is, to some, merely a compilation of the band's initial three albums, but to a true BOC historian,there's alot more going on here. The 'Cult isgenerally recognized as the first true American Heavy Metal Band. I stress "American", because their self-titled album of 1971 came after British Metal counterparts such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple etc. In that regard, they are not just a great band--they are an historic band.But you've got to offer something to earn the "historic" moniker. And Blue Oyster Cult has plenty to offer. The three albums represented in "Tyranny" provide a tremendous example of the band's progression from the years 1972 through 1974, the years that I feel produced the bands most satisfying sounds. The band truly has a sound unique to itself. Consider:Eric Bloom's rasp, as lead singer, has no rival, although some would correctly argue that many of the lyrics are hard to decipher. Details, details. He has the perfect look of a lead singer--big afro, mirror shades ,black leather. For a 17 year old in 1973, trust me, that was cool!The perfect complement for instrumentation is Buck Dharma. (He apparently has done away with his prior name, Donald Roeser). Take out your "Tyranny" disc right now, and cue it up to "I'm on the lamb, but I ain't no sheep". Focus your attention on the lead guitar work in that song. I rest my case. Buck Dharma is among the top guitarists I have ever heard. He writes much of the band's material, and although his singing voice is, to this writer, merely average, it's easy to look past that to the bigger picture.As you enjoy the "Tyranny" CD, take notice of another item: The 'Cult's third album, "Secret Treaties" from 1974, is represented on this disc, and starts with the song, "Career of Evil". This is the beginning of the Patti Smith influence (she co-wrote the song), and it is remarkable what an influence it was! It's actually a whole different sound from the album of only one year earlier. Patti would go on to influence BOC music up through the late 70's.Most importantly, remember as you listen that you are hearing the best material from a truly historic American band. Don't let the occult themes and the quasi-violent lyrics fool you. These guys don't take themselves too seriously--they just sound awesome."

Really good, but...

02/01/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This box set is a handy collection of Blue Oyster Cult's first three albums, collectively known as the "black-and-white period", when the band was a cult attraction nevertheless drawing increasing attention. These three records, which contain standards like 'Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll', 'The Red and the Black' and 'Career of Evil', form the core of the evidence for BOC's being the ultimate "thinking man's metal band". The only thing is that, since this box was released, all three of these albums have been remastered and re-released with bonus tracks and new liner notes, so this collection is a bit outdated. By all means, however, it is worth checking out these classic albums in practically any form."

Mandatory - The BOC Curriculum Vitae

El Kabong | 08/26/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes you get so tunnel-visioned into scanning for obscure and hidden trees that you miss the Stalk-Forrest (one of this band's earlier tags). This commendably low-priced set represents the black-and-white-covers era when , true to their final choice for band name, these guys mainly WERE a cult item. At this early stage, BOC were short on marketing strategies but long on creativity and experimentation, thus the songs off these first three lps -while nominally "metal"- have a je nai sais quai (my apologies to outraged French grammarians) that sets these tracks apart from their later, slicker, post-AGENTS OF FORTUNE output. Odd touches and surreal moments abound, with just enough pedal-to-the-metal applied to remind you that these guys are primarily a hard rock band, albeit one with enough craft and smarts to not get bogged down in formula. The self-titled first features such rave-ups as "Transmaniacon MC", "Cities On Flame With Rock & Roll" and "Stairway to the Stars", but the album's real treasures are its unclassifiable cross-genre hybrids: "Before the Kiss, A Redcap" (wonderfully strange jazzy blues), "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" (an early version of "The Red and the Black" best described as progressive bluegrass), and the haunting and otherworldly "Then Came The Last Days of May" (a classic of subtle, idyllic menace presaging "Don't Fear The Reaper" years later). Only the album's inferior mix annoys - thus this overall set only nabs four stars from me. TYRANNY & MUTATION fixes the sound problems and steps up the intensity besides - it was around this time that the band's ambient liner notes started to backfire on them (believe it or don't, there was some scuttlebutt at the time that BOC were neo-Nazis - despite the fact that most of the band's Jewish! Of course, in those days, there were a lot of such silly urban legends afoot regarding longhaired heavy-rockers) and highlights on the album include at least three stone-classics: "Hot Rails to Hell", "OD'd On Life Itself" and "7 Screaming Diz-Busters". The last album collected, SECRET TREATIES, is probably the apogee of this early, eclectic BOC style, a way-out blend of mysticism, pop-culture science fiction imagery and highly tasty melodic metal which resulted in one great song after another: "Career of Evil", "Subhuman", "Flaming Telepaths", "Harvester of Eyes", etc. After this slam-dunk of seductive strangeness, the influence of producers Pearlman & Krugman and creative consultant Richard Meltzer -which had been considerable- lessened somewhat (but paved the way for Michael Moorcock's later work with the band). If you're waiting for me to add "and they were never this good again", well, that's a bit harsh. They remained a quality band - just a lot less unpredictable and bizarre, though there's always a little more than meets the ear on all of their subsequent albums."

Search - Blue Oyster Cult :: Blue Oyster Cult /Tyranny & Mutation / Secret Treaties (3CD)

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