music

it may have been the double live album that made me first listen to the blue oyster cult or it may have been the press they were getting their hit ‘don’t fear the reaper’.
i am going with the double live album.
i have a thing about live albums. i really do like them, and if they are a double live album then i live them even more. i think it is to do with the fact that if i like a band on their live album then there is a good chance i am going to like their studio stuff. it is a simple test and mostly it works.
with ‘on your feet or on your knees’ it worked a treat. four sides of musical goodness featuring songs from the bands first three albums (the black and white period). it became a staple listen. i would air guitar (or in my case: bass) to the whole album. the purchase was quickly followed by their other albums.
this live album would be followed by ‘agents of fortune’ which gave them their greatest hit. from there it was downhill, it wasn’t that they became bad it was just that they never hit the heights again. the subsequent albums would have something good on them. perhaps that is the mark of a great band – they can continue to knock out good stuff for years. that said one of my favourite studio albums from the blue oyster cult is one of those so so albums ‘mirrors’.
as a band they were famous for songs that had a bit of wit and menace in them, that they were short and their live shows had lasers (which always seemed to involve them in a media article about health and safety). i never got to see them in their prime – i can pass on seeing them as middle-aged podgy rockers now. after all that is what live albums are for – both me and the band reliving our finest moments again. turning back time.

things to notice about the videos.
‘don’t fear the reaper’ the song has gained a lot of attention recently as it has been appearing in tv programmes – including glee. mr. roeser looks nice in white with a tache and doesn’t look at all like a waiter or in a covers band. eric bloom has a nice beard, always seems to wear similar clothes on stage and does that finger wag in all the live footage of him doing this song live. the guitar break remains a thing of beauty. look there are lasers.
‘cities on flame’ is one of those songs where the drummer takes the lead in singing. it doesn’t happen often. you’ll notice that the keyboard player (allen lanier) can be seen to be smoking – which in today’s climate makes him a rebel. there is a less than successful call and response section (though this is probably down to the sound mixing rendering the exercise pointless). that while donald ‘buck dharma’ roeser is doing a blister guitar break the other guitarist, eric bloom, has gone off to hit cymbals.


their big hit




one of their classic tracks