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Blue Oyster Cult CDs are exceedingly hard to find nowadays. This one contains a nice sampling of their music, just enough to listen to on a quiet drive home from work. Their instrumental work is complex enough to be interesting and their vocals are traditionalistic style, on par with Led Zeppelin, so as to not offend anyone in the car pool.
Yes, I did say HITS. Their follow-up 1977 album Spectres was even more commercial, but still great. However, I think better choices could have been made from some of the albums. Each album from 1972 through 1983 has pretty good representation with the songs they chose. Sure, I like (Don't Fear) The Reaper, Godzilla and Burnin' For You, but there are so many songs from their early years that are much better than these three songs (except for maybe Reaper). Once you listen to this album and all of BOC's albums, you'll see what I mean when I say they're extremely underrated.
You'll wonder why so many of their songs never got any radio play or were never released as singles. Its seems that my favorite BOC songs are the more obscure ones that most of the general public doesn't know about and have never heard. The Best Of Blue Oyster Cult is a 16-song package of hit songs. Also, there should have been at least one more song from the Mirrors album - either The Great Sun Jester or The Vigil.But overall, this is a good introductory disc for new fans. BOC began to go mainstream and commercial starting in 1976 with their album Agents Of Fortune, even though it's a great album. Still more commercial yet was 1979's Mirrors, though I love that album.For a "best of" disc, this disc has a good lineup of songs. I can't stress enough that if you like the songs on this "best of" compilation, you should get their other albums from 1972-1981 so you can hear a ton of other songs that are good but never got any airplay.
Listen to Tyranny And Mutation. At least they're hits amongst their loyal fans who listen to their other songs besides just what the radio plays, which is usually all of three songs - (Don't Fear) The Reaper, Burnin' For You, and Godzilla. I realize you can't include everything on a 16 song disc (see, that right there shows this band has a ton of good songs), but I think the song This Ain't The Summer Of Love from the Agents Of Fortune album could have been replaced with ETI (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence). Listen to their self-titled first album. Listen to Secret Treaties. Goin' Through The Motions from the Spectres album could have been replaced with either Celestial The Queen or Searchin' For Celine.
No Cinderella or Extreme to be found here. Worshipped it. A mixed bag. For me, that's a cool thing, kinda of a defining thing, like.what kind of person are you. That's what I get from them.
BOC IS NOT FOR EVERYONEIt seems that everyone has their own opinion as to which BOC they like or whether they like all of it, some of it or any of it. Do you like to do different things. These guys were good. Think of them more as artistic hard-rockers, proggish at times, a little boogie here and there, sometimes punkish in tone. Do you like to experiment. Period.One of the most diverse musical portfolios.Has one of the most under-rated guitarists.Has one of the most under-rated vocalists.Behind and ahead of their time.Not easily categorized(pigeonholed).
Can you give a joke and take it as well. Then I bought Some Enchanted Evening. If your bag is seventies stadium rock, chances are you will like their later stuff. If you dug music in the sixties, seventies or eighties you will probably come away liking something on thie CD. If you like eighties metal, you will probably like their more powerful rockers and not much else. Do you like to boogie or headbang. Go ahead, duplicate it. My thing is stadium rock with some 60's flavor and punk thrown in to boot.
Still do. They made music they wanted to make, not what JOHN Q. Testifies to their diversity. If you like punk rock (I dare say) you might enjoy some of their music.
Still am. If you like the music of the Doors, the Jefferson Airplane, Steppenwolf, MC5, Grateful Dead, you will probably like their early stuff. Try to cover one of their songs and see how well you can. Really.
etc etc.Those who think that BOC is a joke with no punchline DEFINITLY take themselves to SERWIOUSLY(sic).GET OVER ADOLESCENCE.Those reviews who took a dig at BOC already know who they are and already could care less. Oh, well.BOC offers something a little extra, a little different with their brand of hard rock. If you like music from all those decades, you might even like most of it. Can't. HAhahahaha. That's what makes them great. PUBLIC wanted or expected. Bought Agents of Fortune and Spectres and fell in love with them.
Love ballads were not their thing. (I think this is what turns a lot of people off)BOC never intended for everyone to like, appreciate or "get them". Does your mood change. My intro to BOC was back in the late seventies. If others don't "get it", that's OK.One of the best live rock acts EVER.
This is a great Blue Oyster Cult starter kit of sorts. It is far from a complete set of great tunes, but you do get Astronomy (my personal favorite BOC tune), Don't Fear The Reaper, Burnin for You and so on. I guess this is a gateway release for those new to this band. Warning: you may get hooked.
someday. I should start by saying that I love this song - hey, who doesn't. if itunes deletes all your other downloads. But I think it's a little unfair that the one good song on this eponymous album is priced higher than all of the rest of the songs. It poses and interesting thought experiment though - do they price it higher because they know it's the only one anybody likes and the only one anyone's likely to download, or are they trying to convince the buyer somehow that they're better off for their money's worth to go ahead and buy the whole album, the rest of which you'll honestly never listen to, but manage to convince yourself that you just might. and you're desperate. Oh well, I suppose in the end it's just 30 cents, but it still seems cynically silly for them to have priced it like this.
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