BLUE OYSTER CULT

Blue Öyster Cult

Студийные альбомы
Blue Oyster Cult 1972
Tyranny and Mutation 1973
Secret Treaties 1974
Agents of Fortune 1976
Spectres 1977
Mirrors 1979
Cultosaurus Erectus 1980
Fire of Unknown Origin 1981
The Revolution by Night 1983
Club Ninja 1986
Imaginos 1988
Heaven Forbid 1998
Curse of the Hidden Mirror 2001

Концертные альбомы
On Your Feet or on Your Knees 1975
Some Enchanted Evening 1978
Extraterrestrial Live 1982
A Long Day's Night 2002

Саундтреки
Bad Channels Soundtrack 1992

Сборники
Career of Evil: The Metal Years 1990
Workshop of the Telescopes (cd boxset) 1995

Состав

• Eric Bloom - вокал, гитара, клавишные
• Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser - гитара, вокал
• Allen Lanier - клавишные, гитара
• Richie Castellano - бас, вокал
• Jules Radino - ударные

USA
HARD_ROCK
Official Site
NySpace

Группа была создана благодаря усилиям двух авторов рок-композиций Сэнди Перлмана и Ричарда Мелцера. В Нью-Йорке для исполнения своих песен они подобрали себе коллектив, менявший название как перчатки: "Cows", "Soft White Underbelly", "Oaxaca".

К 1969 году команда остановилась на вывеске "Stalk-Forrest Group" и включала в себя Эрика Блума (р. 11 декабря 1944; гитара, вокал), Дональда Роузера (р. 12 ноября 1947; гитара, вокал), Аллена Ланиера (клавишные, гитара), Джо Бучарда (р. 9 ноября 1948; бас, вокал) и Альберта Бучарда (ударные). Квинтет выпустил сингл "What Is Quicksand" и после этого окончательно сменил название на "Blue oyster cult".

Ранние релизы объединяли риффы в стиле "Black Sabbath" и мистические тексты, породив определение "интеллектуальный тяжелый металл". Загадочные названия треков типа "A Kiss Before The Redap" и "OD'd On Life Itself", создавали какой-то полубайкерский, полуооккультный имидж, усердно ваяемый Перлманом.

Композиция "Career Of Evil" из альбома "Secret Treaties", написанная в соавторстве с Патти Смит придала коллективу более коммерческое звучание, проявившееся также в песне, сделанной в стиле "Byrds" - международным хитом "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". Смит продолжила свое сотрудничество с группой на альбоме "Agents Of Fortune", написав "Debbie Denise" и "The Revenge Of Vera Gemini". Закрутив роман с Алленом Ланиером, она позже добавила композицию "Shooting Shark" к альбому "The Revolution By Night". Тем временем писатель-фантаст Майкл Муркок внес вклад в альбомы "Mirrors" и "Cultosaurus Erectus".

Однако, с выходом концертника "Some Enchanted Evening" наиболее творческий период "Blue oyster cult" начал подходить к концу, несмотря на незначительный успех сингла "Joan Crawford Has Risen From The Grave". Популярность группы поддерживалась лишь регулярными гастролями, особенно это было заметно на туре "Black And Blue" в тандеме с "Black Sabbath".

Blue oyster cult В 1981 году Альберта Бучарда за ударной установкой сменил Рик Доуни. В 1982-м Роузер выпустил свой первый сольник. Бучард тоже записал сольный альбом, однако выпустить его так и не смог. Этот диск под названием "Imaginos" вышел в 1988 году в обработке "Blue oyster cult". Альбом, несмотря на его сомнительное происхождение, был назван критиками лучшим релизом группы за последние несколько лет. Впоследствии Джо Бучард ушел из группы и в компании с Нейлом Смитом, Деннисом Данавеем, Чарли Ханом и Джеем Джонсоном замутил проект "Dead Ringer".

В 1992 "Blue oyster cult" записали саундтрек к фильму ужасов "Bad Channels". Студийную работу группа возобновили лишь в 1998 году, выпустив первый за десять лет альбом "Heaven Forbid". // Рок-энциклопедия

English

Blue Öyster Cult is an American rock band formed in New York in 1967 and still active in 2007. The group is probably best known for three songs: The 1976 single "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" from the album Agents of Fortune, the 1981 single "Burnin' for You" from the album Fire of Unknown Origin, and "Godzilla" (1977) from Spectres. The band is a pioneer in heavy metal music both for its hard-edged musical assault and its use of sci-fi and occult imagery. It has sold over 14 million albums worldwide

History

The band was formed under the name Soft White Underbelly in 1967 in the vicinity of State University of New York at Stony Brook on Long Island, New York, at the prompting of critic and manager Sandy Pearlman. Pearlman was very important to the band—he was able to get them gigs, recording contracts with Elektra and Columbia, and he provided them with his poetry for use as lyrics for many of their songs, including "Astronomy". Writer Richard Meltzer also provided the band with lyrics from their early days up through their most recent studio album. The band (with original lead vocalist Les Braunstein and bassist Andrew Winters) recorded an album's worth of material for Elektra Records in 1968. When Braunstein departed in early 1969, Elektra shelved the album.

Eric Bloom (formerly the band's acoustic engineer) replaced Braunstein, and the band continued to perform as Soft White Underbelly. However, a bad review of a 1969 Fillmore East show caused Pearlman to change the name of the band - first to Oaxaca, then to the Stalk-Forrest Group. The band recorded yet another album's worth of material for Elektra, but only one single ("What Is Quicksand?" b/w "Arthur Comics") was released (and only in a promo edition of 300 copies) on Elektra Records. (This album was eventually released, with additional outtakes, by Rhino Handmade Records as St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings in 2001). After a few more temporary band names, including the Santos Sisters, the band settled on Blue Öyster Cult in 1970 (see "Band Name" section below for its origin).

The Black & White years

Their debut album Blue Öyster Cult was released in January of 1972, with a black and white cover designed by artist Bill Gawlik. The album featured the songs "Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll," "Stairway to the Stars," and "Then Came the Last Days of May." The album sold well, and BÖC toured with artists such as the Byrds, Alice Cooper and the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Their next album Tyranny and Mutation, released in 1973, was written while the band was on tour for their first LP. It contained songs such as "The Red and The Black" (an ode to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police), "Hot Rails To Hell", and "Baby Ice Dog", the first of the band's many collaborations with Patti Smith.

The band's third album, Secret Treaties (1974) received positive reviews, featuring songs such as "Career of Evil" (also co-written by Patti Smith), "Dominance and Submission" and "Astronomy." As a result of constant touring, the band was now capable of headlining arenas.

Commercial success

The band's first live album On Your Feet or on Your Knees (1975) achieved greater success and went gold, and was followed up by one of their first platinum albums, Agents of Fortune (1976). It contained the hit single "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", which was featured in the movie Halloween, written and sung by Buck Dharma, which reached #12 on the Billboard charts. Other major songs on the album were "(This Ain't) The Summer of Love," "E.T.I. (Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence)," and "The Revenge of Vera Gemini." For the tour, the band added lasers to their light show, which they became known for.

Their next album, Spectres (1977), had the FM radio hit "Godzilla", but its sales were not as strong as those for the previous album.

The band then released another live album, Some Enchanted Evening (1978). Though it was intended as another double-live album in the vein of On Your Feet Or On Your Knees, Columbia insisted that it be edited down to single-album length. It became BÖC's most popular album, eventually selling over 2 million copies.

It was followed by the studio album Mirrors (1979). For Mirrors, instead of working with previous producers Pearlman (who instead went on to manage Black Sabbath) and Krugman, BÖC chose Tom Werman, who had worked with acts such as Cheap Trick and Ted Nugent. However, the resulting album was considered to be "too commercial" by many long-time fans, and sales were disappointing.

Pearlman's association with Black Sabbath was tapped for the next BÖC album, which resulted in Sabbath's Heaven and Hell producer Martin Birch being hired for the next BÖC record. The result was positive, with Cultösaurus Erectus (1980) receiving good reviews. The album went to #14 in the UK, but did not do as well in the U.S. One of the notable songs on the album was the song "Black Blade," which was written by Bloom and sci-fi author Michael Moorcock. The band also did a co-headlining tour with Black Sabbath in support of the album, calling it the "Black and Blue Tour."

Birch produced the band's next album as well, Fire of Unknown Origin (1981). The biggest hit on this album was the Top 40 hit "Burnin’ For You," a song Buck had written with a Richard Meltzer lyric. He had intended to use it on his solo album, but he was convinced to use it on the BÖC album instead. The album went platinum, and contained other fan favorites such as "Joan Crawford" (inspired by the book and film Mommie Dearest) and "Veteran of the Psychic Wars", another song co-written by Moorcock. Several of the songs had been written for the animated film Heavy Metal, but only "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" (which, ironically, was not written for Heavy Metal) was actually used in the movie. After this album, Albert Bouchard left the band, and Rick Downey (formerly the band's lighting designer) replaced him on drums.

Decline and fall

After leaving the band, Bouchard spent five years working on a solo album based on Sandy Pearlman's poem "Imaginos." BÖC released the live album Extraterrestrial Live, and then went to the studio for their next album, with Bruce Fairbairn as producer, the 1983 release The Revölution by Night. Its highest charting single was "Shooting Shark", co-written by Patti Smith, which reached #83 on the charts. After Revolution, Rick Downey left, leaving BÖC without a drummer. They attempted to re-unite with Bouchard for a California tour, but the animosity returned, and he left after the end of the tour. Allen Lanier also quit the band shortly thereafter, leaving the band without a keyboardist. BÖC hired Jimmy Wilcox and Tommy Zvonchek to finish the Club Ninja album, which was moderately well-received. The band toured in Germany, after which Joe Bouchard left, leaving only two original members, Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma. Jon Rogers was hired to replace Joe, and this version of the band finished out the 1986-87 tour, then quietly broke up.

Imaginos and continued touring

When BÖC received an offer to tour in Greece in the fall of 1987, the band reformed. The new line-up contained founding members Eric Bloom, Buck Dharma and Allen Lanier, with Jon Rogers returning on bass, and Ron Riddle on drums. Columbia Records was not interested in releasing the Imaginos project as an Albert Bouchard solo album, so Pearlman arranged for it to be released in 1988 by Columbia as a BÖC album, with some new vocal and instrumental overdubs from Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma. Though BÖC did tour to promote Imaginos, promotion was virtually non-existent, and when Columbia Records was purchased by Sony Music, BÖC were dropped from the label.

The band spent the next 10 years touring without releasing an album, though they did contribute two new songs to the Bad Channels movie soundtrack, which was released in 1992. Riddle quit in 1991, and was followed a series of other drummers including Chuck Burgi and Bobby Rondinelli. Jules Radino joined in 2004, and is the band's current drummer. Rogers left in 1995, and was replaced by Danny Miranda. Miranda left in 2004 - he is now the bassist for Queen + Paul Rodgers - and Richie Castellano replaced him.

From late 2006 until the present, Allen Lanier has not performed with the band, for reasons that have not been made public. Castellano has played rhythm guitar and keyboards in his absence. (Castellano also filled in on lead guitar and vocals for an ailing Buck Dharma in two shows in 2005). Both Danny Miranda and Jon Rogers did short stints on bass in early 2007. In June 2007, it was announced that Rudy Sarzo (ex-Quiet Riot, ex-Ozzy Osbourne, ex-Whitesnake) would be joining BÖC on bass for the remainder of the year.

CMC/Sanctuary years

In the late 1990s, BÖC secured a recording contract with CMC Records (which was later purchased by Sanctuary Records), and continued to tour frequently. Two studio albums have been released, 1998's Heaven Forbid and Curse of the Hidden Mirror from 2001. Both albums featured songs co-written by cyberpunk/horror novelist John Shirley. Another live record, A Long Day's Night and DVD (same title), followed in 2002, both drawn from one concert in Chicago.

Blue Öyster Cult have since had a falling out with Sanctuary Records, and are currently without a record deal.

Sony Legacy remasters

In 2001, Sony/Columbia's reissue arm, Legacy Records issued expanded versions of the first four BÖC studio albums, including some previously unreleased demos and outtakes from album sessions, live recordings (from the Live 72 ep), and post-St. Cecilia tunes from the Stalk-Forrest Group era. In February 2007, the Sony Legacy remaster series continued, releasing expanded versions of studio album Spectres and live album Some Enchanted Evening, leaving the first live album On Your Feet Or On Your Knees still without the treatment. However, the liner notes for the second round of remasters differ from the photos and in-depth analysis of the first four releases, and did not include lyrics as the earlier releases had.

Band name

The name "Blue Öyster Cult" came from a 1960s poem written by manager Sandy Pearlman. It was part of his "Imaginos" poetry, later used more extensively in their 1988 album Imaginos. Pearlman had also come up with the band's earlier name, "Soft White Underbelly", from a phrase used by Winston Churchill in describing Italy during World War II. In Pearlman's poetry, the "Blue Öyster Cult" was a collection of aliens who had collected to secretly guide Earth's history.

The addition of the umlaut was suggested by either Allen Lanier or Richard Meltzer. Other bands later copied the practice of using umlauts or diacritic marks in their own band logos (see Heavy metal umlaut), such as Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, Queensrÿche, and the parody band Spınal Tap, which, along with a dotless letter i, put an "umlaut" over the n (a symbol found only in the Jacaltec language of Guatemala and in some orthographies of Malagasy).

The hook-and-cross logo is that of Kronos, the king of the Titans and father of Zeus in Greek mythology, and is the alchemical symbol for lead, one of the heaviest of metals. Sandy Pearlman considered this, combined with the heavy and distorted guitar sound of the band and decided the description "heavy metal" would be aptly applied to Blue Öyster Cult's musical sound. It was designed by Bill Gawlik and appears on all of the band's albums.

Lineup

The current members of the band are

• Eric Bloom: lead vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Buck Dharma: lead guitar, vocals
• Richie Castellano: keyboards, guitar
• Rudy Sarzo: bass, vocals
• Jules Radino: drums, percussion

The original lineup of the band was

• Eric Bloom: lead vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Buck Dharma: lead guitar, vocals
• Allen Lanier: keyboards, guitar
• Joe Bouchard: bass, vocals
• Albert Bouchard: drums, percussion, vocals

Lead vocal duties

While Eric Bloom has always been the band's official lead singer, other members of the band have contributed lead vocals throughout its history.

• Donald (Buck Dharma) Roeser

"Then Came the Last Days of May," "Before the Kiss, a Redcap," "Teen Archer," "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," "Godzilla," "Golden Age of Leather," "I Love the Night," "In Thee," "Mirrors," "The Vigil," "Lonely Teardrops," "Deadline," "Burnin' for You," "Don't Turn Your Back," "Shooting Shark," "Veins," "Dragon Lady," "Dancin' in the Ruins," "Perfect Water," "Spy in the House of the Night," "Madness to the Method," "Astronomy (Imaginos version)," "Les Invisibles," "Magna of Illusion," "Harvest Moon," "X-Ray Eyes," "Damaged," "Real World," "Live for Me," "Still Burnin'," "Dance on Stilts," "Pocket," "Here Comes That Feeling" and "Stone of Love"

• Joe Bouchard

"Screams," "Hot Rails to Hell," "Wings Wetted Down," "Morning Final," "Celestial The Queen," "Nosferatu," "Moon Crazy," "Fallen Angel," "Vengeance (The Pact)," "Light Years of Love," "When the War Comes"

• Albert Bouchard

"Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll," "Dominance and Submission," "The Revenge of Vera Gemini," "Sinful Love," "Debbie Denise," "Death Valley Nights," "Cagey Cretins" (Trades off with Eric Bloom) "Fireworks," "You're Not the One (I Was Looking For)," "Hungry Boys" and "Blue Öyster Cult"

• Allen Lanier

"True Confessions"

• Jon Rogers

"Imaginos"

• Joey Cerisano

"The Siege and Investiture of Baron Von Frankenstein's Castle at Weisseria"

Former members

Vocals

• Les Braunstein (1967–1969)

Bass

• Andrew Winters (1967–1970)
• Joe Bouchard (1970–1986)
• Jon Rogers (1987–1995)
• Greg Smith (1995)
• Danny Miranda (1995–2004)
• Richie Castellano (2004–2007)

Drums

• Albert Bouchard (1967–1981, 1985–California tour)
• Rick Downey (1981–1984)
• Thommy Price (1985)
• Jimmy Wilcox (1985–1987)
• Ron Riddle (1987–1991)
• Chuck Burgi (1991–1992, 1992–1995, 1996–1997)
• John Miceli (1992, 1995)
• John O'Reilly (1995–1996)
• Bobby Rondinelli (1997–2004)

Keyboards

• Tommy Zvonchek (1985–1987)
• Kasim Sulton (1998)

Guitars

• Al Pitrelli (1999)

Heaven Forbid

Track listing

Год:1998
Страна:USA
Стиль:Hard-Rock
Размер:61.52 Мб
Формат:192/kbps

All songs written by John Shirley, Eric Bloom, Donald Roeser, except where noted.

1. "See You in Black" – 3:17
2. "Harvest Moon" (Roeser) – 4:55
3. "Power Underneath Despair" – 3:30
4. "X-Ray Eyes" (Shirley, Roeser) – 3:48
5. "Hammer Back" – 3:35
6. "Damaged" (Shirley, Roeser) – 4:22
7. "Cold Gray Light of Dawn" – 3:51
8. "Real World" (Shirley, Roeser) – 5:08
9. "Live for Me" (Shirley, Roeser) – 5:19
10. "Still Burnin'" (Jon Rogers, Roeser) – 3:39
11. "In Thee" [Live] (Allen Lanier) – 3:40

Personnel

• Eric Bloom – Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
• Buck Dharma – Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
• Allen Lanier – Guitar, Keyboards
• Danny Miranda – Bass, Vocals
• Chuck Burgi – Drums, Vocals
• Bob Rondinelli – Drums on "Live for Me"
• Jon Rogers – Bass, Vocals on "Harvest Moon", "Power Underneath

• George Cintron – Additional Vocals
• Tony Perrino – Additional Keyboards
• Paul Orofino – Engineer, Mixing
• Marc Senesac – Engineer, Mixing
• Leon Zervos – Mastering

Heaven Forbid is a Blue Öyster Cult album released in 1998. It was the band's first studio album in a decade. American science fiction and horror writer John Shirley wrote lyrics for several songs on the album. "In Thee" was originally featured on Mirrors.

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