Blue Öyster Cult - On Your Feet Or On Your Knees

A band’s best music is not necessarily their most commercially successful.  Few bands have proven that adage better than Blue Öyster Cult.

There’s a long history to this ear-splitting, thunderous, arena rock group.  They started off life trying to be the American answer to Black Sabbath and for me, growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, they were. The band first hit the scene in New York under the name Soft White Underbelly, found a modicum of success and an interested major record label. Unfortunately, in 1969 their lead singer left during the recording of their first album and the label shelved the project.  The band continued to perform live as Soft White Underbelly until it received a bad review of a 1969 concert at Fillmore East.  Instead of letting the band slog through the critical review in order to find redemption their manager decided they should just rename the band.  For two long years the band changed names nearly every six months.  Then, in 1971, the band settled on Blue Öyster Cult which was based on their manager’s poem about a group of aliens who had assembled to secretly guide Earth's history.  Under the new name the band landed a recording contract with Columbia Records.

The band toiled in relative obscurity, sometimes even playing small venues as Soft White Underbelly, through 1975.  They had released a self-titled album in 1972 containing some of the hardest rocking hard rock of the day, that found a small loyal following, and followed it up with a 1973 release entitled Tyranny and Mutation that contained the first of many of the band’s collaborations with Patti Smith. In 1974 they released a third album, Secret Treaties, that earned them faint praise.  However, it was their constant touring that lured in a fan base.  Blue Öyster Cult live shows became legendary.

In 1975, the band released On Your Feet or On Your Knees, a live album that went gold.  It captured the essence of their live shows.  Here were band members Eric Bloom, Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, Allen Lanier, and Joe and Albert Bouchard at their road-tested best  and earning their first taste of super stardom.   To this day I rank this effort as one of the best live albums ever produced.

The album cover sports an old ghostly stone gothic church in a murky fog fronted by a 1970’s black Cadillac stretch limousine. The back of the album has a photograph of hands in medieval gloves of an executioner holding a bible-like volume with the symbol of the band amongst the text.  The double album has two sleeves and the fold-out inside is festooned with a picture of an ornate gothic stage with a row of full stack Marshall amplifiers from stage right to stage left fronted by the band jumping into space playing electric guitars over the heads of their audiience.

The first disk starts with a live audience and a mysterious announcement to the gathered crowd - “On your feet or on your knees.  It is the amazing Blue Öyster Cult.” Then the band  immediately dives in to some of the hottest guitar rock leather band live performances of the decade.

The recording is comprised of three songs from each of the band’s first three studio albums and two cover songs. A dizzying array of guitar leads, pounding drums, electric bass and vocals permeate the rockers and ballads and leave the listener amped and asking for more.  "Subhuman," then "Harvester of Eyes," lead to “Hot Rails to Hell" followed by scorching versions of "The Red and the Black" and “Screaming Diz-Busters."  Then comes “Buck's Boogie," a veritable ear bleeding break the speed barrier bopper. A smooth arena rock ballad "(Then Came The) Last Days of May" slows the pace but only long enough for the band to reboot the sustain with “Cities on Flame," "ME 262," and the heart pounding "Before the Kiss (A Redcap)."  The album concludes with two cover songs - “I Ain’t Got You” (with modified lyrics) and the best version of “Born To Be Wild” you have ever heard.

Blue Öyster Cult’s greatest commercial success still was to come when On Your Feet Or On Your Knees was released.  Their biggest hit singles “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” and “Godzilla” did not chart until 1976 and 1977, respectively,and, to be honest, are watered down versions of the band’s music tuned to appeal to a wider audience.

Blue Öyster Cult is still around and occasionally records and tours under that name.  However, if you really want to experience the music like it was, when they produced cutting edge rock and roll and not AM hits for mass consumption, look for a small notice printed on the back of a local throwaway free press newspaper that says that Soft White Underbelly is playing at a small bar venue. Go.  You won’t be disappointed whether you have to watch on your feet or on your knees.

- Old School

Buy here: On Your Feet Or on Your Knees
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Ghost - Opus Eponymous

These days you gotta have a gimmick. And Ghost, a new band from Sweden, has a lot of them. They wear robes, pope hats and face paint (even the drummer when they play live). Their lyrics are Satanic but sound like they picked up most of their occult knowledge from King Diamond interviews. There are rumors that under the costumes there are well known musicians from other metal bands. They’ve also received negative attention because there’s already a long-running Japanese band with the same band name. All of this has resulted in strong opinions in the metal world about this band. Some say it’s all hype, others say Ghost are the best new band in years. Like most cases where opinions are so polarized there’s a bit of truth on both sides.

Whoever is in the band or not, Ghost’s debut album Opus Eponymous is a nice change of pace in the heavy music world. Most underground bands are either working the doom Black Sabbath angle or are part of the speed/thrash/grind brigade. Ghost’s sound is about 60% Blue Oyster Cult (especially Agents Of Fortune), 20% Mercyful Fate and 20% other ingredients (mainly 70’s Priest/Scorps/UFO and Angelwitch).

The funeral organ instrumental “Deus Culpa” starts the album off on a somber tone before being taken over by the fast “Con Clavi Con Dio.” The verses are fast and sinister but the chorus is very melodic and would probably get some commercial radio play if it wasn’t praising Lucifer. The single “Ritual” really sounds like if BOC time traveled from 1976 to 1984 to steal some riffs from Mercyful Fate’s “A Dangerous Meeting” to use in “Don’t Fear The Reaper.”

“Elizabeth” is full on Mercyful Fate “Melissa” worship, down to the Herman Rarebell/Les Binks metal oompah beat. The vocalist (no names credited in the liner notes) bears a resemblance to Buck Dharma and occasionally drifts into Queen Rhinestone territory but doesn’t resort to screeching for vengeance. The presence of keyboards add some nice texture and are rarely overbearing. The guitars sound like they might even be in standard tuning and have crunch but not full on metal distortion. “Stand By Him” is another strongly BOC influenced moody song with a Thin Lizzy-ish guitar solo (“Thunder and Lighning?”) in the middle.

“Prime Mover” has some nice bass fills and good Stained Class style chugga-chugga riffs. Album closing “Genesis” brings the keyboards to the front and sounds more like The Alan Parsons Project than Genesis and has an acoustic guitar interlude. Back in the 70’s rock radio stations used to love songs like these as background music while reading the local concert calendar. Get your local paper and try it out yourself.

Despite the hype I really like this album. The Satanic lyrics and costumes are a little corny but the music is solid.


--Woody


Buy here: Opus Eponymous



www.myspace.com/thebandghost

 

Caddy - Electric Hero

Sometimes things are better if you do them yourself.  That is exactly what Norway’s Tomas Dahl appears to believe with his one man power pop band release “Electric Hero.”  

Dahl calls his solo band endeavor “Caddy.”  It is an apt name.  A caddy in golf is one who carries a player's bag and clubs and gives advice.  On this release Dahl carries all the instruments and vocals. He is the “Caddy” and the player.  Before inventing Caddy Dahl was a member of  two noted power pop bands - The Yum Yums and Wonderfools. After listening to “Electric Hero” I could not help but speculate that the album came about because Dahl couldn’t get those bands to play his music exactly how he wanted it to be played.  Caddy is Dahl’s opportunity to “have it his way” and he delivers it with relish.

Although he calls Caddy’s music “Paul Stanley and Bryan Adams writing songs together . . . in Brian Wilson’s house” that is not what I hear.  Rather, my aural palette tells me the sound is Blue Oyster Cult meets Fountains Of Wayne at a party thrown by The Black Keys.  When I realized Dahl wrote all the songs, played all the instruments, produced the album, and sang every note, I was flabbergasted. He is truly a musical army of one.

What you get with “Electric Hero” is an amazing array of catchy lyrics, blazing multi-layers of guitars, blistering drums, perfect harmonies and vocals with true grit.  The melodies are infectious.  From “Hanging On To Nothing” through “Long Way Home”  Dahl takes the listener on an accessible and astonishing power pop journey.  Just when you think the music is  becoming too sugary sweet Dahl changes it up and crush rolls you into submission.

This is not a concept album.  Each of the fourteen tracks stands on its own and each could have easily been released, and been successful, as a single.  These days Norwegian bands are generally known for “black metal” music, but none is found on “Electric Hero.” Instead, you get some of the best power pop of the past decade.  The slogan of Norway may be “Norway, Powered by Nature.” However, after you listen to “Electric Hero,” you might suggest that it be changed to “Norway, Powered by Dahl,  a force of Nature.”

- Old School 

Buy here mp3: Electric Hero