Blue Öyster Cult es un grupo de rock psicodélico y heavy metal formado en Long Island, Nueva York en 1971.
Las canciones más conocidas del grupo son el single (Don't Fear) The Reaper del álbum Agents Of Fortune (publicado en 1976), Godzilla del álbum Spectres (publicado en 1977) y Burnin' for You del álbum Fire of Unknown Origin (publicado en 1981) Blue Öyster Cult was the thinking man's heavy metal group. Put together
on a college campus by a couple of rock critics, it maintained a close
relationship with a series of literary figures (often in the fields of
science fiction and horror), including Eric Von Lustbader, Patti Smith,
Michael Moorcock, and Stephen King, while turning out some of the more
listenable metal music of the early and mid-'70s. The band that became
Blue Öyster Cult was organized in 1967 at Stony Brook College on Long
Island by students (and later rock critics) Sandy Pearlman and Richard
Meltzer as Soft White Underbelly and consisted of Andy Winters (bass),
Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (guitar), John Wiesenthal -- quickly
replaced by Allen Lanier -- (keyboards), and Albert Bouchard (drums),
with Pearlman managing and Pearlman and Meltzer writing songs. Initially
without a lead singer, they added Les Bronstein on vocals. This quintet
signed to Elektra Records and recorded an album that was never
released. They then dropped Bronstein and replaced him with their road
manager, Eric Bloom, as the band's name was changed to Oaxaca. A second
Elektra album also went unreleased, though a single was issued under the
name the Stalk-Forrest Group.
Secret Treaties
Cut loose by Elektra, they changed their name again, to Blue Öyster
Cult, and signed to Columbia Records in late 1971, by which time Winters
had been replaced by Albert Bouchard's brother Joe. Blue Öyster Cult,
their debut album, was released in January 1972 and made the lower
reaches of the charts. Columbia sent a promotional EP, Live Bootleg, to
radio stations in October, and followed with BÖC's second album, Tyranny
& Mutation, in February 1973. Their third album, Secret Treaties,
was released in April 1974 and became their first to break into the Top
100 bestsellers. (It eventually went gold.) BÖC released a live double
album, On Your Feet or on Your Knees, in February 1975.
Agents of Fortune
In May 1976 came their fourth studio album, Agents of Fortune, including
the Top 40 (Top Ten on some charts) hit single "(Don't Fear) The
Reaper" (featured in the classic John Carpenter horror film Halloween),
which became their first gold and then platinum album. (On Your Feet
went gold shortly after.) BÖC's sixth overall album, Spectres, was
released in October 1977 and went gold in January 1978. In September
1978 came a second live album, Some Enchanted Evening, which eventually
would become BÖC's second million-seller, followed by the studio album
Mirrors in June 1979. A year later, BÖC released its ninth album,
Cultosaurus Erectus, with the gold Fire of Unknown Origin, containing
the Top 40 hit "Burnin' for You," following in June 1981.
Extraterrestrial Live
In the summer of 1981, drummer Albert Bouchard was replaced by the
band's tour manager and lighting designer, Rick Downey. BÖC's third live
album, Extraterrestrial Live, was released in April 1982, followed by
the studio album The Revolution by Night in October 1983. Downey left in
1984 and was replaced in 1985 by Jimmy Wilcox. The same year, Lanier
left and was replaced by Tommy Zvonchek. BÖC released its 13th album,
Club Ninja, in January 1986. Bassist Joe Bouchard left in 1986 and was
replaced by Jon Rogers. In 1987, Lanier returned to the group, and Ron
Riddle replaced Wilcox on drums. BÖC's 14th album, the concept recording
Imaginos, became their final new album on Columbia Records in July
1988. BÖC scored the movie Bad Channels in 1992, by which time Chuck
Burgi had replaced Ron Riddle on drums. In 1994, Blue Öyster Cult
released Cult Classic, an album of re-recorded favorites, in connection
with the use of their music in the TV miniseries of horror novelist
Stephen King's The Stand. Numerous lineup changes ensued throughout the
'90s (as the band kept on touring the world), and in 1995, were the
subject of a double disc anthology, Workshop of the Telescopes.
By the late '90s, BÖC had signed with the CMC label, resulting in their
first album of all-new studio material in ten years, 1998's Heaven
Forbid, and three years later The Curse of the Hidden Mirror. The
group's music reached a whole new generation of hard rock fans when
Metallica covered the BÖC classic "Astronomy" for their best-selling
Garage Inc. album in 1998, as a few other best-of collections surfaced
around the same time -- Super Hits and Don't Fear the Reaper: The Best
Of. In 2001, Columbia/Legacy reissued BÖC's first four releases with a
newly remastered sound and added bonus tracks.
Discography:
1972 Blue Oyster Cult
1973 Tyranny and Mutation
1974 Secret Treaties
1975 On Your Feet or on Your Knees
1976 Agents of Fortune
1977 Spectres
1978 Some Enchanted Evening
1979 Mirrors
1980 Cultosaurus Erectus
1981 Fire of Unknown Origin
1982 Extraterrestrial Live
1983 The Revolution by Night
1986 Club Ninja
1987 Career of Evil- The Metal Years (Compilation)
1988 Imaginos
1990 On Flame with Rock and Roll (Compilation)
1994 Cult Classic (Compilation)
1995 Workshop of the Telescopes (Compilation)
1998 Heaven Forbid
1998 Super Hits (Compilation)
2000 The Best of Blue Öyster Cult- Don't Fear the Reaper (Compilation )
2001 The Curse of the Hidden Mirror
2002 A Long Day's Night
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