Happy Hallowe’en!
My brother recently gave me this
next album on vinyl, completing my Blue Oyster Cult collection on that format.
Thanks, Virgil!
It turns out rolling this album
was prophetic at this time, since my hallowe’en costume today was…a cultist!
Not a Blue Oyster Cultist mind you, but rather a Cultist for Cthulhu: photos
available at my wife’s fabulous fashion blog “Sheila Ephemera.”
Disc 930 is….Extraterrestrial Live
Artist: Blue
Oyster Cult
Year of Release: 1982
What’s up with the Cover? A Blue Oyster Cultist descends
the stairwell back stage, presumably primed to intone the sacred words of
commencement – “Hello, Cleveland!”
Also,
two dogs, statant dexter on a backstage azure. Although that last part could
just be a filter.
How I Came To Know It: I have known Blue Oyster Cult
since I was a kid (my brother owned all their stuff) and I’ve been listening to
this album since it came out. It was the last BOC album I added to my CD
collection, but I’ve still had it for many years.
How It Stacks Up: I have eleven studio albums by Blue Oyster
Cult and three live albums, including this one. Of the live albums, my
favourite is “Some Enchanted Evening” but between “ETL” and “On Your Feet or On
Your Knees” it is virtually a dead heat. I’ll put ETL second for now because I
just listened to it, but really it is equal, but different. More on that later
but for now since we’ve reached the end of the live albums, let’s recap:
- Some
Enchanted Evening: 5 stars
(reviewed at Disc 391)
- Extraterrestrial
Live: 4 stars (reviewed right
here)
- On
Your Feet or On Your Knees: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 716)
Ratings: 4 stars
The
Odyssey can mess with my expectations. I had fully prepared to rank this album
third best of my three live albums, give it three stars and create a nice
symmetry in the rankings. Instead Blue Oyster Cult did what they haven’t done
to me in a long time – they surprised me.
It was a
pleasant surprise and a reminder that there was a time when Blue Oyster Cult
was constantly updating their set list. Of the 13 songs on “ETL” seven are
songs that don’t appear on their previous two concert albums.
Part of
this is they have a lot of new content, having released three studio albums
since their last live album (1978’s “Some Enchanted Evening”). The new tracks
include the rocking “Dr. Music” and “Burning For You” (still a staple of
their live shows) and the fantastical proto-metal of “Joan Crawford,” “Black Blade”,
and “Veteran of the Psychic Wars”
(sadly none of which appear in their live shows of late).
For all
the new content, they start things off with the very early deep cut “Dominance and Submission,” which had
never appeared on a previous live record. It is awesome, and I wish they would
introduce old and unlikely tracks like this nowadays.
The
set-list definitely has more of a rock edge as new material slowly edges out a
lot of the more progressive acid rock of the band’s first three albums. This doesn’t
make it better or worse, just different.
Regardless
of song choice, they tend to be heavier sounding than their studio equivalents.
The bass and drums pound out with the dread and fell majesty of an elder god
breaking into our universe. “Godzilla”
in particular thuds along with a blunt power which is a lot of fun, and it even
has Eric Bloom doing a little of his patented front-man banter to start it off.
It is a little impacted by some strange sounds that probably went with a
kick-ass laser light show that don’t translate well to audio, but you still
manage to get the idea.
“Black Blade” and “Veteran of the Psychic Wars” are two songs co-written by fantasy
author Michael Moorcock about his fantasy hero, Elric of Melnibone. The songs appear
on two separate studio albums, and it is great to hear them together live.
The band
always throws a cover song into the mix, and “ETLs” contribution is the Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues.” I’m not much of a
Doors fan, but growing up in a small town I’ve heard a lot of bar bands wake up
in the morning and get themselves a beer. Blue Oyster Cult’s rendition is a
lengthy nine minutes but the beer gets delivered and the joy of the audience is
evident on the recording. It probably would have helped to be there, but you get
the idea.
The album’s
production is a bit dull and I would like to hear the record remastered to a
crisper, more separated sound. However, the echoing quality of the sound
captures what it would be like to see BOC in 1982. They were on top of their
game and you would have had to go to a big arena for the whole spectacle of it
all. “ETL” makes you feel like you are there.
The “show”
ends with the classic “ETI (Extra
Terrestrial Intelligence)” which is played in an almost proto-metal style
that rocks pretty hard, although I missed the crispness of the studio version.
Then things wrap up with “(Don’t Fear)
the Reaper” which the boys lay down with a vigour and enthusiasm that makes
it feel like it is their first time ever playing the tune. Buck Dharma is
particularly resplendent but by this time you just expect him to be one of the
world’s greatest guitar players. He doesn’t disappoint.
While
the sound quality is the weakest of the three live albums, the set-list is
equal to anything that has come before. New songs blend nicely with old
favourites, and the band is clearly having fun being kings of the world.
Best
tracks: Dominance
and Submission, Black Blade, Godzilla, Veteran of the Psychic Wars, (Don’t
Fear) the Reaper
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