I love Blue Öyster Cult... (Uwe's Edit: That makes two of us ...)

[Denis]

...but this 12-minute version of "Last Days of May" is the best version I've ever seen or heard. It's terrific to see Allen Lanier get in some great time on a Telecaster, considering he's usually the main keyboard player.

[uwe]

So I'm not alone, finally. I have the 17 CD CBS Years box on delivery (even though I have all their regular CDs already). Thinking man's hard rock and Donald Buck Dahrma Roeser is such a fluid player.

Generally, whenever you mention BÖC here you either get polite disinterest (the band doesn't seem to elicit any emotion, good or bad) or someone digs up the "More Cowbell!" SDNL spoof.   Secret Treaties, Spectres and Fire of Unknown Origin are my favorites, yet people seem to remember them chiefly for their laser show in the late seventies and Godzilla.

BÖC were harmonically a lot more adventurous than many hard/heavy rock bands, but got no credit for it, they were as clever as Midnight Oil in that field. And I always appreciated the breadth of their songwriting when the Bouchard brothers were still with them. They went downhill when Joe and Albert left, not just musically, it killed the heart of the band.

Oh, and btw, I still think that James Hetfield, once he decided to learn singing after all (a process of many years and still work in progress to some ears), patterned his vocal approach after Eric Bloom.

I saw them comparatively recently. They have become pretty much a Buck Dharma solo show, he sings 80% of the material and Eric Bloom, who once ruled the stage, has become a sideman who plays a lot more keyboards than he used to. Now I do like Herr Roeser's voice, but all the Sci Fi stuff, Veteran of a 1.000 Psychic Wars and all that lovely nonsense, was carried by Bloom's voice. These days, they downplay that part of their oeuvre, for whatever reason.

PS: Is that Bobby Rondinelli drumming in that vid? My gosh, he's still constantly ahead of the beat, just like he was with Rainbow. 

[Denis]

"Spectres" is a great album. Their mix of subjects and the sometimes strange and intriguing language has always fascinated me.

I've managed to see them about 5 times over the years between 1985 to 2000. That last show was here in town and was great because they played a lot of things they had not played in a long time and passed on some songs they usually played.

Their website used to have a "Tours of Yore" link where you could see all their past tour dates and sometimes even the setlists were shown. There was a server crash in 2008 and much of it was lost but some English guy had managed to save all that stuff and it's recreated there, fortunately for us BOC fans!

"On Your Feet Or On Your Knees" is my favorite live album ever and "Some Enchanted Evening" has the best version of "Astronomy" of all the BOC albums and variations. And I know it was never a very popular album but I though "Imaginos" was great though it was originally a Al Bouchard work. The label refused to release it as a solo album so he came back to work on it with the band, which caused further problems among the members.

Recently on YouTube I found a cool version of Joe Bouchard playing "I Love The Night" on a 12 string guitar.

[uwe]

See? Nobody joins the discussion. The LBO ist BÖC-ignorant, always has been. 

May I out myself as a whimp? I like "In Thee". 

[4stringer77]

Tyranny and Mutation was in the $6 bin at Barnes & Noble's so I picked it up. Can't say I was overly impressed. Godzilla is a great tune. The whole don't fear the reaper thing is kinda over played. "more cowbell!" Any other recomendations?
Oh wait I see some above. Will have to check those out. Thanks Denis.
and I unknowingly confirmed everything in Uwe's first response. Damn I have to remember to read more before replying.

[lowend1]

Not a hug BOC fan, but I felt that the best solo on the Hear n Aid thing was turned in by Buck Dharma - for whatever that's worth.

[Highlander]

Uwe's forgotten a fairly lengthy discussion we had on the BOC a year or two back... I saw them in the 70's and eighties quite a few times up until the disasterous Monsters of Rock show where EB totally threw his toys out of the pram... either that or the Club Ninja tour... pretty much all at the Hammersmith Odeon... still have not sorted out my scanner to post some pics I took...

Can Uwe post a link re the 17 disc (seventeen disc...!!!???) set... I suspect it requires a second mortgage to purchase...

Just checked - cheapest I've found is sub £50 and some German site is trying to flog it for £220...!

Oh yeah, and it also has a download option included for a further four full concerts spanning 81 to 86...

[TBird1958]

The first BOC I heard was Secret Treaties (it's still my runaway fave) and soon after that saw them probably 5-6 times. I was at the show at The Paramount in seattle when part of "On your feet or on your knees" was recorded............

Let me say this.

When the song's chorus is "Junkers Jumo 004!"  it's all good  

[Nocturnal]

I picked up a copy of Fire of Unknown Origin recently. Still enjoy most of that album. Some of it shows its age tho.

[Aussie Mark]

I'm seeing BOC in April as part of a festival called "Dig It Up" arranged by the Hoodoo Gurus that features bands who were influences on the Hoodoos.

[gweimer]

Well, excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me.  I was driving home from Chicago.  I love BOC!  I saw them on their first tour, and from 10 feet away.  Buck Dharma was a LEFTY on that tour.  They were just so great and raw.  I've been a fan ever since.

[Hörnisse]

I've got all of their records, on vinyl!    They are one of my favorite bands by far.  When I was 17 and a senior in High School my band played this one from Agents.

[Denis]

And I love this version of "The Subhuman" and this album cover!

[Denis]

Here's a fun one. Is that an Alembic of some sort?

[Hörnisse]

Joe did use an Alembic around this time period.  You can definitely hear it on the Godzilla bass solo from Spectres.  He used a Music Man Stingray by the Fire Of Unknown LP.