Kokdi Mpath's Blog This!: Blue Öyster Cult: Music Suggestion Of The Day 03/05/2018

Πέμπτη 3 Μαΐου 2018

Blue Öyster Cult: Music Suggestion Of The Day 03/05/2018

Here you are lads, we’re going to treat you once again with something from the Top100 portfolio; it is strange why we haven’t dealt with today’s band before. With songs like Don’t fear the reaper, veteran of psychic wars, or Metallica covered Astronomy, they have surely earned their place not only in this humble blog but also to rock ‘n’ roll paradise.

The band that never stopped touring have released astonishing records throughout the 70’s combining easy listening tunes with high density orchestrations lyrics and artwork. Never forget the fact that they played with terms like the notorious Heavy Metal genre before its empowerment in the early 80’s and without them sounding just as metal as we would like them to be. But let’s hear it from the experts:

«Blue Öyster Cult (often abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American hard rock band formed on Long Island, New York, in 1967, whose most successful work includes the hard rock songs "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Godzilla" and "Burnin' for You". Blue Öyster Cult has sold over 24 million records worldwide, including 7 million records in the United States alone.[1]The band's music videos, especially "Burnin' for You", received heavy rotation on MTV when the music television network premiered in 1981, cementing the band's contribution to the development and success of the music video in modern popular culture.

Blue Öyster Cult have been influential to the realm of hard rock and heavy metal, leading them to being referred to as “the thinking man’s heavy metal band” due to their often cryptic lyrics, literate songwriting, and links to famous authors.[26][27][28] They have influenced many acts including Iron Maiden,[29] Metallica,[30][31] Fates Warning,[32] Iced Earth,[33] Alice in Chains,[34] Twisted Sister,[35] Ratt, Steel Panther, Green River (and later Mudhoney), Body Count, Possessed,[41] Candlemass,[42] Saint Vitus,[43] Trouble,[44] Opeth,[45] White Zombie,[46] Kvelertak,[47][48] HIM,[49] Turbonegro,[50] Radio Birdman,[51][52] The Cult,[53] The Minutemen,[54] Firehose,[55] Hoodoo Gurus,[56] Widespread Panic,[57] Queens of the Stone Age,[58] Umphrey’s McGee,[59] Stabbing Westward,[60] Royal Trux,[61] and Moe.[62]

The AllMusic page for stoner metal states: "Stoner metal bands updated the long, mind-bending jams and ultra-heavy riffs of bands like Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Blue Oyster Cult and Hawkwind by filtering their psychedelia-tinged metal and acid rock through the buzzing sound of early Sub Pop-style grunge."[63]

Heavy metal journalist Martin Popoff has stated that Blue Öyster Cult is one of his favorite bands. He has written a book titled Blue Öyster Cult: Secrets Revealed about the discography. It is a compiled track-by-track analysis of the entire output of the group that uses period and recent interviews with band members and those close to the band. It is complete up to Curse of the Hidden Mirror.

Their hit single "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was featured in the famous Saturday Night Live sketch, "More cowbell". The original recording was produced at The Record Plant in New York by David Lucas, who sang background vocals with Roeser and played the now famous cowbell part. Manager Sandy Pearlman mixed the record.

"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was also used in writer/director John Carpenter's horror film classic, Halloween (1978),[64] the opening sequence of the miniseries adaptation of The Stand (1994) by Stephen King, and covered by The Mutton Birds for Peter Jackson's comedy film The Frighteners (1996).[65] "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was also used throughout the comedy film The Stoned Age (1994) and plays a role in its storyline.

The band's influence has extended beyond the musical sphere. The lyrics of "Astronomy" have been named by author Shawn St. Jean as inspirational to the later chapters of his fantasy novel Clotho's Loom,[66] wherein Sandy Pearlman's "Four Winds Bar" provides the setting for a portion of the action.

In 2015, titles and lines from the band's songs provided structure and narrative for the third Robert Galbraith (pseudonym for J. K. Rowling) novel – Career of Evil (a Cormoran Strike novel).

In 2014, it was performed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as part of a drum off between Chad Smith and Will Ferrell. The cowbell part was played by Ferrell.»

So here you have it lads, the band that never stops performing live, ranking #78 @My Top100 List, a.k.a.