Blue Oyster Cult was for the most part a touring band, and this European import, released 15 years after the concert it chronicled, shows them at their 1970s touring peak.
At the end of 1976, they were touring behind their most successful album, Agents of Fortune, and single, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." They played only ten songs, including their recent hit, old favorites like "Stairway to the Stars" and "Cities on Flame," and their in-concert barnburner "Born To Be Wild," but it took them over 78 minutes to do so, in part because of a version of "This Ain't the Summer of Love" that ran nearly 13 minutes and a "Buck's Boogie" that ran over 19 minutes, many of them given over to a good old-fashioned 1970s drum solo.
That and the speech about legalizing marijuana have a touch of nostalgic indulgence, of course, but much of the music is blazing guitar rock, and a listen helps explain why the Cult was so loved by its concert fans, even as it was virtually ignored by the music industry and the country in general.
Sound quality is good, but rudimentary; the album sounds more like a soundboard tape than a conventionally mixed and EQ'd commercial album.
Crank it up, though, and you just might like it better.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stairway to the StarsAlbert Bouchard, Richard Meltzer, Donald Roeser | Blue Öyster Cult | Play | 04:18 | 9 MB | 20 MB |
| 2 | Harvester of EyesEric Bloom, Richard Meltzer, Donald Roeser | Blue Öyster Cult | Play | 04:30 | 10 MB | 21 MB |
| 3 | Me 262Eric Bloom, Sandy Pearlman, Donald Roeser | Blue Öyster Cult | Play | 05:14 | 11 MB | 25 MB |
| 4 | Dominance and SubmissionEric Bloom, Albert Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman | Blue Öyster Cult | Play | 07:38 | 17 MB | 35 MB |
| 5 | AstronomyAlbert Bouchard, Joe Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman | Blue Öyster Cult | Play | 07:26 | 17 MB | 33 MB |
| 6 | Buck's BoogieAlbert Bouchard, Donald Roeser | Blue Öyster Cult | Play | 19:03 | 43 MB | 89 MB |
| 7 | This Ain't the Summer of LoveAlbert Bouchard, Murray Krugman, Dave Waller | Blue Öyster Cult | Play | 11:56 | 27 MB | 49 MB |
| 8 | Born to Be WildMars Bonfire | Blue Öyster Cult | Play | 07:01 | 16 MB | 33 MB |
| 9 | (Don't Fear) The ReaperDonald Roeser | Blue Öyster Cult | Play | 06:13 | 14 MB | 28 MB |
| 10 | Cities On Flame | Blue Öyster Cult | Play | 04:58 | 11 MB | 24 MB |
| 78 mins | 179 MB | |||||
| 78 mins | 362 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Bloom | Composer, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals |
| 2 | Blue Öyster Cult | Primary Artist |
| 3 | Mars Bonfire | Composer |
| 4 | Albert Bouchard | Composer, Drums, Guitar, Vocals |
| 5 | Joe Bouchard | Bass, Composer, Vocals |
| 6 | Murray Krugman | Composer |
| 7 | Allen Lanier | Guitar, Keyboards |
| 8 | Richard Meltzer | Composer |
| 9 | Sandy Pearlman | Composer |
| 10 | Donald Roeser | Composer, Guitar, Vocals |
| 11 | Dave Waller | Composer |
Blue Öyster Cult
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |