Blue Öyster Cult return to their classic era in a collection from the archive.

Release Date: 12th April 2024

Label: Frontiers Music s.r.l.

Format: CD / digital

The Blue Öyster Cult half century resurgence continues with a collection of re imagined and newly completed songs that span from 1978-1983 with a brief fast forward to 2016. While they’ve recently been active celebrating their early work with their First Night live release of a planned series of three, Ghost Stories harks back to those halcyon years.

It’s the ‘classic’ line up that sees current Cult stalwarts Donald Roeser and Eric Bloom in cahoots with Allen Lanier and
Albert Bouchard and Joe Bouchard presented in a treasure trove of eleven ‘lost gems’ from the era. An era that despite the penchant for their early albums, hindsight would pick as their commercial peak – no-one could forget (or fear) The Reaper, the Agents Of Fortune album and when the Fire Of Unknown Origin shone brightly.

Some of the material is from sessions workshopping material for an album, some is from performance rehearsals. All were recorded once in the hopes that someday they’d see the light of day. Late Night Street Fight slides in on a rock and rolling boogie and a production value that gives the period feel; a track hat that leads into an uptempo and similarly rocking Cherry, setting the scene and tone. The BÖC harmonies and duelling guitars are immediately to the fore and the emphasis across a bunch of this material showcases the Hard Rock credentials of the New Yokers.

Gun shows the significance of the BÖC influence on Tobias Forge’s Ghost as the collection rumbles on in a series of breezy mid and uptempo numbers that might have missed the album cut for the sake of variety. Of several gems, Money Machine proves an earworm in its three minute cameo, picking up the Rock And Roll theme with a rollicking piano underscoring the guitar riff – and spot the Money (that’s what I want…etc) riff making an appearance at the close.

So Supernatural picks up on the common Sci-Fi themes and shadows in candlelight in the sort of brooding cloak that showcases their Astronomy epic. There’s even the Easter egg of s guitar figure mid song that’s a close relative of the famous Reaper intro while Allen Lanier’s reedy organ sound makes its way to the fore in a brief bringing the mood down moment on The Only Thing.

Alongside a studio version of We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, their Animals cover that graced their concert stages for many years, is the only known studio recording of their other classic concert cover Kick Out the Jams. A highlight of Some Enchanted Evening, it’s a track firmly planted in the brains of followers and veers very little from the arrangement we know so well.

Fast forward to 2016 and the BÖC line up of Roeser and Bloom are joined by Richie Castellano, Kasim Sulton and Jules Radino on If I Fell. Sound familiar? It will within seconds although it feels like a less than necessary add on (its best place as perhaps a hidden bonus track?) to a set whose focus hones in on an enjoyable and nostalgic trip to the time when Godzilla walked the Earth.

Here’s So Supernatural:

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