There are two songs of Heaven Forbid that I rank with the best in the BOC catalog and those are "Harvest Moon" and "Power Underneath Despair"

I love to play Harvest Moon around this time of year. The feel of the music and the lyrics totally fit the autumn season.

Okay, I finally scored a copy of "Extraterrestrial Live". This review will be my first time listening to it.

Wow. Why the hell didn't I buy this sooner? I know I said good things about the other two Blue Oyster Cult live records, but this one blows them both away! The energy level of the band is just great here. Just like with the other live BOC albums, the songs are all heavier than their studio counterparts, and it just wouldn't be complete without at least one cover song, which in this case is a jammed out version of the Doors' classic "Roadhouse Blues". In fact, most of the songs are extended, with a 7 minute version of "Godzilla" with a cool introduction by Eric Bloom, and an epic rendition of "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" which contains one of the best guitar solos ever put on record. What's also pretty cool is the song selection. Yeah, they play all the 'hits', but there's also a few obscure gems tossed in, such as "Black Blade", "Dr. Music", and "E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)". Really, I can't find a single flaw with this album. The production is clear and crisp, the musicianship is top notch as always, the band sounds great and really displaying the energy they've always had, both live and in the studio.

I don't generally like live albums,but E.T. Live is an awesome listen. The only problem with it for me is the cover of the crappy Doors song . There's no need for it to be on there.

Schbop when is the next B.O.C. album coming up?

I'll do "The Curse of the Hidden Mirror" later tonight. I remember nothing about it.

Alright, well, let's make our way over to BOC's final studio album, "Curse of the Hidden Mirror", released in 2001.

Not a whole lot that I can say about this one. It continues in the vein of "Heaven Forbid", with Buck Dharma and Eric Bloom being pretty much the center of the band, and a mixture of the classic BOC sound with more modern elements. I don't remember ANYTHING about this one, so keep in mind the songs will all be relatively new to my ears.

Opening the album is "Dance on Stilts", which is great while it lasts, but doesn't really stick in my head. Buck sings here, and politely asks the listener, "Will you dance on stilts with me?" That sounds kinda hard. Seriously though, this song is pretty energetic, with a loud, thumping rhythm section, smooth vocals, and a funky breakdown in the middle. A good, rocking song, but I don't find much to remember about it.

"Showtime" puts Eric Bloom back in the driver's seat. His low, growly voice is always welcome. This song is a great guitar showcase, constantly switching between funky grooves, melodic chord progressions, and furously punk-ish power chord sections. Eric's voice sounds very nice here, like all that time off from recording did him a lot of good. Another thing this song shows off is how great the drums sound. New drummer Bobby Rondinelli certainly knows his way around a kit, but kind of lacks the songwriting and vocal skills Albert had. Whatever, this is just a cool, upbeat hard rock song that really keeps things interesting.

"The Old Gods Return" is AWESOME, as it was written by both Buck and Eric with cyberpunk author John Shirley, essentially putting HP Lovecraft's Cthulu mythos to music...and the music totally rules. Both of the guys share vocal duty on this one, and trade in some quite eerie guitar interplay. Just listen to that first riff in the verse and tell me that isn't creepy. Buck's solo near the end just escalates the madness, and in addition to the ominous bassline, just makes you feel like you're descending into Hell, which would probably suck, but at least you get one hell of a song (pun intended) to go with the journey.

The title of "Pocket" just makes me giggle. I'm not sure why. Anyway, it's a cool little Buck song with a great opening riff. This is another song that's good fun while it lasts, but you'll probably forget it the second it's over. The most notable thing is probably the lyrics. I have no friggin' clue what they're about, but they sound pretty cool, like the less creepy cousin of "Joan Crawford" or something.

Overhead a rumble, it's not thunder,
It's a 747
The postman grumbles, it's past eleven
The street is sixth
It should be seventh

"One Step Ahead of the Devil" has an opening riff that sounds like Led Zeppelin, so that's always a good sign. This is probably my favorite song on the album so far. It's got that distinctively BOC surreal, occult-ish element, but is pretty much as heavy as it gets! The chorus, guitar riff, and even vocals in this one are straight out of the Plant/Page book of rock n' roll. One reason that this song kicks so much ass is that it was written by the entire band, so they all get to strut their stuff, but this is primarily an Eric Bloom song. His distinctive spritzy growl sounds great, but a little bit wethered here when he tries to hit the high notes, but give the man some credit, he's OLD! Rock is about the attitude, and this song demonstrates nicely that Eric's still got it.

"I Just Like to Be Bad" kinda sucks. You can tell that they were trying to do another concert anthem, like "Let Go" and "Eyes on Fire", but like both of those, this one falls flat on its face, stumbling over retarded lyrical cliches that even George Thorogood would scoff at. Hell, even the music is pretty bland. Nothing good here, move along.

"Here Comes That Feeling" is Buck's crowning moment on this album. It really captures him with all the elements that have always made his songs great, and I'm pretty sure I've stated this list before; lots of emotion, a subtle, haunting darkness, soft, gentle vocals, and ripping guitar leads! The chorus is also one of the catchiest on the album (not that that's saying an awful lot). Anyway, another great Buck song that's over much too soon.

"Out of the Darkness" is, musically, great. The music has a cool, mellow groove to it that's quite captivating to listen to. The lyrics also strike a chord with me; I know what it's like to love someone who's parents think you're lower than dirt and do everything to keep you away. The only real problem here is the vocals. On this album, Eric's vocal performances are rather inconsistent, and on this song he just sounds a little...wheezy. Perhaps it would have been better to let Buck sing. Or why not let Allen Lanier sing again? He only ever sang on one track! Oh, whatever. A cool song, vocals notwithstanding.

"Stone of Love" is just plain weird. Buck mumbles some stuff about giving a box filled with board games to a fox, but apparently the fox doesn't care (yes, I know that that probably isn't what it's actually about ). The chorus is kinda catchy I guess, considering I actually remembered it after the song ended, and the guitar solos are cool as always.

"Eye of the Hurricane" has a killer, crunchy bassline to it, along with heavier than hell guitar chords, and a positively wailing vocal performance from Eric Bloom! When the music stops and he screams "cuz' there's an EYE TO MY HURRICANE!!!", it's just kickass on levels that haven't even been discovered yet. Just an all around HEAVY, almost doom-metal song, complete with accompaniment that sounds almost orchestral at times, just adding to the insane levels of awesome this song shoves down your throat.

Okay, last track, "Good to Feel Hungry". Well, this song has a cool groove to it during the verses, almost guaranteeing to get the listener's head to start bopping uncontrollably. There's also an awesome keyboard break that kind of recalls the vintage, pre-Agents sound that BOC had, what with the spacey keyboard saturation over the already spacey guitar riffs. One of my favorites from the album. The lyrics are a tad dumb, but really who cares. Great way to close the record.

Well, that's "Curse of the Hidden Mirror". There's a few duds, but most of the song just sound like BOC has always sounded. If nothing else, it should tell you that in the almost 40 years that the band has been around, they really haven't changed very much.

Also, I know that BOC has some other live albums and compilations that I didn't talk about.....but I don't have any of em', so I officially declare this thread over.

Like toho and snoppy I did not really remember this album, despite having owned it since it was first released. IMO I think it is a very solid B.O.C. release, a band who knows its strengths and is not out to prove anything to themselves or anyone else.

Listening to this album turned out to be a pleasure, a hidden gem in the history of a metal band that has been ignored by both the fans and writers who have chronicled the history of this genre.

The opening songs ' Dance with Stilts' is a great song, and could have comfortably fit in with 'Fire of an Unknown Origin'. The song along with the rest of the album rests in that comfortable middle ground, a sound that older fans would be familiar with, but it does not so sound old or dated.

It is hard to add to what snoppy wrote on this album and it seems to be an album recorded and released for long time fans, it does not seem like the band have any illusions of their album sells reaching the heights of the 70's and 80's.

While Blue Oyster Cult are still going and so far this has been their last studio album, I do hope it does not remain its last, but if it does, it is not a bad way to close out a career.

BTW a round of applause for Schbeep, he did an excellent job on this thread.

I need to spin this one again.

And yeah, great job Schlobbo!

Yes! Great job Shipoopi !

Bump! Today I scored a copy of pretty much the one BOC album I didn't have, "A Long Day's Night". Yet another live album, but another great one.


A Blue Oyster Cult live album has yet to disappoint me, and this one is no exception. The band sounds as tight as ever and the song selection should leave any fan happy, mixing all the hits with some more obscure favorites. They do great renditions of some of their more recent songs like "Dance On Stilts" and "Harvest Moon", which sound great mixed in with their classic catalog. The jammed-out versions of "Astronomy", "Godzilla" (with a great intro from Eric), and of course their big hit "Reaper" are all excellent. As usual, Buck Dharma gets his own extended guitar jam in "Buck's Boogie". All in all, just another near-flawless live album from a band that's always been every bit as good live as they have been in the studio.

Minor gripe: why wasn't "Dancin' In The Ruins" included?

I saw a three pack at WalMart for 9 bucks

One of the early releases, Fire of Unknown orgin, and E.T live

Well sorry guys I'm like way late on this I'll comment a bit on BOC, one of my all time favs. Got to see them in Fargo, ND on their "On Your Feet Or On Your Knee's" tour. That time period lasers were huge in the arenas an BOC was no exception in using them.
I have every BOC album/CD they ever put out including non original albums.

Getting back to their 1976 tour it just about the height of their career but not quite. They put on a fantastic show in fact probably the best show I ever saw in the 70's Rush would a close 2nd.

They put out dvd a number of years back called Live 1976 and if you have that dvd that is what they did in Fargo, ND during that show.
But did you know that before they were know as BOC they were first known as "The Stalk Forest Group" the cd is St. Cecilla, The Elektra Recordings those recordings came the late 60's and early 70's.
Their last cd title "The Curse Of The Hidden Mirror" came from a song on those early recording. Rhino released this about 10 years back not sure how available it is but you may find it on ebay.

To me the 70's era was the purest rawest time for BOC they a huge success in the USA and what really put them on the map was "Agents Of Fortune" probably their biggest hit ever IMO. Another fav of mine was "Joan Crawford".

But to the best live song ever was on their last live DVD performed in Chicago and the song "The Last Days Of May" an absolute awesome song live.

During 80's and 90's they were hit or miss with me but I still bought their cds and when "Heaven Forbid" came out to me they were back loved that cd alot. "The Curse Of The Hidden Mirrior was a disappointment to me.

I got to see them in Fargo, ND again 3 years they were the headliners at the fair and they did not disappoint they were still great even though the Bouchards were not there but Alan Lanier was.

To me BOC were at their finest with Tyranny & Mutation & Secret Treaties my 2 all time favs.


Wargod51