It's not often that I would choose a
band's live album as a favorite but there are a variety of reasons for
this choice. It was the first B.O.C. album I ever heard so it has a
great deal of sentimental value to me. Mainly because it turned me on
to one of my favorite bands. I also chose a live album because the
radio regulars of B.O.C. like "Don't Fear the Reaper", "Godzilla" and
"Burnin' for You" are usually the sanitized studio versions. B.O.C.
had a tendency on the Secret Treaties (1974), Agents of Fortune
(1976) and Spectres (1977) albums to sound very sonically pure and
clean. This CD captures their all too rarely-heard raw side. This
album jams! In fact, they do a ripping cover of the MC5's "Kick out
the Jams." The B.O.C. version of this song far surpasses any hopes
anyone ever had for the original version (sorry MC5).
The album begins
with "RU Ready 2 Rock" which goes off on a wild tangent of a jam. Let
me tell you this: Nobody ever ended a song live like B.O.C. They
always had the best finale type endings. They then go on to an
extended version of "E.T.I" (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) originally
from Agents of Fortune, their first hit album. Then they take off with
"Astronomy" (originally from the Secret Treaties Album) which was
later covered by Metallica. After that we have the live versions of
"Don't Fear the Reaper" and "Godzilla". This is their best live album
ever and I own them all. In fact, I own all of their albums. I would
rank the Tyranny and Mutation (1973) and Secret Treaties albums next
on the list. After that, I would list Fire of Unknown Origin (1981)
and Revolution by Night (1983). But if you'd prefer a compilation CD,
then I'd recommend Essential Blue Oyster Cult (2003). That CD
contains "Burnin' For You", "Godzilla", "Astronomy", "Don't Fear the
Reaper and "Take Me Away". The great thing about B.O.C. is that no two
albums sound exactly alike. Not like some groups. With some groups, if
you own one album, you own them all. |
