690 Blue Oyster Cult - Agents of Fortune (1976)

 690 Blue Oyster Cult - Agents of Fortune (1976)

Studio Album - Hard Rock



About the Act:

Blue Oyster Cult are an American Rock Band from Stony Brook, New York, who were formed in the 60s, big in the 70s and still going, though with some different members and a distinct slowdown of album production over the last 35 years or so. They have sold 25 million records worldwide.

About the Album:

This was their fourth album, their only one to feature all 5 members doing lead vocals, their only one to have no songwriting input from member Eric Bloom.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

So the problem with describing this album is that it is massively diverse. Sometimes it sounds like Black Sabbath, sometimes like Procol Harum, sometimes like The Rolling Stones, sometimes like... well let's just say it sounds like each track has been recorded by a different band. So, apparently this is because the band members wrote them individually rather than collectively, and this rings true with the way it is. I guess the one thing you can say is that it is rock, sometimes medium rock but more on the heavy side. What I can't be bothered to do is go through each track in turn and describe it, if you want to know - give it a spin yourself.

This album features the most excellent Don't Fear The Reaper, which Wikipedia describes as "cryptic" - but I think is clearly a call to suicide.  The other tracks don't include anything that has the class or panache of Don't Fear The Reaper, and range from the Patti-Smith collaboration "The Revenge of Vera Gemini", through the decent "This Ain't the Summer of Love", the weird and heavy "Tattoo Vampire" (with a really odd sound to start) to the naff closer "Debbie Denise". 

The best things about this album are Don't Fear The Reaper, and the variety. The worst thing is some of the lyrics are cringy or unsubtle, and it really doesn't feel like a coherent album.

On balance...

7/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6C9WzlQANeoD0GW5B41YJt

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6ogdCG3tAWjntDkr4KS7nJmUwIeTs9q0

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agents_of_Fortune



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