Blue Oyster Cult Albums Ranked

Blue Öyster Cult (often abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed in Stony Brook, New York in 1967, best known for the singles “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, “Burnin’ for You”, “Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll”, and “Godzilla.” They have sold 25 million records worldwide, including seven million in the United States alone. The band’s music videos, especially “Burnin’ for You,” received heavy rotation on MTV when the music television network premiered in 1981, cementing the band’s contribution to the development and success of the music video in modern popular culture.
Blue Öyster Cult’s longest-lasting and the most commercially successful lineup included Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser (lead guitar, vocals), Eric Bloom (lead vocals, “stun guitar”, keyboards, synthesizers), Allen Lanier (keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Joe Bouchard (bass, vocals), and Albert Bouchard (drums, percussion, vocals). The band’s current lineup still includes Bloom and Roeser, in addition to Danny Miranda (bass, backing vocals), Jules Radino (drums, percussion), and Richie Castellano (keyboard, rhythm guitar, lead, and backing vocals). Here are the Blue Oyster Cult Albums ranked.

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8. The Revolution by Night (1983)

“I bought this album in vinyl format on Halloween 2007 & just recently, I bought this album on a CD. This album is pretty darn good w/ “Shadow of California”, “Feel the Thunder”, “Shooting Shark” & even “Light Years of Love” being my TOP favorites. Next in line comes “Eyes On Fire” & “Take Me Away”, feat. Aldo Nova of 1982’s “Fantasy” fame. “Let Go” & “Dragon Lady” is passable songs & the song “Veins” is only an okay song & not one of my favorites at all. With the dark sound & eerie feel of “Feel the Thunder”, this song could have fit very well on 1981’s “Fire of Unknown Origin” album, because some of those songs talk about death OR fire. “Feel the Thunder”, I think is an excellent song w/ it’s slow organ intro & the topic of October 31st…All Hallows Eve, as mentioned in this song. “Shooting Shark” & “Take Me Away” received some radio airplay. I wish I knew what a SHOOTING SHARK is though, but it’s another dynamite song! I have played THIS CD quite often since I bought it & I like it a lot better than the album “Fire of Unknown Origin”. This album is most definitely recommended. NOTE: Halloween 2007 was the FIRST time that I heard “Feel the Thunder” w/ it’s Oct.31st meaning…how fitting on the day that I purchased 1983’s “Revolution By Night”.

7. Cultosaurus Erectus (1980)

“I purchased this album originally in the Summer of 1980. “Black Blade” is the perfect opener for this album. This song along w/ “The Marshall Plan” received some radio airplay, that summer. “Monsters” received a little airplay, that autumn. “Monsters” starts out great but I feel that the sax part screws the song up…I only like the saxophone as the song comes to a close. “Deadline” & “Divine Wind” are pretty good songs. I didn’t discover, until this year, that “Divine Wind” is about Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran. Like “Subhuman” & “Teen Archer” the TITLE “Divine Wind” never is mentioned @ all. Alannah Myles 1990 hit single “Black Velvet” reminds me a lot of “Divine Wind” w/ it’s striptease beat. “Hungry Boys” is NOT my favorite on this album, even though it seems comical to me @ times. “Fallen Angel” is only a passable song. “Lips In the Hills”, on the other hand, is excellent & strange as hell. Leading up to the final song on “Cultosaurus Erectus” is “Unknown Tongue”. This song is very good & spooky as hell to listen to. This song just like “Lips In the Hills” is one that you never forget after hearing it for the very first time. That’s just how haunting both songs are. In 1980, when I used to listen to “Unknown Tongue” w/ my headphones on, you could actually hear how the singer is practically going insane along with the evil & spooky laughing as the song & album comes to a close. This album is recommended.”

6. Spectres (1977)

“Spectres is without doubt my favorite BOC album and is a wonderful eclectic mix of hard rockers like Golden Age of Leather, Godzilla and RU Ready 2 Rock balanced nicely with some beautiful moody ballads like Death Valley Nights and I love The Night with some lovely middle eighth pieces like Searching For Celine, Celestial The Queen, the amazing Fireworks and epic album closer Nosferatu. For me it stands out as probably their creative peak much better than its predecessor the popular Agents of Fortune. It doesn’t have the big standout song like (Don’t Fear) The Reaper which was a blessing and a curse for them as how on earth can you follow such a golden nugget like that??. Well you don’t, you just keep rocking and is why Spectres i think is more consistent. Golden Age of Leather is one of the best songs here almost as good as ‘The Reaper’ (me thinks even better!) with the breakdowns and choir at the end its quite a gripping tale, a real nod to the rebel bikers of old and the ghosts of their golden age of leather! The other being I Love The Night which has a resemblance to Don’t Fear The Reaper in its haunting picked riffs a real heart melter. The only filler is Going Through The Motions which is as its title says and could’ve been left off making this a perfect 9. Despite that little glitch this is classy hard rock at its finest, get it and turn up the volume!”

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5. Tyranny and Mutation (1973)

“Do you like really, really hard music, that goes really, really fast? If you have the required intensity for this type of music, and not the plodding, fat, slow, standard “HEAVY METAL” downer fest, with extra guitar fills to simulate up-tempo, nothing fills the bill like BOC’s second album. Do not buy this album if you can’t handle fast, loud, catchy music featuring great guitar playing.
It starts off with what some other posters have called a remake of “I’m on the Lamb But I ain’t no Sheep” from their first album. Well, I guess. What it really is is a jumped up version that goes about 1000 mph, with a very menacing and dark feel at the same time. First, though, is a thunderous set of two power chords blasting out of the speakers, the second aural assault being stretched out until…..two rim shots set off the song. “Canadian Mounted, baby, a police force that works. Red and Black. It’s their color scheme. Get their man. In the end.” YAHOO. What does that mean? Who cares? The song is going so fast it just carries you along.”

4. Blue Oyster Cult (1972)

“I’ve been a fan of BOC since I was a teenager, playing it LOUD trying to figure out those lyrics!! Unfortunately, the sound quality on this record (actually the first 2 albums) was really bad, in fact, remarkably bad. Well, now we have the remastered version, and it’s worth having just for the clarity of sound! Plus the lyrics are printed in the liner notes, so you know what the words are, even if they still make no sense!! (“She tasted just like a fallen arch” indeed!). BOC has GREAT guitar playing, and great songs. Especially the first 3 albums. Overall, I rate the 1st one between the essential “Secret Treaties” and the solid “Tyranny and Mutation”. Pick This One Up!”

3. Agents of Fortune (1976)

“This is the album that gave the world the one song that the un-initiated will have heard of when the name of Blue Oyster Cult is issued. Those of who are are more familiar with the band know that there are many other songs just as good or better than “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper”. This album delivers nine other songs that deserve as much accolade as that monster hit.”

2. Secret Treaties (1974)

“This is the real deal. This release has always been a favorite of mine from BOC so I am biased for sure. This SACD really delivers. I bought it for the quad mix and I am not disappointed. Yes, it is a four channel mix and takes a little getting used to when you are used to listening to 5.1 since quad has no discrete center channel. No matter how familiar you are with this material you will be hearing it for the first time-the mix is that different from the stereo version. The audio is clear as a bell and the quad mix is used to great effect. You will be astounded by how much more presence the sound stage has. The keyboard work which was clearly buried in the original mix is now very much more present as are the backing vocals. This beauty was made to played LOUD and there is much more muscle in the bottom end. The bass playing also stands out-some excellent work that also was previously buried in the mix. The mastering is excellent. There are not alot of special effects used in the sound stage but the quad mix makes great use of the rear channels. Spend the bucks for this one, you will not regret it.”

1.Fire of Unknown Origin (1981)

“BOC put out a lot of albums. My years of listening, this one competes with ‘Agents of Fortune’ for their best. Earlier, of course, a little less polished, but strong composition and tight performance. ‘Veteran’ is a powerful expression of PTSD from the inside. ‘Sole Survivor’ is a nice take on your basic post-apocalyptic nightmare…with space ships!!! ‘Joan Crawford’ earns the 1981 stripes for creepshow ( and slightly tasteless 😉 ) — it’s fun. They were classed as Heavy Metal for that day. In an interview, they said that the term came from the periodic chart, elements beyond lead. That ties to the very solid bass lines (well worth learning BTW). The bass actually dominates ‘Burnin’ for You’, which is simply unusual, period. Making that work earns a couple stars by itself. Anyway, you get the idea. BOC wasn’t the hit-machine Zeppelin was, but if this album and ‘Agents of Fortune’ are not in your library…….shame on you.”