SECRET TREATIES

As probably most people on this site would agree, the early 70's were a truly remarkable period in music history. Almost all my favourite bands released their best albums between 1971 and 1975. We can conclude that those were really amazing years for rock music in general and for progressive rock in particular. Blue Öyster Cult is certainly not among my favourite bands, and neither are they a Prog band. But the progressive climate of those years influenced a lot of Rock music, even on the 'other' side of the Atlantic. Blue Öyster Cult too released their best and probably most progressive influenced album - Secret Treaties - in this golden period of the first half of the 70's. But even their best album is hardly essential for the Prog fan to explore.

Compared to the weak first two Blue Öyster Cult albums, Secret treaties represented a major step forward for the band. The songs are much more memorable and melodious.

Some people have called Blue Öyster Cult 'the American Black Sabbath'. Personally, I think that any such comparison is completely out of place and altogether misleading. The only reason this comparison came up was probably that the two bands toured together at some point. Musically, however, Blue Öyster Cult is a completely different beast. Often close to straightforward Rock 'n' Roll, Glam Rock and even Proto-Punk (Punk was not yet invented at this point), Blue Öyster Cult was miles away from the doom laden, dark, and much more progressive British Heavy Metal of Black Sabbath.

Secret Treatise has mostly good songs but the only song that stands out as great for me is Astronomy. Astronomy is a Rock classic. The rest of the album is, as I said before, a mix between straightforward Rock 'n' Roll, Glam Rock and Proto-Punk. A couple of Moog solos do not make this into Prog by any means but it adds a nice touch.

This album is the best by Blue Oyster Cult and worth having and, but hardly essential for the average Prog fan.

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