FIRE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN

Yes, they did it again! Finally Blue Oyster Cult are back with saome of the most exciting material in years. Musically, "Fire of Unknown Origin" is far from what we are used to, more keyboards and a more relevant role for bass guitar. If a comparison can be found, I'd say it's a mix between "Tyranny and Mutation" and "Agent of Fortune". On one hand there are still (excellent) pop tunes that helped to reach commercial success as the titled track and, mainly, "Burning for You". On the other hand minds seem to be more open. Just listen to "Veterans of the Psychic Wars" or "Joan Crawford", examples of their finest songwriting. The first one, in particular, would appeal to progheads.

This is not a difficult album to get into, and I have to admit that it's not at the level of anything they did during the "black and white" period. Nevertheless it's a classic and one of the most interesting albums from 1981.

P.S. did you notice the incredible analogy between this cover and that of The Strawbs in the (oh, isn't strange?) "Burning for You" (1977) album?

3,75 stars, to be honest.