AGENTS OF FORTUNE

Though it's now my all-time favourite Blue Oyster Cult album, I didn't like Secret Treaties at first - it took more than a few listens before its subtleties became apparent and I really started getting into it.

Similarly, whilst I really liked Agents of Fortune on the first few listens, after a while its star diminished in my estimation considerably. An album of slick pop-metal, there's no doubt that this one helped the band get wider attention - you've probably heard the cowbell-heavy Don't Fear the Reaper a dozen times by now - but it can come across as a heaped collection of hard rock cliches.

Of course, they're cliches in part because this album shaped the genre so much, but at the same time it's undeniable that this is the dawn of a poppier strand of music in BOC's catalogue, and there was a while when I was so deeply immersed in their more esoteric early style that that bugged me. I've come around again on it now, having aged into a point where I can appreciate a good pop number now and then, but at the same time I don't think it's the top-tier classic its predecessor was.