BLUE ÖYSTER CULT

For some reason BOC's debut is my favourite album from them. Maybe it's because it is the only album with some bite, maybe because it's their most bluesy album and slightly touched by the hand of Evil? Or maybe it's because I hear many elements that would be referred to by the grunge generation 20 years later. Still, I'd prefer Mother Love Bone any time to this.

The album starts nicely rocking and bluesy rolling with Transmaniacon MC and I'm On The Lamb, two soft and catchy tunes that might inspire to some rhythmic head nods. My preference here goes to sweet melancholic rock like Then Came The Last Days of May. I can almost hear Alice in Chains performing this. This is even more the case for Before The Kiss, A Redcap.

Screams is my favourite BOC track. It's a tad eerie and sad, quite an a-typical song for them I assume. Love that piano bit. Also She's as Beautiful as a Foot (did they want to win the 'most goofy song titles contest' of that year?) continues the gloomy mood and has some nice instrumental bits but the vocals come off slightly strained. Cities on Flames is probably their heaviest song. Given how soft it still is I always wondered why this band was ever considered as hard rock at all. The album ends with the slightly lesser tunes Workshop and Redeemed.

A pleasant album overall and probably quite an important one, it's not consistent enough for anything above 3 stars though.