Oyster Submariner

Since releasing their self-titled 1972 Columbia debut, Blue Öyster Cult have been called everything from "the thinking man's heavy metal group" to an "occult rock band" to "the first pop/heavy metal act." They have sold more than 25 million records, and they released a handful of singles during the '70s that became classic rock radio standards, among them "Don't Fear the Reaper," "Burning' for You," and "Godzilla." Lyrics that crisscross science fiction, the occult, and horror films, their layered, three-guitar attack, expansive vocal harmonies, and almost-inimitable balance between crunchy riffs and infectious hooks resulted in the most listenable metal of the '70s.

Blue Öyster Cult is an American rock band from Long Island, New York, whose most successful work includes the hard rock and heavy metal songs "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Godzilla" and "Burnin' for You". The band has sold over 24 million records worldwide, including 7 million records in the United States alone. Because of their unique sound and diversity, Blue Öyster Cult has been influential to many modern bands that span many genres, and are often viewed as important pioneers of several different styles of rock music that came to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s.

"Music composed and performed by Blue Öyster Cult," reads the credit for this soundtrack, and that turns out to mean two actual BÖC songs, 19 instrumental excerpts, the longest of which is under two-and-a-half-minutes, and nine songs by otherwise anonymous heavy metal groups. There's a lot of music here – the disc runs over 71 minutes – but little of it is memorable.

Since the mid-'90s, Blue Öyster Cult have had their catalog pillaged for hits collections on almost a yearly basis, so the appearance of yet another such beast isn't the welcome return of an old friend that it should be. True, there was a time when a greatest-hits collection was sorely needed, but the double-CD set Workshop of the Telescopes took care of that in 1995, and if that was too massive a retrospective, there was 2000's single-disc Don't Fear the Reaper: The Best of Blue Öyster Cult. Add to those a number of re-recordings and misleadingly packaged live collections and it's hard to justify The Essential Blue Oyster Cult.

Since releasing their self-titled 1972 Columbia debut, Blue Öyster Cult have been called everything from "the thinking man's heavy metal group" to an "occult rock band" to "the first pop/heavy metal act." They have sold more than 25 million records, and they released a handful of singles during the '70s that became classic rock radio standards, among them "Don't Fear the Reaper," "Burning' for You," and "Godzilla." Lyrics that crisscross science fiction, the occult, and horror films, their layered, three-guitar attack, expansive vocal harmonies, and almost-inimitable balance between crunchy riffs and infectious hooks resulted in the most listenable metal of the '70s.

Blue Öyster Cult Ce n'est pas une perle nacrée qui se cache sous la coquille de cette huître préciseuse, mais plutôt plutôt un son gras, qui transpire à travers les amplis chauffés à blanc.

In 2017, the mighty BLUE ÖYSTER CULT celebrated their 45th Anniversary with a run of festival and headline dates across the UK and Europe.