Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39757 in Digital Music Album
• Released on: 2001-06-25
• Running time: 4023 seconds

Customer Reviews

Possibly their best album
'Tyranny and Mutation' was the second album release by the Blue Öyster Cult, released in 1973, and it saw them cement both their growing musical reputation and also their apparently mystical image, enhanced by their use of the symbol of Kronos as their logo. Everything about the band was cryptic, from Eric Bloom's 'stun guitar', to the dense lyricism of their songs, to the almost Escher-esque album cover.

This album was altogether beefier than its predecessor, and featured a group of songs that were altogether 'heavier' than those on the first album. The titles were also becoming stranger, such as '7 Screaming Diz-Busters', 'Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)' and 'Baby Ice Dog'. Despite their apparent BOC 'mythology', these songs are actually pretty down to earth, if you take the time to research them a little.

The four bonus tracks on this CD are also of considerable interest, as three of them are live and the other is the studio version of the concert staple 'Buck's Boogie'. The live version of '7 Screaming Diz-Busters' clocks in at 14 minutes and is classic live and chaotic Blue Öyster Cult.

Blue Öyster Cult have often been compared to bands like Black Sabbath and Kiss, both of whom were their contemporaries, but this comparison is grossly unfair on the band. They were not a 'heavy metal' band and instead of being a 'satanic' or burlesque band, they wove a web of intrigue and confusion around them, which created an image that few bands have equalled. But they were always just five regular guys who played great rock and had a manager and producer, Sandy Pearlman, whose vision rose above that of the normal. Credit him with the bizarrer trappings of the band.

This was a classic rock record in 1973 and it is every bit as good today, especially in its remastered form. If you want an introduction to the savage beauty that was Blue Öyster Cult, then you could do worse than start here.

The best of Blue Oyster Cult gets even better!
This album (that dates me!) has been available on CD for a little while now and although I'm not usually a fan of buying re-releases, this was a must! Tyranny and Mutation is one of the best "real" rock albums ever made - great lyrics, great music and fabulous guitar playing. This new release contains digital remasterings of the original eight tracks (you can hear the difference) plus four additional tracks, including hitherto unreleased (at least not officially) recordings of two of their best songs ("7 Screaming Dizbusters", "OD'd On Life Itself") and the studio version of "Buck's Boogie", which until now has only ever appeared on the live "On Your Feet or On Your Knees". This is one of four BOC CDs which CBS Legacy have released (the first four studio albums) but if your pocket will only stretch to one BOC CD at a time, this is the one to start with. You won't be disappointed.

New to BOC? - Start here!
The second in BOC's essential 'black & white' trilogy. The precise order in which you rank these first 3 Cult albums obviously varies according to taste, and while the general concensus seems to be that they get better and better, T&M is my personal fave, combining great riffing, tuneful melodies, and entertaining lyrics that could be described variously as intelligent, impenetrable or just plain nutty! This album epitomises early period BOC, that is quite distinct from their more poppy output over the last two decades. This new re-release combines improved packaging, improved sound quality, and 4 very worthy bonus tracks that don't detract from the overall quality of the album. I'd recommend this most highly to newcomers and old fans alike.