Blue Oyster Cult - Fire of Unknown Origin
#298
By Bobby Bognar
June 19, 1981
Blue Oyster Cult
Fire of Unknown Origin
Genre: Classic Rock
4 out of 5
Highlight:
Burnin’ For You
It’s easy to forget how fucking metal Blue Oyster Cult was in their heyday.
When you think of their biggest hit, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” not only do you immediately want to throw up devil horns, you also want to very neatly put them into the Classic Rock bin at your local Peaches or Sam Goody.
But on this album, BOC puts their influences on full display, from Cream to Led Zeppelin, as well as lay out the path later followed by everyone from Iron Maiden to Winger. That’s right, those early rock and blues influences thread their way from K-Tel to Headbangers Ball.
The standout track on this album is “Burnin’ For You,” which is DNP (“damned near perfect”) in it’s writing and arrangement. Every piece of this song, from the opening guitar riff to the chorus, could be the load-bearing hook to another, lesser quality tune. This song is assembled like a Volvo: high quality parts on a rock-solid chassis. You can easily get 300,000 miles out of this baby.
“Veteran of Psychic Wars,” the third track, really begins to show it’s metal stripes. If you told me that this was a demo by Queensryche, I would believe you. It’s theatrical and bold, which, if that’s your thing, then this could also be your thing.
“Heavy Metal: The Black and Silver,” not only has the term “heavy metal” in the title (and chorus), but it also has the sound of many bands I played with at Mancini’s, FM Station, and Palomino’s (all well-known hair metal venues in the 80’s and 90’s). Stomping riffs, screaming vocals, etc…it’s all there.
While Blue Oyster Cult carved out a pretty great career for themselves in the Classic Rock genre, this album suggests that they may have been co-godfathers of the metal movement in the 80’s, joined by Zeppelin, Sabbath, and Cream.
Listening to Fire of Unknown Origin, the roadmap is clear. Plus, any act that can sing “Joan Crawford Has Risen From The Dead” without a trace of irony is plenty metal for me.
https://open.spotify.com/album/7v4kEpVtppoMm80m43lGzt?si=pn6MXcZeSrunyu5o-4uzXA
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