A great album, full of interesting tunes, and written at a time when Blue Oyster Cult were creatively at their zenith.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Blue Oyster Cult
ALBUM: Spectres
LABEL: Columbia
SERIAL: JC 35019
YEAR: 1977
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Eric Bloom – vocals, guitars * Donald ‘Buck Dharma’ Roeser – lead guitar, vocals * Allen Lanier – guitars, keyboards * Albert Bouchard – bass, vocals * Joe Bouchard – drums, vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Godzilla * 02 Golden Age Of Leather * 03 Death Valley Nights * 04 Searchin’ For Celine * 05 Fireworks * 06 R.U Ready 2 Rock * 07 Celestial The Queen * 08 Goin’ Through The Motions * 09 I Love The Night * 10 Nosferatu
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
During the era in which this album was released, Blue Oyster Cult was a regular attendee in my teenage upbringing. Their records populated my collection, and in particular, I have a special affinity for this album ‘Spectres’. All of their earlier efforts I can ‘take it or leave it’, but from their 1976 ‘Agents Of Fortune’ and onwards, Blue Oyster Cult’s albums for me are compulsory additions in my collection.
‘Agents Of Fortune’ and ‘Spectres’ saw their gradual acceptance onto FM Radio, which must surely have been helped by Blue Oyster Cult’s huge hit single ‘Don’t Fear The Reaper’ the year before. ‘Spectres’ contains some brilliant songs, and a couple of them are still well worn favourites on the Blue Oyster Cult set-list. The songs contained within are varied and a whole bunch of fun!
The Songs
Leading off with ‘Godzilla’, this song is as much a part of Blue Oyster Cult folklore as is ‘More Than A Feeling’ is for Boston. Forget the silly barber shop vocal intro, and segue right into the excellent ‘Golden Age Of Leather’, which is one of their better tracks, great playing by all involved. ‘Death Valley Nights’ is a bit ho-hum for me, much better tracks to be found elsewhere.
‘Searchin’ For Celine’ contains a bit of angst and drama but in a fun and ‘pop’ oriented way. One of the album highlights is the lovely ‘Fireworks’. Simple construct, very melodic, with a faint Bostonlike vibe on the chorus. Living up to its title is ‘R.U Ready 2 Rock’, a good time near boogie rocker in places, with Lanier’s piano lines standing out.
Another likeable tune is ‘Celestial The Queen’ with an interesting production afforded to it – quite spacious sounding, with keys and acoustic guitars filling it out. The Ian Hunter co-write ‘Goin’ Through The Motions’ with its Donnie Iris sounding construct (stabbing keys, hand clap sequences) is another pearler.
My favourite is the essential ballad ‘I Love The Night’ – which still rings my bell thirty years later. Beautiful stuff. The album ends with a dedication to another movie/horror icon – that being ‘Nosferatu’, a slight gothic flavour abounds on this soundtrack oriented piece, and is not as bombastic as the opener ‘Godzilla’.
In Summary
A great album, full of interesting tunes, and written at a time when this band were creatively at their zenith. An album collection with at least ‘Agents Of Fortune’ and ‘Spectres’, probably also the next two ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ and ‘Mirrors’ – would be a good start in terms of Blue Oyster Cult’s collectivity. I’m sure many of you have this anyway – it’s a good opportunity for you to revisit this album.
Video
Entire Album (Select Tracks)
