Blue Oyster Cult

45th Anniversary - Live In London 

(Frontiers Music)

By Robert Corich

7.5/10

When the original debut album ‘Blue Öyster Cult’ was released in January 1972 no one could have guessed that nearly fifty years on this band would still be playing let alone sounding as vibrant as ever. 

The rise of Blue Öyster Cult from Soft White Underbelly and Stalk Forrest Group to BÖC was filled with record industry intrigue and shenanigans and it wasn’t until they released their fourth studio effort nearly four and a half years later and the classic Don’t Fear The Reaper’ tore up the charts that they secured real fame. 

However, with the arrival of ‘Agents Of Fortune’ in May 1976 the band had released three highly satisfying studio albums and the stellar live album ‘On Your Knees And On Your Feet’ which cleverly mined all three of these early BÖC studio efforts to provide their rip-roaring live concert to vinyl. 

‘On Your Knees’ was a pretty hard act to follow frankly although the band did commit some pretty cool live efforts to tape in years to follow with ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ (1978), ‘Extraterrestrial Live’ (1982), and even ‘A Long Days Night’ (2002)

Following their successful 2016 tour where the band aired (and recorded) the complete ‘Agents of Fortune’ album live it was clear the next tour was also going to be an interesting one. 

Scoring a headline slot at the O2 Indigo at the 2017 Stone Free Festival alongside ‘Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow’ and ‘The Sweet’ the band took a slightly unorthodox approach to play their debut release complete and in album order and while they were at it, commit it to tape (or byte) for possible audio and visual release. 

There were a lot of acts playing that day but BÖC stuffed the venue to the gills with security having to turn away huge numbers of punters such was the curiosity and dedication from fans as to what was likely to be an absolute one-off. 

The delivery and atmosphere in the venue was truly fantastic (yes, this writer had the privilege to witness it all from the front barrier next to the press pit). 

Everyone who walked out of the venue that day knew they witnessed something very special. 

BÖC live that weekend came out as top dogs that was for sure. 

To hear and see it now released in beautiful 4K definition and brilliantly recorded is truly a treat for anyone that was lucky enough to have been in the hallowed hall. For the many that could not get in or were not present this is a perfect example of why one should never miss this band playing live. 

Even forty-five years after the release of their debut album and only two of the original members (Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma) still in the band this album and performance augmented by three extremely talented ‘modern’ BÖC members hammering out vibrant versions of those ten tracks that graced their debut. Topped off with five of their most identifiable hits one couldn’t really have asked for more. 

Let’s hope ‘Tyranny and Mutation’ (1973) and ‘Secret Treaties’ (1974) are next on the agenda for this new live treatment because it’s clear both band, material and the army of fans would be well up for it.

For any self-respecting BÖC fan this new live package is a must and the only weak point being the rather lacklustre DVD extra’s, whoever compiled the ‘extras’ scores about 3 out of 10.