It was quite a surprise and phenomenal in its endurance and the way it’s worked its way into the culture. “The band had no idea it was coming, either. “It’s really funny,” said Dharma in 2019 of the SNL skit. Unlike Ferrell’s character, Bouchard covered the bell in gaffer tape and hit it with a timpani mallet to keep the sound down. The actual recording of “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” does feature cowbell, played by the band’s former drummer Albert Bouchard. Throughout the skit, the recording is cut as Will Ferrell’s cowbell playing dominates the other instruments. “I got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell,” says Walken’s character in the skit.
We purposely let people do that, draw their own conclusions from the lyric.” They’re certainly open to interpretation, and everybody seems to have their own thoughts about what stuff means. “But Blue Öyster Cult’s lyrics have always been, not obtuse, but deep. “It’s not about suicide, although people kind of get that from the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ reference,” said Dharma. Juliet then responds by also taking her own life, which led many people to believe “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” was about suicide, which appalled Dharma. In the play, Romeo swallows poison when he believes Juliet is dead. We’ll be able to fly (don’t fear the reaper) Referencing Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in a verse, some listeners initially believed the song was about something entirely different.Īre together in eternity (Romeo and Juliet)Ĥ0, 000 men and women every day (like Romeo and Juliet)Ĥ0, 000 men and women every day (redefine happiness)Īnother 40, 000 coming every day (we can be like they are)īaby, take my hand (don’t fear the reaper)
If you skip over tracks 7 and 10, it goes up to a 4/5.Further into the lyrics, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” is also a semi-love song, transcending one’s physical existence on earth. There are definitely pop music influences in songs like I Love The Night and In Thee.Īll in all, I'm going to give this CD a 3.5/5. The flip-side to being an experimental band, however, is that not everybody will like all the styles you encompass. There are some songs that are definitely good but have some weak points to them, like Astronomy, Summer of Love, Black Blade, and Take Me Away. I won't lie to you, this CD isn't perfect. There are also a few more songs that are complete classics - Burnin' For You is a staple on classic rock radio Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll is based around one of my favorite guitar riffs (in my opinion, it contends with the opening to Purple Haze) The Red & The Black sounds semi-chaotic, the alternating lead and background vocals are the real strength of this song and Flaming Telepaths is a great example of how a keyboard can completely change the mood of a song (kind of like Are You Experienced) with some great lyrics and vocals too. The tone of the rhythm guitar is gnarly and, again, Buck Dharma does a good job of making his guitar a focal point. It has a great rhythm guitar bit, enchanting vocals, and some great guitar work by Buck Dharma (this guy is my hero). This does pretty much encompass their whole creative career.ĭon't Fear The Reaper is their most famous song (mainly because of the cowbell sketch on SNL, you can find that at ), and rightly so. I chose to buy their greatest hits instead of their individual albums because, frankly, they have a LOT of albums and I don't have a lot of money.
Bloom, Buck Dharma, and Lanier are still in the band today, and they are still touring (I missed out on going to see them because it was an outdoor show and it was raining :upset: ). Since then, they've continued to release albums and tour. After spending a couple years as a bar band under the names Stalk-Forrest Group and Oaxaca, they changed their name to Blue Oyster Cult and recorded their self-titled debut album for Columbia Records in 1970. After a while, they replaced their singer and bassist with Bloom and Joe Bouchard. In the late sixties, Buck Dharma, Allen Lanier, and Albert Bouchard started a band called the Soft White Underbelly during college. They are one of the best bands in rock music and blazed a lot of trails. I noticed something really peculiar - unless I'm dyslexic, there is NO Blue Oyster Cult there. I read through the review list yesterday, mainy because I really had nothing better to do.
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